youthorgs.blogspot.com

An Old-fashioned Table of Contents

2020-09-07T14:36:00.028+08:00

Albay Workcamp '08 Lessons Learned and Project Documents

Leadership Seminars

UNIV '09

Project Documents

Etc

Albay Workcamp 2008 Video

***

A pre-internet Workcamp Project Manager documenting lessons learned

Despite being hosted by Blogspot, this site isn't really a blog. This is an on-line repository of notes of experience from organizing Workcamps using the language of project management. The entire content of this site is listed above. This site may also be browsed using the tags you find in the side-bar. If you wish to share your own documents and lessons from organizing similar projects, please email me or comment in the relevant post.

What This Blog is All About

2019-06-09T07:29:00.004+08:00

The first thing that gets pounded into your head as you study for the PMP Exam is that all projects must have and must start with a project charter. Being a blog which purports familiarity with project management, I couldn't but start it with one. While this blog, strictly speaking, isn't a project,* I think it would prove useful for us to follow the 400-page wisdom of the Project Management Body of Knowedge, 3rd Edition (PMBOK), and start with a sort of charter for this blog.

The first part of the project charter is usually the high-level description of the endeavor. For this blog, it is the subtitle that tries to capture this: “Project Management Shop Talk on Youth-oriented and Socially-relevant Volunteer Construction Projects.” I wish to discuss in this blog two interests I have had for several years. One is project management. After working here then here, getting PMP'd,** and leading trainings on project management, my pedantic tendencies have been piqued by this area of knowledge, and have gotten me to try to talk shop in blogosphere (where you don't see people rolling their eyes in exasperation). It's like chess geeks talking about special moves only eleven people in the world care about, but perhaps a tad more exciting.

The other interest I always wanted to write about is the Workcamp. The Workcamp is a volunteer program for university students. It usually consists of two weeks of construction work for a community in need. The first Workcamp I attended was ten years ago, where we cleaned and cemented the sewage waterways of a community of farmers in Bukidnon. That was sort of a turning point for me. Before that Workcamp I was a cynical and bored teenager. After the Workcamp, I was still a cynical and bored teenager. But a good seed was planted in me. I think I started to realize that doing good is actually fun, and being good (or at least trying to) makes one happy. Perhaps the fumes from the sewage waterways had something to do with my epiphany.

So, after I got out of the corporate world early this year, one of the first things I did was to organize a Workcamp. The project had two phases. The first phase was the preparation. We had to raise money for the transportation, food and construction, as well as look for a site and people to sponsor us there. At the same time, university students had to be marketed to, selected and prepared for the Workcamp. The site we got was a typhoon-ravaged elementary school in Sto. Domingo, Albay. Two years after the devastation of super-typhoon Reming, most of the classrooms have already been reconstructed. They had walls and roofs, but that was pretty much it. When we asked the school principal what their biggest problem was, she said that when the sun is out, the ceiling-less classrooms are like ovens, and when it rains, they are as noisy as a steel drum pounded by a death-metal drummer (not her exact words).

The second phase of the project was the actual construction work of fixing the school. There were twenty-six of us volunteers, and we stayed Sto. Domingo for ten days. What we did was to install insulators (those 10mm foam sheets with a metallic foil on one side). These are more effective in insulating from heat versus a plywood ceiling. They should also be effective noise absorbers. They are also much, much more cost-efficient than plywood. The volunteers had to become experts in using the gun tucker, which is like the regular office stapler minus its lower jaw. Instead, it has a four-inch trigger at the back which you squeeze with your hands to shoot-out the staple. You could kill someone with the thing. There were two teams of insulator-installers. We got a carpentry consultant, Mang Seming, who is a local there. He helped us make coco lumber ladders, which the gun tucker guy would stand on to install the insulators. The insulators could easily get torn from the staples, so we reinforced it with diagonal lattices of metallic wires held by umbrella nails at the intersections. The staples were for quick installation; the lattice for longevity. On our first day, each of the teams was only able to install insulators on one-fifth of a room's roof. On the last day both teams jointly installed insulators and wires for the last room in half-a-day. They declared that they had an alternate career path in case their university course does not work out.

We also painted the interiors of the classrooms. Another team was in charge of this. The painting team first scraped-off the old paint using a tool which looks like a metallic credit card with a wooden handle. They then wet the wall with “neutralizer,” which is supposed to make the paint stick better to the concrete wall. This may be slightly biased, but after several layers of latex paint, the interiors of the classrooms looked pretty close to a mac store. The Workcamp last year was painting of classrooms as well. Hans, the one who organized Workcamp '07, was with us, so the learning curve for painting didn't have to be as steep as installing insulators. In the mornings, four members of the painting team taught local kids personal hygiene (one of them is a medical student).

The Workcamp is not all work. After our workday, we played basketball or football. Every other day, the volunteers were given short talks on leadership. On several after-meal get-togethers, the Workcampers got to share their musical and comic talents, with presentations and games. For those who wanted, there were traditional practices of Christian piety. On the last Sunday, the Workcampers went to the Cagsaway ruins in Mayon Volcano, and on the night before that, friends of the Workcamp who own a restaurant in the next city treated the volunteers to a Chinese multi-course dinner.

I plan do a project like this as often as I can. It is a small project compared to what I used to do, but it is not a walk in the park. However, if the Workcamp opens up new vistas of life, service, joy and appreciation of the finer points of hammering nails for even just one fellow—the way it did to me a decade ago—it is undoubtedly worth it. I plan to blog about the “lessons learned” in the project—another practice that gets hammered on you when trying to be a PMP. All contents of this blog is licensed under CC-BY.

I could not talk about the Albay Workcamp 2008 without mentioning the people who made it happen. Thanks to our hosts, Dr. Manuel Lorenzo and Jess & Dette Abrera. This Workcamp is dedicated in memory of Dr. Patria Lorenzo. Thanks to our major donors—the anonymous friend of Fernan and Karlo, Metafoam of the Marañon family, and the Foundation for East Asian Development (FEAD). Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Gregorio, Ma'am Reaso, Sister Merit, Architect Cesar Olmos, Josef Lim for the posters and brochures, Fujitsu, Philtranco for the discount, Mayor Boss Boy, Glenn Nares, and all the wonderful people of Sto. Domingo. Salamat!

Of course, this Workcamp wouldn't have been successful without the teamwork, creativity and hard work of the volunteers: Mark, Michael, Kevin, Fritz, Not-Not, Arvin, Kiko, Erold, Meyrick, Andrew, Aibar, Jonathan, Luis, Carlos, Kaiser, Cedric, Gian, Jezer, Jon, Kenneth, Jeremy, Miguel, Raffy and Charles. I hope that ten years from now, there'll be twenty-four new blogs that talk shop about project management of Workcamps :)

*The PMBOK defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” “Temporary” here means you have the intention of ending the undertaking at some point, and you have some idea when that point is. This blog doesn't have those characteristics. This blog, strictly speaking, is operational work. This is the example I usually give to differentiate projects and operations: a wedding is project (even the typically week-long Hindu wedding eventually ends); marriage is operations ('till death do us part).

**The pun, to a certain degree, is intended.

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Lessons Learned: Laguna Hills Leadership Seminar Oct 2009

2009-10-31T15:16:00.008+08:00

In last year’s leadership seminar, the overall objective was to come up with projects based on the 2008 World Youth Day message of the Pope. This year, the objective was simply to teach the participants some project management concepts and tools.

The tools I shared with them are the following:

Stakeholder Analysis
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)
Risk Register

We were given one 2-hour session each day for three days.

First session

10 minutes explaining what a project is
10 minutes spent dividing them into three groups, and asking each group to list down the top 3 projects among the people in their group. Among the 9 project, I selected a project for each based on its value as an example for the learning objective, as well as diversity (3 different kinds of projects)
They spent around 1 hour doing a workshop doing the following (a table with three columns)

Identifying their stakeholders
Identifying what each stakeholder contributes to the project
Identifying their leverage on each stakeholder (why would the stakeholder want to contribute to the project?)

I explained the concept of a sound business model (where each stakeholder is satisfied with the give-and-take). The example I gave was Gmail:

I then explained some additional things in a non-profit environment (eg, more non-tangibles, like the desire to serve and to make an impact).
Each group explained their table. Based on the sound business model concept, I gave some comments on their table (eg, would the sponsors really give you money based on the exposure you are giving them?)

Second session

I spent 15 minutes explaining the concept of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), including some examples
They then spent ~45 minutes creating a WBS for their project
I spent 10 minutes explaining what to do with the WBS they created (eg, Activity List, Schedule and Budget Estimates, Staffing, Project Control and Reporting and Risk Management)
We then talked about the Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) for around 10 minutes
They then spent ~15 minutes to brainstorm on the risks of their project using an RBS
I then asked them to score the risks in terms of probability and impact. They got the product between the two scores, and I asked them to pick the top 5
We talked about mitigation and contingency plans for each of their top risks and how they impact the scope of the project

Third session
I was planning to show them the following videos on motivation and success:

However, electricity was cut due to typhoon Santi, so we decided to cancel the third session.

Observations
2 hours is too long for a session. Put a video at the middle.

What I'll do next time
Session 1
0:00 – 0:15 Project and Project Management
0:15 – 0:30 Identifying stakeholders
0:30 – 0:45 What is their contribution to the project
0:45 – 1:00 They would contribute because...
1:00 – 1:20 Leadership video 1 (Dan Pink)
1:20 – 1:30 The sound business model
Assignment: explain why your project has a sound give-and-take model

Session 2
0:00 – 0:30 Assignment
0:30 – 0:40 The WBS
0:40 – 1:20 WBS workshop
1:20 – 1:40 Leadership video 2 (Itay Taglam)
1:40 – 1:50 The uses of the WBS

Session 3
0:00 – 0:10 The Risk Breakdown Structure
0:10 – 0:45 Risk Identification Workshop
0:45 – 1:00 Quantitative Risk Analysis (give me the top 5 most severe risks)
1:00 – 1:10 Leadership video 3 (Richard St. John)
1:10 – 1:40 Risk mitigation and contingency planning (I'll lead the discussion and show the impact of risk planning on the WBS)
1:40 – 1:50 Feedback

Documents
Project Management Tools Cheat Sheet (Stakeholder Analysis, WBS, RBS, Risk Register) (I was not able to hand this out due to typhoon Santi...)

Oct 2009 Leadership

2009-10-31T15:16:00.001+08:00

Organizing Research and Attendance to an Out-of-country Conference for Univeristy Students

2008-11-13T16:34:00.004+08:00

Documents

laguna hills - final output

2008-11-03T17:40:00.000+08:00

laguna hills - resources

2008-11-03T17:39:00.000+08:00

audience-media

2008-11-03T17:37:00.000+08:00

What this blog is also about

2008-11-01T17:41:00.002+08:00

This blog used to be only about project management lessons from organizing workcamps. Now, it will include lessons from organizing leadership activities for young volunteers.

Participant Feedback from the Oct08 Laguna Hills Planning Workshop

2008-11-01T17:27:00.004+08:00

What I'll continue to do

The framework seems to be working, so I'll continue that
Using post-its and Manila paper seems to work, so I'll continue with that as well
Having to explain to their peers ensures that they think through their plans as a team
Get feedback at the end of the seminar

What I'll start doing next time

Allot around 1.5 hours for the creation of project charters. Be present for consultations.
Since the next seminar will have the same objectives, the project charters of this one should be reviewed (so that centers could build on top of existing projects). This would also address the feedback that the examples were projects of a different kind

Raw Participant Feedback
What worked

The order of the discussion was good, discussing clearly the goals of each workgroup
The culminating activity w/c synthesizes all other workshops enabled the participant to concretize ideas through development of activities in the center
The process was very clear and well presented to us. The instructions on how to do a project charter was very organized
Good workshop activities because it develops critical thinking
Materials properly provided
The things that are needed to be done are explained properly
The procedure, method and topics for the workshops are good. It is enough for the students to come up with a charter.
Everything—workshops, sports (although it was a bit rough), food, venue, classes & talks
Was able to disseminate the message of the pope to the participants so that they may deliver it to their respective localities/study centers :-P (sic)
Good for knowing the true strengths and weaknesses of the study centers (i.e. “effective communicators”)
The workshops produced/encouraged a lot of good outputs (projects) from the participants
The workshops were instrumental in recalling the messages and lessons learned from world youth day 08
The groupings really helped a lot to the production of result as opposed to an individual approach
It was a good way to remind every youth regarding the Pope’s message during WYD08
The introduction of making a project charter is effective
The workshop topics are good and the reading materials are very helpful
Team discussions are well-organized and well-supervised
The process of breaking down the objectives and topics is also effective
The explanations were good
The process of making a project was explained very well
The order of the workshop was just right (the things to be done each day)
The collaboration of each group for each activity
The speaker was clear in giving instructions on what each one will do and the instruction itself
The steps and time (pressures) constraints were good. To improve them you’re gonna need more than 3 days or devote 2 whole days for this.
Also, the system of “assignments” does the trick for recharging creative juices by having the project formulation during free-time w/c are (more) precious than the workshop time…
Presenting them in front of a crowd every step ensured that the body has made it to the next level.
Good for starting new projects
Good topics, good delivery
Very much applicable
There is enough time to make outputs
Great lecture/easy to understand
Organized/step by step approach
Well planned topics and activities for the workshop
Resources are enough and ready in making the outputs, we just need really to think and conceptualize the project
Key persons are present and ready to help answering questions and queries
Step-by-step project conceptualization and dev’t
Project charter samples

What can be improved

Schedule of the talks – allotted time for the last workshop. Since concrete activities needed to be created, more time can be given to properly facilitate the development of projects
The allotted time for the creation of the project charter was lacking. Perhaps one full hour and a half would do.
The allotted time for each workshop is not enough. I think that for the preparation of the presentations there should be more specific times allotted for it to be done properly.
Very little time is allotted to write the charter. Also, there should be a minimum number of projects to be made (maybe 2).
Samples of charters should also be from past projects of some centers rather than from other countries.
There should be a preliminary seminar like this in preparation for this event in every center so that we would be more prepared about our proj and we will just improve here in the seminar.
More time for the workshop is needed, or a particular time is dedicated for the lecture independent of the “working time” and vice versa, instead of working during breaktime, so to monitor more the work
Lack of time to develop the projects so immediately give it to our directors
There were instances wherein the time constraints played a factor to the finishing of tasks
Lack of time for some activities
The allotment for the drafting/accomplishment of the project charter
Better materials for presentation (maybe powerpoints bec. post-its and manila paper are messy)
The time to prepare was not sufficient, more time could have been allotted for it
The message of the Pope should have been discussed by the whole class for even just a couple of minutes
The steps and time (pressures) constraints were good. To improve them you’re gonna need more than 3 days or devote 2 whole days for this.
Kulang sa oras yung formulating the project plan. It’s possible that the brainstorming session is abridged
Feedback on past/similar projects was not discussed—NOE of other centers (experience of the local councils of respective centers)
More examples of project charter (?)
Perhaps on time management, more time on preparation of outputs
Other inputs/projects which can be used as a basis
Project mgt handouts
List of possible references to help develop project (websites, blogs, etc)

How to facilitate workshops for student leaders to come up with project proposals based on certain themes

2008-11-01T17:07:00.011+08:00

This is how I conducted workshops for student leaders from different university centers from Metro Manila. Many of them attended the World Youth Day in Australia last June 2008. The objective of the workshops were to come up with activities in their respective centers that would transmit the message of the Pope to other people.

Here's the general framework of the workshop:
Overall:
Identify the audience --> Identify resources (what communication abilities do we have) --> Identify most pertinent messages for the audience --> projectize and create project charters

Per workshop:
Individual reflection (written down on post-its) --> Synthesize through group discussion (summarize in Manila paper and discuss to the other groups)

1.Preparation
Materials:

1 print-out per person of each of the messages of the pope (space efficient and format in MS Word)
Manila paper (at least 3 sheets per group)
Pentel pens (a lot)
Post-its (I brought 400 sheets of 3x3 in. Less than 100 was left after the workshops.)
Masking tape
Projector
1 laptop per group

Logistics

Enough space for discussion for each group
Enough time for

Individual reading and reflection on the messages of the pope

Introductions and workshops (around a total of 3 hours)

Creating project charters (I asked them to give the first draft after 10hours; however, there were only 2.5 hours of free time within those 10 hours; there were other activities; this was not enough)

Elevator pitch per team (1.5 hrs in total, but this depends on the number of groups and projects per group)

1.Introduction

We arrived in the venue at 6PM. Dinner was at 7. I asked another organizer, Mike, to lead an ice-breaker after dinner. It was a good one. Here's what he did:

He asked each one to think of an adjective which starts with the same letter as his first name

Each one introduces himself one-by-one with his adjective plus his first name (eg, Mighty Mike)

Certain people were asked to repeat the adjectives+names of the ones who already introduced (to let everyone hear people's names again and again)

After everyone has introduced themselves, the group is divided into 2

A game is then played. Each team selects a representative. The representative of the two teams face each other, but a large opaque piece of cloth is between them, so that they don't know who is the representative of the other team. The cloth is dropped. The first one to say the adjective+name of the representative of the other team, the one sitting right in front of the player, gets a point. The team chooses the next player and the game is played again. The representatives can use tactics like making funny faces to surprise the opponent and be the first one to say his opponent's adjective and name.

We then did the introduction to the workshop. I explained to them the purpose of the workshops, which is to come up with activities in their respective centers to transmit the message of the Pope in WYD 08. I explained in broad strokes the framework for the workshops, as well as the schedule. Two documents from the pope were given to each participant. They were asked to read through it and highlight or note down the messages that they think the pope wants them to transmit.

2.Individual reading of 2 documents from the pope
They were given 1.5 hours to do this, before we went to sleep.

3.Workshop 1 (Identifying your audience) – allot 45 min

This was our first activity in day 2. I passed the post-its around and each one got several. I asked them to write down the different groups of audiences around them who should get to listen to the message of the pope (around 5 min)
I then asked them to write down in separate sheets of post-its the different media which these people consume (around 5 min)

I asked them to break out into groups and come up with a summary per team (around 15 min)

I asked each group to have one of them explain their summary. Everyone went around all of the groups, listening to each explanation (less than10 min)

I then asked them to rate/prioritize their audiences and media. Who are the audiences who could further transmit the message of the pope? Who are the audiences who should be the first ones to target in communicating the message of the pope? What are most effective media among the ones listed down. (less than 10 min)
I asked each group to have one of them explain their summary. Everyone went around all of the groups, listening to each explanation (less than 10 min)

4.Workshop 2 (Identifying your resources) – allot 45 min

One important consideration in planning for non-profits is the current pool of resources, since the time and skill of people in your organization is usually your primary limitation. I asked them to write down the communication abilities of the people in the seminar who came from the same center as they. eg, writing, speaking, design, film, etc). This took around 5 min.
Next, I asked them to write down the abilities of people in their respective centers. In hindsight, I should have asked them to write the names of those people as well. This took around 5 min.
After, I asked them to write down the people with communication abilities who are not currently regular in the center but could be by helping out in communicating the messages of the pope. This took around 5 min.
They broke out into groups and came up with a summary per team (see pics below). This took around 15 min.
Everyone went around all of the groups, listening to the explanation of each team. This took around 10 min.

5.Workshop 3 (Identifying your message and linking them all together) – allot 45 min

I initially thought we would be able to complete these 3 workshops in 1.5 hours, or 30 minutes each. We extended by 15 minutes and Workshop 3 was not completed yet. We continued the day after. Each one individually wrote in their post-its the top 5 messages they got from the pope.
I asked them to discuss in their teams again. The were to select the most pertinent messages for each of their priority audiences. They were to then list down the people who could help out in these areas as well the the media they plan to use. At first, they were not very clear on what to do, so I explained it further by taking as an example their output from workshops 1 and 2, and creating the output. I told them that their output could be a table, a mindmap or an outline. The groups came up with tables or mindmaps (see below).
Again, everyone went around all of the groups, listening to the explanation of each team.

6.Creation of project charters and preparation for elevator pitch

I gave them an overview on how to create a project charter, showing some examples from the web. I then asked them to organize their output into projects. I then asked them to create project charters for each and submit the first draft in 10 hours. The time was not enough to create project charters. Next time, I'll include in the schedule time specifically for creating project charters. I'll act as some sort of consultant as they do the project charters. They were however able to create presentations for their elevator pitches. They are quite good.

Overview on creating project charters

Albay Workcamp 2008 Video

2008-09-09T21:27:00.004+08:00

By Andrew Villafuerte

If you find the resolution too low, try the version that uses Google Video.

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Albay Workcamp 2008 Video

2008-09-07T16:18:00.004+08:00

By Andrew Villafuerte

If this is doesn't work, try the version that uses Youtube.

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Fundraising Lessons Learned

2008-09-06T15:51:00.001+08:00

In the Philippine context it is more effective to ask donations from a wealthy few than to ask from a broad base. We actually concentrated on the latter approach. But the biggest donation (almost half of the total expense) came from a businessman from the locality where we did the Workcamp, a friend of one of our champions (I only suspect this since the person asked to be anonymous, and not even I know who the friend of my friend is).

Have funds for advancing pledges – this is especially applicable for donations from companies. They usually have bureaucratic processes for donations and would usually ask for a Deed of Donation so they could apply for a tax exemption. This takes a while to process. The earliest you can collect the donation might be after the Workcamp.

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Procurement Management Lessons Learned and Documents

2008-09-06T15:48:00.004+08:00

What worked

Have more than 1 supplier
Show vendors that you are conscientious about prices of materials –If your project is non-profit, people could think that you are not price-conscious. They can jack up prices if so. One must be price-conscious both in fact and in appearance, since one's ability to manage finances is directly proportional to the impact of the project.
Pay in chunks but regularly – I was warned by our host not to pay the caterer in full immediately. Instead, we were to pay, ideally, for each day of catering. The reason was that the caterer may not be used to managing the volume we required. If we paid in full the first day, it might happen that they give us fiestas for the first five days and starve us the rest of the Workcamp...
Certain vendors need to sign receipts – No need to do this for official establishments (e.g., the hardware had their own receipts), or for vendors which receive small and regular payments (e.g., the jeepney we hired to bring us to and from the site everyday). However, it proved to be very helpful for the payments to the caterer, since the payments were not uniform (they were based on head-count which was fluctuating daily). The procedure of signing a receipt for each payment forced the vendor to understand the way I was paying them. I gladly explained to them the payment plan one night when they approached me. We avoided misunderstandings (which are always nasty when it comes to money).

Daily food expense tracker and receipt

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Risk Management Lessons Learned and Documents

2008-09-06T15:43:00.007+08:00

This was the most sloppily managed aspect of the Workcamp. I cannot use my being a first-timer as an excuse. I could have organized a risk identification workshop with the people with Workcamp experience. But I didn't. So to make up for it, here's a post-project Risk Breakdown Structure for the Workcamp. I'm embarrassed to say this, but during the planning, I only identified two (2) risks, a storm and not having sufficient work for the volunteers (I'm an optimist). This RBS has more than 60 risks. It will be useful for the next Workcamp.

post-Workcamp Risk Breakdown Structure (download pdf)

What I'll do next time

Reuse this RBS
Have a risk identification workshop with my core team
Come up with a risk register with options for mitigation and contingency. See an example of a Risk Register.

Documents

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Communications Management Lessons Learned and Documents

2008-09-06T15:36:00.006+08:00

What worked

Making a communications management plan, as always, was quite helpful
A site visit prior to committing the project is a must
Budget for cellphone and long-distance bills
If you are using prepaid, bring extra credits to the site
Brochures, videos, newsletters and other media are useful for promoting future projects

What didn't work

I should have given more importance to communications with the local sponsors. I should have engaged them with the nitty-gritty of the project earlier than I did.

Documents

Workcamp 08 Communications Management Plan
Workcamp 08 Brochures (front) (back)
Workcamp 08 Newsletter
Workcamp 08 Video (Google Video) (Youtube)
Project summary for donors
Kick-off presentation to students at the start of the project (hack job)
Another presentation to students at the latter half of the project
A sample of the weekly report I gave to the major stakeholders

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Cost Management Lessons Learned and Documents

2008-09-06T15:31:00.005+08:00

What worked

Overall estimate was accurate – The overall cost of the Workcamp was within +5% to -5% of the estimate (including risk reserve). I expected higher, since this is my first time to manage a Workcamp. The category estimates, however, were more inaccurate. The overestimates and underestimates evened out, so the overall actual cost was near to the overall estimate. I consulted architects and construction contractors for estimates of materials given certain dimensions and plans, and asked suppliers for estimates of the prices of materials.
A glorified excel sheet – I have discovered an enhanced version of excel. It is extremely mobile and energy efficient, has an infinite battery life, no license cost and multi-user (with an option for concurrent usage). It is extremely useful for tracking expenses.

a future version of excel

Not carrying all the cash – The site was 30 minutes away from a city. And we brought our own van. So instead of carrying cash, we deposited to several ATM cards, and just withdrew cash as needed.
Included management reserve in the budget (buffer for unknown risks) – Part of the budget was for unknown risks. I pegged it at ~25% of the budget, since this was the first time I organized a Workcamp. This was also useful for positive risks (ie, opportunities). Instead of painting just one classroom, we decided to paint three.
Having some accounting background – I did accounting work for a non-profit for around two years before this Workcamp. Since I did not have any formal accounting training, those were two painful years. But accounting, it turns out, is one of the most useful things in life. For the Workcamp, it was quite useful. Creating the financial reports were straightforward, but it wouldn't have been that simple if I didn't acquire the habit of accounting for each single centavo.

What didn't work

Category estimates were way off the mark:
Food: 15% lower than budgeted (we were 27% fewer than expected). Food was 32% of the total expense.
Transportation of volunteers: 50% higher than budgeted. In the last minute, I decided to bring only 1 van. Most of the volunteers had to take the bus. I was supposed to be the driver for other van, but I did not want to have on my shoulders the risk of driving teenagers in a 13-hour drive. My estimate was also not sufficiently conservative. Transportation, like food, was 32% of the total expense.
Transportation of materials: I was not able to anticipate this. This ended up being 4% of the expense.

Documents

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Time Management Lessons Learned and Documents

2008-09-06T15:21:00.008+08:00

What worked
1) Combined school and project calendar – combining important schedules made it easier to plan
2) Detailed and comprehensive schedule for times with a lot of interrelated tasks by several people – Zooming-in the most critical days (getting the materials and volunteers from Manila to Sto. Domingo)
3) You don't need MS Project!
I prefer to use the simplest tool I can use to accomplish a task. In this case, I used a spreadsheet for the schedule. In my opinion, you only need to use MS project (or other specialized PM software) when:

There are a lot of tasks distributed to many resources
You need to make repeated computations that are automated by PM software (e.g., Earned Value, resource billing)

What didn't work
1) What is useful for the project manager may not be useful for others - The detailed and comprehensive schedule was very useful for me as a project manager. However, it did not work for one of the people responsible. The leadership personnel exchange at the middle of the workcamp was a bit complicated (a four-man exchange with a requirement that at least two are always present in the site). I had to go home 1 day earlier than planned :-( since there was a miscommunication. I should have made a clearer schedule model just for the personnel exchange.

Documents

Combined school and project calendar
Comprehensive schedule (includes a to do list for the leadership team)
Workcamp Daily Schedule

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Scope Management Lessons Learned and Documents

2008-09-06T15:04:00.013+08:00

What worked
1) Using mindmaps and mindmapping software for the work breakdown structure (WBS).

Very useful for project control. I colored the completed tasks green. This gives a very visual way of seeing how far you are in the completion of the project tasks.
Gives you an idea of what type of work to expect. For this project, half of the WBS was taken up by logistics. This was a pretty accurate prediction of the actual project work.
The software I used was Mindman, which has a 1998 freeware copyright. Mindmapping software seems to be a commodity; there does not seem to be significant differences between mindmapping software. Mindman is one of the first mindmapping software I got hold of, given by my manager back in P&G. It never occurred to me to look for another one, not because it is a brilliantly written software, but simply because I did not feel the need for anything more.

The WBS of the Albay Workcamp
See how the logistics branch takes up half of the WBS
Download the PDF of this here

2) Have some rigidity with the scope...

We pinned down certain aspects of the scope like venue and dates as soon as possible. These are needed for marketing, fundraising and some of the logistics. Changing them entails a lot of replanning and rework, so it is very important to agree on these as soon as possible with the major stakeholders. I worked with some very opinionated people, so I had to defend the scope a few times from brilliant ideas :-P

3) ...but some flexibility as well

One has to remember that the purpose of the project is not really to fulfill the documented project scope to the letter, but to make the vision of the project a reality. In this case, the purpose was not really to “install ceilings to damaged classrooms;” it was to help a community and at the same time form young men through that act of helping. My natural tendency was zealous adherence to the documented scope, schedule and budget. Fortunately, I had some iron-willed people with me who counteracted my rigidity. The original scope was just painting of one classroom. We ended up painting three. We went over-budget, but it was worth it.
I was more open—quite enthusiastically open—to innovations in solutions. For instance, I thought we could use insulators rather than plywood to act as ceilings. These would be cheaper and better at insulating from heat. I had some resistance from a risk-averse stakeholder. But when one of our informal consultants (a construction expert) suggested the same thing, I shamelessly made use of his authority, and we ended up with the insulator solution.
One has to be even more flexible using solutions one is not familiar with, like using the insulator. Since we were not planning to put a plywood ceiling to cover the insulated roof, the flimsy insulator attached to the wooden frames with tiny staples had to be reinforced. Many decisions had to be done on the fly. The original option was to cover it with chicken wire. It would have cost us around 25% of the total budget if we did that. I decided to have us make our own lattices using aluminum wires held in the intersections by mushroom nails. The regular mushroom nail turned out to be too difficult to drive in the wood (for our untrained arms hammering up side down). Fortunately, we discovered a thin type of nail with a plastic “mushroom head.” No one else seems to have been using it, so the hardware store was only too eager to get rid of that old inventory (I think we got it at a discount). It worked perfectly. Most of these decisions were made in the hardware store as we took a look at the different materials available. It was fun. I almost felt like McGyver.

Documents and software
1) Workcamp 08 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in PDF

Includes post-Workcamp additions (unanticipated tasks)
Historical WBS's are useful for planning similar projects

2) Workcamp 08 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in mindman
3) Mindman software (shareware)

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Integration Management Lessons Learned and Documents

2008-07-11T17:58:00.011+08:00

In the typically dry language of the PMBOK: “The Project Integration Management Knowledge Area includes the processes and activities needed to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project activities within the Project Management Process Groups.”

What worked

Making a project charter organically. I did not follow a template, but created one from need (the way it should be). There were four sets of stakeholders: the beneficiaries, the non-profit group, the volunteers and the donors. The project charter, or at least its equivalent, is the project summary I made for primarily the prospective donors. Another “project charter” is the presentation I gave to students.
Project management plans. E.g., communications management plan.
Weekly project reporting to the non-profit leadership team. At certain points where I was a bit immersed in my day job, the reporting forced me to see where I was behind in the project.
Still to come (part of project closure): news-letter and video (for showing to the sponsors and for marketing for future workcamps)

What didn't work

I should have planned to manage the fundraising better. For instance, we could have asked for gifts in kind like transportation rather than just money. For projects like the workcamp, fundraising should be a section in itself in the management plans.
Some misses in project closure. E.g., volunteer satisfaction survey, lessons learned sessions with the volunteers and the non-profit leadership team. This should have been documented as part of the closure section of the integration management plan.
Preparing the team. I was not able to plan this well. This only turned out well because Paul, the director of Maynilad, took charge of this. Next time, how this is to be managed should be included in the management plans. I think this was very helpful in getting the team to mesh.

What I'll do next time

Plan out fundraising better
Plan out closure better
Plan out volunteer team preparation better

Documents

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Project Initiation – Gathering Lessons from Previous Projects

2008-06-27T18:45:00.007+08:00

What worked

Asking people with a lot of experience organizing workcamps (I asked two guys who have lead a non-profit called UCF)
Asking “what questions should I ask?”
Including project management work, particularly gathering of lessons learned from similar project in the past, in my work breakdown structure
The experienced workcamp PM's having documentation (see below)
Having contacts with different expertise (e.g., my architect friend helped a lot in estimating the materials needed)

What I'll do next time (or now)

Paying forward—what I'm trying to do with this blog. The handbook, templates and notes of experience that UCF provided was extremely helpful. I'm hoping to share my lessons learned as well.

Documents

UCF Workcamp Organizer's Manual (An excellent document. Thank you Jun!)
Questions to ask the prospective hosts (compiled from the organizers manual and correspondences with UCF)
Sample letter to hosts (from UCF):

I am currently scouting for possible volunteering activity for Taiwanese and Hongkong Chinese volunteers on January 2008. The Taiwanese volunteers are organized by xxxx, while the Hongkong Chinese are organized by xxxx.

I would like to seek your assistance in exploring volunteering opportunities in Cebu. I am looking for organizations (NGOs, Pos, Community Orgs, LGUs) who are willing to host volunteers for a few weeks to help in their programs and projects. For your reference, mentioned below are the preferences of the volunteers:

1. Type of work: basic manual work not requiring specialized skills such as digging ditches, painting, basic construction work, etc.

2. The manual work should be part of a project of a local organization of any of the following kind:

a. Social projects for cultural minorities, children, and elderly people.

b. Environmental projects such as tree-nurseries, tree-planting, cleaning of rivers and the sea, construction of educational paths in protected areas.

c. Educational projects such as classroom repair and renovation in schools.

d. Reconstruction projects such as repair of public or community buildings destroyed by disasters.

e. Rural development and renovation projects such as community infrastructure work.

f. Low-cost housing for under-privileged families.

g. Cultural heritage preservation (with assistance from professional experts) such as renovation of historical structures, repair or renovation of churches/chapels.

3. Group accommodations for 10-15 boys of a dormitory-type. It could be a big room where they could lay their sleeping beds with toilet facilities.

4. Food could be prepared by local cooks for breakfast, lunch and supper.

5. Tap water for toilet use, preferably.

Please let me know of possible work activity (scope of work and estimated cost of materials). Then we can do an ocular site visit. During the site visit, negotiations could be made to identify the job description, cost of materials and other things.

University Center Foundation (UCF) is a private NGO based in Metro Manila. Among its programs is the International Volunteer Service Program (IVSP) where UCF coordinate with some foreign organizations to undertake volunteer projects that could benefit local communities. For more information, please visit our website, http:\\ucf.ph.

Thank you for your time and best regards.

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