15/5 # 3

This past week turned out to be a great week for Team Global Solutions. It all started last Thursday, when our client Dr. Gwynn Powell, visited one of our meetings and as usual provided more assistance than we needed at the time. Her drive and charisma motivated the team so much, that we almost forgot about the tight stretch of a week that lied ahead of us and the nightmare of the Needs Assessment that lied ahead. Yes, my choice of words is clearly just for dramatics, but the point is, we had a busy week ahead of us. Thursday night’s meeting motivated us and as a result we were able to achieve a lot this week: We met twice this week: On Sunday night and Tuesday night. On Sunday we were able to accomplish two important goals:

1. Defined the scope of the content
2. Finalize plan for completing the Needs Assessment Document by 9/11/08

On Monday night we were able to put our plans into full swing and met with one of Dr. Powell’s classes to administer the survey. Also, due to tremendous teamwork we were able to get the results tallied and analyzed by our next meeting on Tuesday night. Tuesday night was the final meeting we had in preparation for the Needs Assessment document. We all left the meeting feeling quite good about what we accomplished as we were able to finalize all the areas needed to complete the document, and in less time than we thought we would. Come to think of it, most of our meetings do not run for more than an hour to an hour and a half, but we always seem to cover so much. This efficiency may be attributed to a teammates that come prepared and that contribute all they can when it is needed and as Project Manager I must say it makes me very happy:-)

In the next week we plan to:

• Receive FULL content from the client
• Complete review and thorough analysis of the content
• Complete the Task Analysis
• Begin formulating concrete design ideas for the project

As we move forward, we as a team are working very well together and I can’t wait to see the progress that will occur as the program we plan to develop begins to take shape.

15/5 #2

At this stage, we as a team are still just attempting to stay as much ahead of the game as we can. Regretfully we were not able to meet all the goals we had set for ourselves last week. However, we were able to get a lot discussed during our second meeting and as a result completed the following tasks:

• Finalized 6200 consultants
• Reminded client that the entire content must be received for initial analysis
• Developed a plan/timeline for completing Needs Assessment documentation

We had hoped to receive most of the content early after we returned from Labor Day; however, this turned out to not be a feasible task. Consequently, we have discussed this with the client and plan to receive the content in its entirety tomorrow. Once we receive this we will be ready to forge ahead at full speed. We have altered our original schedule to reflect this change and the entire team has already expressed their willingness to follow this new timeline. As a project manager, I am confident that we will accomplish all that we plan to in the next week.

Things to do in the next week:

• Analyze entire content and determine instructional goals.
• Perform needs assessment and begin Needs Assessment documentation
• Begin formulating ideas for the design approach.

The remainder of this week and the upcoming week is a critical week for Team Global Solutions, as we will be analyzing and defining elements that will be critical to the success of this project as we move forward.

15/5 # 1

This week was an important week for Team Global Solutions and we managed to complete the following core tasks:

• Finalized team members and roles
• Chose a team name: This process turned out to be a lot easier than anticipated. We decided on the name Global Solutions because our team is made up of students that represent 5 different countries. Hence, we believe that we are able to approach Instructional Design from a “global” perspective.
• Chose a project: For half the members on our team, choosing a project was not a difficult task, as we have had the opportunity to work with one of the clients before: Gywnn Powell, who proved to be a superior client. However, the project description on the STUDIO site was also a great help in helping the team make its final decision. Just in general, the main aim of this project is to provide students that are interested in the Russian Summer Camp Program, with the necessary skills to have a successful learning experience abroad.
• Met with the client: Our first meeting with the client was held on 08/26. This meeting was a very successful one, as the client went beyond our expectations and provided answers to many of our questions before we even had the opportunity to ask them. As a result of this meeting, Global Solutions now has a deeper understanding of the task at hand and how to move forward.
• Created Project Management Site: We have decided to use a blog as the central project management site. This blog can be found at: http://6210project.blogspot.com/
• Determined 6200 consultant roles: Having met with the client, we now have a better understanding of the project and the resources that we will need to be successful. Therefore, we have begun the process of describing job descriptions for the areas we will require the most additional resources.

In the upcoming week it is important that our team complete certain tasks that will be imperative to the successful completion of this project. These tasks include:

• Hold first team meeting: Our first collective meeting as a team will be held on 08/27 @ 8:00 p.m. In this meeting we plan to establish protocols that will be of dire importance to the success of the project as we move forward. We intend to finalize communication, meeting and document revision protocols.
• Continue further review of the content and develop a concrete understanding of the project and the goals that we intend to achieve at the end of the semester.
• Develop a plan for initial learner and content analysis.
• Develop a timeline and begin assigning tasks to different personnel.
• Hire” the necessary 6200 consultants.

As a team, we are working very well together and are trying to focus on building a stable platform upon which we will find success during the entire semester. At this point, there are no anticipated red flags and Global Solutions is just eager to forge forward.