Project Management Questions

I always integrate project management readings and discussions into my production oriented courses. It’s a good skill set for students to pick up, and discussions of project management tips and techniques needs to be more formalized in our programs. As a long time consultant, being a good project manager was a key to my success not only on specific projects, but in my consulting career as a whole.

So students had to read some stuff on project management and then we attempted to do an in-class exercise about the readings with an emphasis on collaboration. But, alas, that exercise was in some ways a total bust. What we did get out of the exercise was a big laugh and ongoing reference to the failed exercise where we all ended up standing against in the wall in weird disjointed circle.

In any case, following are some of the questions that students asked about project management and my answers to their questions:

• How much variation between organizations is likely in regards to control given to info designers (or professional writers)?

• Are there questions that are standard to ask clients/customers/user during the planning phase?

• What does innovation really look like, especially within traditional project at a large organization? How often do these innovations fail?

• Given pressure from above, how strictly should one adhere to the project plan?

• Strategies for dealing with inflexibility that jeopardizes part of the project?

• In large organizations with multiple project managers, how do all parties maintain effective communication with one another?

• What is the best way to disseminate information in the impossible planning stage? Is simpler better?