Analyzing Scope Creep

Scope creep... as an Instructional Designer you have experienced this before I guarantee it. Why does it happen so frequently? Does it happen with each project? Well, in my experience as a Instructional Designer of 4 months it happens... on almost every project. So, its important to determine how to stop it when it occurs or if it needs to be included, have a process to get it approved.
I am currently working with a Supplier Operations team at a large eCommerce website. I've been asked to reformat and redesign their current training's to make them better overall. Well, I've been working on this project for a bout three months or so and have already experienced a ton of scope creep. The struggle that I have is the project manager I am working with just added a a whole bunch more work but with the same deadline. As a young ID i wasn't sure what to do. So I've said yes. The stress I have now is much greater and I have to do more with less time.
I think moving forward I am going to work with management to have a document that needs to be filled out to get this approved. In this project I am sure I can get it done on time. However, in future projects, if I can't learn to say no I can really get in big trouble. So for me, I have to learn how to deal with scope creep and quickly.

Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

This week we have been discussing estimating costs and allocating resources for our projects. I've been assigned to find two different resources and rate what I think about them. I've done so below. Enjoy!

Smartsheet.com

Smartsheet.com is a project management tool that can help you will all things project management. One thing I enjoyed about this tool is they have a full article on project cost estimates. They go through some really good information. Then they link it to their tool showing that it is a easy to use tool. It can help accurately estimate costs. I really like this tool.

replicon.com

Replicon.com is another project management tool used to do an array of project management objectives. I think its really cool how both these tools have a full suite of software. It is nice to have a one stop shop for all things project management. Replican states it can, "Track up-to-the-minute project time, capture all billable hours and efficiently manage your resources, projects, clients, and billing." This is a big deal. It is really important to be able to track billable hours and efficiently run a project. Many times we think about what a project is going to cost, however we don't think about what we would need to collect. The inflow of money can come and help projects. This tool would be perfect for all things budget.