When challenges arise during an educational content development project, responsive managers respond quickly and efficiently to remove barriers to the project workflow. Experienced vendors apply problem-solving strategies to preserve deadlines. Take a closer look at how vendors use proactive problem-solving strategies in the scenarios below.
Situation: The primary writer for a publishing project has an emergency and cannot complete the project.
Problem-Solving Strategy: Fortunately, the latest versions of all documents are regularly updated to an online storage site. Minutes from frequent status meetings and a Web-based project tracker show where the writer left off on the most recent batch. Another contractor, already vetted by the vendor, is able to access the online documents and continue working on the project in a seamless transition.
Situation: Multiple vendors are working together to create a corporate training package. The deliverables are completed and sent to another vendor for production. It is discovered that, although the lesson plans were completed as instructed, they are not in the correct format. The project specifications were missing critical details. The production team sends all work back to the original vendor that created the lesson plans for revisions.
Problem-Solving Strategy: Ideally, the project specifications would have been clarified in advance of the workflow start.
In this case, the vendor project manager would halt development and hold an immediate meeting with stakeholders. With clear project specifications and annotated templates in place, the schedule is revised and additional training is provided to writers. The original schedule had enough cushion in it that no delay occurs on the final deliverable and the project is completed on time.
Situation: A course instructor is not responding to requests to review materials from the instructional designer developing their course.
Problem-Solving Strategy: The instructional designer reaches out to project managers for support, and intervention happens before the project becomes delayed. A meeting with stakeholders highlights the need for a schedule adjustment to accommodate the instructor’s heavy workload. Flexible contractors are willing to work around the instructor’s schedule, and the project timeline is revised. Project managers send weekly email updates to all stakeholders that include specific requests to the instructor identifying which materials to review by a certain date.
