How to establish the right project team from the start

They say there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’, and it's definitely true that bringing the right people together from the beginning of your online assessment project is crucial to your success. You should make sure to involve all relevant stakeholders to cover every aspect of the implementation project. In this article, we give you a practical overview of whom to involve. 

The time required from the people involved will, of course, depend on the scope of the project. Is your e-assessment pilot a part of a bigger rollout plan or is it just testing on a very limited scale? Either way, we recommend that the following areas should be covered:

• a project team
• a reference group for the project
• a superuser group
• a steering group/committee 

Now, let’s take a closer look at the teams and groups mentioned above.

Project team

The project team should include representatives from all departments in order to cover all the requirements and needs of the project. The members of the project team should have a dedicated role in the project. You should include:

• Project manager
• Staff working in different parts of the organisation
• Administration/Exam office
• Representatives that cover the needs of:
  • Graders/markers 
  • Invigilators
• IT department

Reference group

The reference group should contain staff members and students that will be able to test and comment on the processes and the product throughout the project. We recommend that at this early stage, your reference group should only consist of 4-6 people who have volunteered to be actively involved and invested in the project. Your user group could consist of 1-2 representatives from the academic staff, 1-2 people from the IT department, an ICT professional, and 1 or 2 students.

Superuser group and the ‘train the trainer concept’

The superuser group should include those you are planning to involve during the project, e.g. authors and markers. At Inspera we use the ‘train the trainer concept’. We help you establish a group of superusers with good knowledge of Inspera Assessment and the different possibilities within the tool. The superuser group should be your first line of support for questions related to Inspera Assessment. The group needs participants that can take responsibility to continually train new users in your organisation.

It is common to have some overlap between the members of the project team and the superuser group. You could include:

• Staff working in different parts of the organisation
• Administration/Exam office
• Graders 
• Invigilators
• IT department

Steering group/committee

The project members should be able to raise important decisions and risks to the steering group/committee. This way, any issues can be resolved quickly, allowing the project to progress in a timely manner. You should include:

• Decision-makers
  • Representatives from management
• Representatives from the teachers/staff involved
• End-user representatives (students/candidates)

The project manager should report to the steering group.

Communicating the benefits of online assessments

The move to online assessment leads to transformation and new opportunities for every student and staff member involved in the exam process. Communicating the benefits and implications of online assessments is important when setting up your team. Read more about how the transition affects your different stakeholders and which benefits you can highlight in the ‘Why online assessment’ section.

You can also learn more in our ultimate guide for everyone who wants to plan and roll out a digital assessment project. Use our templates when planning your pilot project. Download the free eBook.