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Instructor Q & A

Background

Roy Rogers, PMP, types rapidly as he responds to a recently e-mailed question on risk management. You wouldn't know by looking at his home office, but you've just stepped into an ESI virtual classroom. Roy teaches project management courses online via ESI's e-training program. A long-time project management consultant for Fortune 100 companies, Roy began teaching project management classes online for ESI in 2001.

Roy brings 25 years of experience in managing Web and software development and the deployment of software and hardware technology to the virtual classroom every day. To his students, he is only an e-mail away. Each week, he checks homework and responds to student questions via e-mail and conducts online seminars to discuss project management issues with students in a real-time chat format. He emphasizes that e-training is not an easy way out. In fact, it is every bit as challenging and engaging as the classroom due to the rapid exchange between students and the instructor.

Roy, who holds a bachelor's degree in management from Georgia State University, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute and is a member of the Project Management Institute.

ESI recently conducted a brief online Q&A with Roy to learn more about his work as an ESI e-training instructor.

1. What's your approach to teaching online and what are some of the challenges you face? How do you keep students involved and interested in the topic throughout the course?

"When most students start an online course, they really don't have any idea of what to expect. I try to be prepared for that and for them. I communicate with each student via e-mail in response to their completed assignments throughout the course and during the "live" seminars where we discuss issues as a class.

The main challenge is to keep ahead of them. They ask good questions. Most students are experienced project managers and the online format gives them ample time to think and frame their questions. I also attempt to keep them involved, much like in a face-to-face class, by asking thought-provoking questions on the topic of the moment."

2. When you're teaching project management, what are the principles you hope your students will take away from the course?

"My main objective in any course, online or face-to-face, is two-fold. I want to ensure that they get what they came for and leave with a process. Students need to know why the project management processes are introduced and how they can integrate the processes into what they do. The processes need to be useful back in the office and should be incorporated into their repertoire of tools to help them manage projects more efficiently."

3. What are some of the common misconceptions students have about e-training?

"More often than not, students new to distance learning have an expectation that it will be easier and quicker than a face-to-face class. In fact, the opposite is true. Without the "normal" classroom student interaction and instructor lectures, students must really read the accompanying course text, pay attention to the lectures and look for ways to apply it to their day-to-day activities. They must think more about their responses because they must "document" everything they say through e-mail.

As a result, I feel the e-training students really get more out of each class. They get individual attention on each and every interaction with the instructor who responds to every e-mail. I think the e-training students realize the value of this type of interaction, especially after they complete the final test and do extremely well on it."

4. What are some concepts of project management that seem more difficult for managers to adhere to?

"They tend to take shortcuts when it comes to creating estimates and managing risk, particularly when it comes to documenting and reporting. But I see this changing, as project managers find that these areas cause the most problems and often prevent successful completion of the project. There are new tools and techniques evolving in both areas. Specifically, new risk management software applications help address the risks in our project and the data stores, packed with previous project data, help provide valid lessons learned and proven methods to mitigate our project risks."

5. What are some of the major trends in project management?

"Small and large corporations are recognizing the benefits of definable, repeatable project management processes. These organizations are seeing and experiencing productivity increases as a result of well-defined project management processes that can be used over and over. In particular, I think they're recognizing how valuable project management processes are for all project managers, whether inexperienced newbies or veterans. Even the new project manager can successfully steer projects early in his or her career by using the established project management methods we teach.

The other trend I see is the evolution of virtual project management work teams. As software applications become more sophisticated, networked and less expensive, project activities that once required face-to-face meetings can now be done in the comfort of the office or from home via the Web, teleconferencing and other methods."

6. What questions do you hear most from students?

"Students are always looking for firm answers to flexible questions. Most of the questions tend to be in the vein of, 'What are the standards?'.

For example, when the topic of project reserves comes up, students always ask what percentage they should assign for a project. The right answer is the universally correct answer to all project management questions: ' It depends.' There really is no correct answer. It really does depend on the project, the stakeholders, the activities, etc."

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