Project Red

During the 9/19 Webinar the Project RED team shared their Critical Success Factors for a 1:1 initiative of which the fourth one on the list was "use a trained, dedicated project manager". I agree that securing someone in this role would be ideal but I consider this component a major hurdle in our current economy. Our district is working with budget constraints and a cost concious school board who is looking to reduce staff and consultant fees wherever possible. Other than writing a grant to bring in additional funds to cover the project manager expense, do you have alternative suggestions for this particular success factor?

Great comment. I took the comment to mean that someone within the school implementation team would adopt that role and wondered if any of the "Project Red" resources touched on training for that.

I interpreted it that way as well. Could someone from Project Red clarify?

I think that a person on your implementation team could serve in that role. We have contracted with a company, but they work with us to enable us to serve in that role.

Thank you for posting an excellent and important topic. The next Project RED webinar on October 17th will address this topic. But here are some brief thoughts:

1. Every project deserves a project manager. If the project is small, the project implementer could also be the project manager. A large, complex, multi-million dollar project demands a full time project manager. When a district builds a new building they always have a project manager, for similar reasons.

2. It is true that project management costs money, whether done internally or via contract. But I would ask you to consider the costs of no project manager or ineffective project management. The most frequent result are horror stories, and ineffective implementations. Project management is a few percent of the cost of a project. Almost always good project management saves far more than it costs.

3. If a district wants to grow their own project manager, there are many good resources available. On the October 17th webinar we will provide suggestions.

4. What are some of the characteristics of a good project manager?
a) Previous experience is important
b) Experience with project management tools
c) Training on the basic concepts of project management
d) Ability to work with people and help them do what needs to be done
e) Authority to cause the project management work to move forward
f) A great communicator
g) Experience in the domain (education)
h) Capable of recognizing dependencies

Our experience with hundreds of 1:1 programs leads us to the conclusion that "prior planning prevents a poor performance." When schools fail, they were missing one or more of these critical aspects:
a) Leadership
b) A plan that was incomplete or poorly defined.
c) The plan was not implemented with fidelity.

On the web site in the tools section we have posted a draft project plan. It currently has 1501 line items. Each district will need to adapt the plan to their own situation. If you follow the plan your odds of success go way up.

This is a big topic and the answers are short. We welcome your feedback and will use it to drive future responses.

Thank you for this clarification and rationale. I have downloaded the sample plan that you refer to and I am intrigued by the Smartsheet free trial. Do you know if this trial offer will be available for a few more months? Our district is not quite ready to adapt the plan to our situation and I would like to make efficient use of our 30 free days.