Scenario 3: The Effect of Losing Staff Members during a Staff Reduction

Additional Scenario Information Six months into the project, the client reviews the progress and issues a stop-work order. The main issues identified during their review: There were different expectations about the complexity of graphics in course development and course materials. There were different opinions about the level of marketing required (marketing a course versus the entire academy, no post-course promos, etc.). There were issues with instructors. There were instances where instructors had rescheduled on multiple occasions or cancelled. There were concerns about the subject matter experts (SMEs). SMEs had been hired outside of the budgeted amount. There were also concerns about the SMEs not providing the level of technical writing expertise required, which resulted in having to hire additional technical writers. DRA PS addressed some of these concerns by removing the videotaping requirement during the analysis phase and removing the repeat courses that were going to be offered during the final contract year. By eliminating videotaping and repeat courses, the remaining courses to be developed and presented were stretched over the rest of the contract (2 ½ years). This means that instead of developing and offering the 15 courses using two teams in a staggered fashion over two years, DRA PS must reduce staff. Currently there are three senior instructional designers, six graphic artists, three document specialists, six technical writers, three subject matter experts, and two editors assigned to the teams. Your subject matter experts are consultants under contract. You don’t want to lose your staff, but you may have no choice but to let some go. Some of the employees resign when they hear the news. Three instructional designers quit and the remaining three are searching for new jobs. All your technical writers have résumés out to potential employers. Your senior graphics lead, a person you count on, has a job offer with another organization. What will you do to maintain a staff to meet the contractual changes and ensure a quality product? What can you do to retain your employees and instill confidence that the program is stable?