Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Project Management Techniques for Cross-Campus Collaboration (Or: Just how do you work with a cast of thousands?)

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Who am I? 19 years at UNC Chapel Hill Blackboard implementation project manager Campus-wide events calendar project manager Etc...

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Faculty? Staff? Administrators? Other? Been/are project managers? (One-time or more) Experience with “successful” projects? Experience with “unsuccessful” projects? Who are y’all?

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Project Management Techniques...

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Might depend on you and only you: Write a conference paper Have a party Plan a trip Might depend on others: Large-scale software implementation Grant proposal Hire someone Develop a policy What is a project? Some examples:

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration What is a project manager? An assigned role Ultimate responsibility for project Enough authority to manage project Communicator Negotiator Meeting facilitator A leader

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration... For Cross-Campus...

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Who should be considered? Faculty? Staff? Students? IT center(s)? Registrar? Departments? Public relations office ? Committees, task forces, working groups? ad infinitum (or nauseam)

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration “Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.” -- Marian Anderson

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration... Collaboration

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration “If faculty feel something is imposed on them, you’ll have a problem.” -- Dr. Paul M. Hagner, Thursday keynote Does that matter?

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration “If [staff] feel something is imposed on them, you’ll have a problem.” -- apologies to Dr. Paul M. Hagner, Thursday keynote Does that matter?

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration “If [students] feel something is imposed on them, you’ll have a problem.” -- apologies to Dr. Paul M. Hagner, Thursday keynote Does that matter?

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration “You do not lead by hitting people over the head. That’s assault, not leadership.” -- Dwight D. Eisenhower That’s assault, not collaboration…

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Problem identification: report, committee Proposed solution: events calendar Project manager identification: sort of Project team identification: event publishers, student representative, technical staff, personal calendar liaison, news services, etc (N=about 20-35, over time) Who might not want it? Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Events Calendar: Quick Summary

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Project process Communication: meetings, mail, summaries Open process: anyone could join The art of compromise Requirements: technical, administrative Priorities: features First “product:” a wish list Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Events Calendar

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Project Process, cont’d Evaluation: explore peer institution sites; identify potential vendors, discuss issues of local development Narrow options (ultimately to one) Negotiate with vendor Test installation Pilot test: Arts and Sciences (big), Bull’s Head (small), a few others Buy license Events Calendar Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Project Maintenance/Support Required listserver for event publishers Publisher documentation Publisher meetings Ongoing negotiation with vendor and publishers (feature requests, bug reports, etc) Training, user support, marketing, etc. Events Calendar Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Blackboard Implementation Problem identification: Internal, external Proposed solution: Blackboard Timing issues: product availability Local project manager identification Project team identification: faculty, systems staff, departmental support staff, student representative, registrar, SIS staff, libraries, CIT (N=30ish) (ad hoc: purchasing and legal staff) Process defined by Blackboard

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration “If your project doesn’t work, look for the part you didn’t think was important.” -- Arthur Bloch Ya gots to work with what you gots to work with. -- Stevie Wonder

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Three crucial elements for systemic change: 1. Leadership 2. Inclusion 3. Communication -- Dr. Paul M. Hagner, Thursday keynote Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Discussion

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration Issues and Ideas Responsibility/project manager Involvement: Who? When? How much? Communication: How much, to whom, when and how? Who owns resources? (People, $, power) What will define success or failure? What happens when project goes into maintenance?

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration How do we continue to improve our collaborative project management skills?

Elizabeth A. Evans UNC Chapel Hill Administrative Information Services Promoting Intra-Campus Collaboration “The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it.” -- Alan Saporta “Don’t be afraid to ask dumb questions. They’re more easily handled than dumb mistakes.” -- William Wister Haines “Progress begins with the belief that what is necessary is possible.” -- Norman Cousins