Self-Reflection 1

Isabella Jeambey
Glover
PMG 320
29 November 2022

Part 1: What Does it Take?

“We define Project management as the allocation, tracking, and utilization of resources to

achieve a particular objective within a specified period of time.” (Managing, pg11) This

definition has helped show the overall view of project management in one sentence. This course

broke down the meaning into smaller and smaller details, and I learned how people put this

definition into play by using many different things. These things include frameworks such as a

WBS or something simple like meetings. I knew that a large web of things goes into a project,

regardless of size or capacity. In the first part of my discussion, I want to report what I believe

are the essential components to project planning and project management. I found the four most

critical components: effective communication, organization, awareness, and risk management.

“Communication is key.” Communication was needed unless you wanted to fail. I learned that

teams communicate on a multitude of levels, and there are specific ways to do it to be effective

and efficient. There were many ways that poor communication made projects fail. An example is

people not being upfront with problems if they saw them, which inevitably caused the project to

crumble—chapter 4 of “managing projects large and small” discussed how people communicate

with each other. Also, the book discussed stand-up meetings. These are meetings where everyone

stands up and usually goes pretty quickly. These processes work because nobody wants to stand;

therefore, the information needed to be said is said and it doesnt drag along. This is an example

of how communication is within the team. Moving outside of the group, such as sponsors, could
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Look a bit different such as in-person one-on-one or emails. Communication is always

happening and is one piece of the train that keeps the project running.

“A good system shortens the road to the goal. ~ Orison Swett Marden.” Organizing continues to

make goals or problems smaller the more you do them. In this course, we learned many different

ways to organize and how project managers use these daily to keep the team on track. We learned

about the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) and a WBS dictionary. These are tools used to

outline a project, what needs to be done, and who does it. Organizing also pops up in defining a

project's objective and scheduling. Also, in the most critical part of the project planning process,

the triple constraint, organization will be your best friend.

Since I was a kid, I have learned always to think ten steps ahead. Thinking ahead or not shows

how aware you are of yourself or a situation. Being aware of where the project is going or where

your team is is critical. This ties into things such as your scope. If you are aware of your scope,

you can avoid falling into a sunk-cost trap, and this is when you continue to chase after a project

when it fails. Another example is being aware of risks within your project or outside of it. These

are two examples that, if you are not aware of them, can cause significant problems. Also, you

need to be mindful of due dates for things such as prototypes and deliverables because if not,

they'll surprise you and, if missed, can cause massive problems.

Lastly, Risk management can be the “be all to end all” of your project. If risks aren't assessed

correctly will cause issues in the future. We learned that multiple types of risks are dealt with

daily pertaining to projects. We also learned how to manage or mitigate risks. The baseline for

managing risks is collecting ideas and identifying internal and external threats. With the
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information you gather, you create a plan if any of the risks occur on how you will deal with it.

Also, small action that can be taken is hosting a pre-mortem, so you dont have to host a

post-mortem. Risks can hit the project in a matter of seconds, and if you aren't prepared, the train

will stop chugging permanently.

There are four main priorities regarding project management, Effective communication,

organization, awareness, and risk management. These lay the foundation for projects and are

connected like a game of Jenga. If one brick falls, the whole project will come collapsing down.

Part 2: A Look in the Mirror

I am a barista at Starbucks with the hope to promote to shift supervisor. The idea of project

management might not directly apply to this scenario, but it has helped me see why my manager

does things the way she does. Throughout the course, it has made me have multiple aha moments

and look at some situations differently. It has helped me learn to take something from different

perspectives and asses them with those numerous views. I have gained knowledge of my

strengths and weaknesses and how I have changed.

Going through this course and life, I have learned my strengths. I have always been a person who

is big on communication. I have gone through life with people not communicating and, in turn,

making my life somewhat unhappy. I vowed to myself that I would establish a culture of good

communication in all of my relationships, whether personal or professional. Also, organization is

my specialty. I love making lists because it feels good to cross something off them. Likewise, I

always plan my day the day before, so I dont miss anything. Staying organized helps keep me
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sane. Lastly, I am a big team player. I can work alone, and sometimes I prefer it, but I know your

team needs to feel supported to perform to the best of their ability. I used to play soccer, and

there was a team full of very cocky girls who didn't support each other, and we lost every game.

On the other hand, I had a team where we were all friends, there were no cliques, and we won

99% of our games.

I have also learned about my weaknesses. I have always had the issue of not knowing when to

stop, but it's gotten better throughout the years. Some things in this world aren't meant to come

into reality, and that's okay, but dragging out projects can be detrimental to your triple constraint.

My subsequent weakness that I noticed was being able to think outside of the box. While

learning risk management, I had yet to think about how issues from the outside can affect the

project on the inside. I learned that you need to asses from every angle possible to ensure all the

bases are covered.

Throughout the course, I have improved on my once-weak qualities. First is my ability to

implement the ideas learned into my own life quickly. An example I can think of is from doing

the WBS dictionary. I started guestimating how much time things would take in my day, which

has helped improve my productivity. It also helps me think through my day to make sure im

manageable with tasks. The next improvement I've noticed is my confidence in decision-making.

Taking this course has made me gain confidence in my work and skills. I now feel I can make the

right decisions based on what I have learned. An example is at work, my manager will ask me

questions they would ask a shift supervisor, and the knowledge I have gained has helped me

greatly.
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I have greatly enjoyed taking this class and being able to asses myself along the way. After this

course, I have gained knowledge, self-awareness, and joy. During this class, I had a moment of

pure joy knowing I had made the right decision to switch my major. My skills might not be

perfect right now, but I can't wait for the day when I can say im close to perfect.