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Meghan Harrington

OGL 321

Professor Wisehart

October 9, 2020

Final Paper

During the course of this class we were assigned various readings, discussions, and

simulations that aided and taught us about various aspects of project management and project

leadership. I spent many hours reflecting on my experiences and hopes of the kind of leader and

manager I am and will become. As I continue my education and training, I hope and plan to take

much of what this course taught me and use it to propel me forward as I continue to develop.

One thing that I have learned is the value of advice and knowledge from previous leaders, and

how to properly give and receive these bits of information. I hope that during this formal

reflection, I will continue to gain more insight into how and what I have learned and help those

who will continue on the same or similar path that I have chosen.

In the beginning of this course, I completed a self-assessment of some of my current

experiences, skills, and talents as a project manager. I decided to revisit and complete it once

more, to help see where I have grown and how I can continue to develop. It became very clear to

me that communication comes fairly easily to me, but it is still something that I can struggle with

depending on the situation. I also found that I very much need to work on cost management and

scope management. I believe that many of the things I want to work on, will become easier as I

gain more experience in the world of project management. Sometimes I think my lack of actual

leadership experience makes it difficult for me to fully understand how project management
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works, but I know that I will continue to grow as I have more opportunities and experiences

within my personal and professional lives. I know that I have a long way to go before I feel like

the kind of project manager, I know I can be, but I have grown a fair amount during this course.

Between this class, my other courses, and work experience, I have been able to exercise many of

these skills and am happy with my progress thus far.

The Harvard simulation portion of this class gave me a great baseline idea of the kind of

leader I was, am, and where I can work on growing. I very much enjoyed the different scenarios

we ran through, and the knowledge I gained from the different problems and relationships within

the simulation. The simulation scenarios grew in challenge, but particularly the final scenario,

taught me so much. My personal approach to leadership changed depending on the challenges

presented to me and my team. Some scenarios, I was more focused on team morale, while others

I tried to be more conscious of the deadline. I found that generally I preferred to deliver a project

on time, with high morale, choosing to sacrifice the budget. I think this was an easy trade off,

given the lack of real-world consequences. I realize that in many projects, sticking to the budget

may be the top priority when it comes to project constraints. The biggest thing that I took a way

from the simulations were the idea that the triple constraint in project management is incredibly

difficult to balance, and in most situations, impossible to be perfectly met. In many situations, a

project is successful but not perfect given the constraints. The overall quality of a project is often

determined by this triangle, but often times, one must give a little for the rest to be met. As a

project leader, it is our responsibility to acknowledge that, and work through those challenges to

deliver the best quality project we can with the resources we have. The biggest challenge I have

with this idea, is knowing that it is okay, trade offs are expected and usually required, and that

the success of a project is not contingent on every constraint being met perfectly. I have learned
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that this is when communication with stakeholders and project clients is critical. Knowing where

and what they are willing to sacrifice, and the expectations and capabilities of the team allows

everyone involved in a project to have realistic understanding of the progress of a project and

have the same vision for the final project/product.

Another aspect of the simulation experiences that I found useful was how easily these

skills can be applied to various work setting. Dealing with a project scope, costs, deadlines, etc.

are the same kinds of skills used to complete tasks of work with a team in virtually any

professional setting. In my near future career path, I hope to be a physicians assistant. This

sounds like it would not directly relate to leadership, but it is surprising how many of the skills

are incredibly applicable to being a physician’s assistant and the work that comes along with it.

As a physician’s assistant, I would be working with a patient, alongside a team of medical

professionals. Now, I would not be the leader on most of my patient’s cases, but I would be a

form of leadership withing that team. In project management terms, this is how it would relate to

my job; stakeholders could be the hospital, clinic, and even doctors or surgeons I work with or

for. The project client would be my patient. My team members would be the multitude of

different nurses, medical/clinical assistants, and the certified nurse assistants that work on the

same cases. In some situations, I would be the project manager (head of care), while other times I

would be something in between the manager and a team member, almost like a supervisor role.

The project itself, would be the chief complaint coming from the patient. After I framed my

career perspective as such, it was clear to me that understanding project management and

utilizing the skills that come along with it, would bolster my capabilities as a physician’s

assistant. I feel like many medical professionals focus on only learning medical or biological

sciences and lack a more well-rounded education or training. I feel like better understanding how
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to work in a team, multitask, communicate, and plan/manage risks are skills that very much

apply to my future position, even if it is not as obvious as may other skills related to such a

career. The few skills that I mentioned are key components in being a successful project

manager, but also a physician’s assistant. I genuinely believe that understanding project

management can help professional.

For those who have never experienced the Harvard simulation, at first it can be a little

difficult to understand and comprehend. There are many ways that one can be better prepared to

enter the scenarios, and ideas that I wish I had when I began them. The three biggest areas of

advice I could give to someone starting the simulation for the first time are the casual

relationships within the scenarios, managing and understanding the constraints, and defining

success in terms of managing a project.

One of the biggest aspects of the scenario that I did not fully understand until the third or

fourth scenario was that different parts of the scenario and decisions you make, affect the overall

quality of the completed project. There are obvious things, like how spending money changes

your ability to maintain the budget, or the amount of team members affecting when the project

would be completed, etc. Aside from the obvious relationships, there are many underlying

aspects that I wish I would have better understood. Having prototypes during the development,

help the team members understand the project and with their overall efficiency. This is due to the

fact that prototypes will help work out issues that may not have been thought about or realized

during development. Outsourcing and the level of outsourcing, can be a huge benefit to your

budget, but could also take away from the efficiency and understanding of the team members.

Holding weekly processes can be both beneficial and detrimental to a project, depending on

when how and what is deployed. Sometimes the processes can take up valuable time the team
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needs to complete tasks but can also help them better understand the project and the expectations

of the stakeholders. Using or encouraging overtime is something that I used the majority of the

time, but I noticed that it also drove down morale when they felt like the project was understood

and on track. I would say that taking the time to make notes of different strategies, what went

right and wrong, and your thoughts along the way, is very valuable and can completely change

your experience in the scenarios. The simulation is so much deeper than I first realized, but that

depth is exactly why it is such a valuable tool. I realized fairly quickly that you get as much as

you put into the simulation, and I am glad that I took the time to take notes and reflect during

each run through of the different scenarios.

The second piece of advice relates to managing and understanding the three main

constraints of a project. These constraints are the classic constraints you have with any project.

Time, cost, and scope, all dictate the success and quality of a project in the real world and the

simulation. Cost is obviously the budget, time is the deadline, and scope is what your team is

currently work toward completing. The various choices you make effect aspects of these

constraints and how they work together to deliver the completed project. Understanding that it is

nearly impossible to get a perfect score no everything the simulation grades you on will help in

understanding your progress, how you can or should change your strategy, and ultimately help

prioritize what trade offs you feel you should make. Be willing to try a variety of approaches and

strategies to see what aspects bring the most success in balancing these constraints.

My final piece of advice from newbies to the simulation, is understanding what project

success means and adjust expectations to be realistic. I went into the simulation with hopes and

expectations that I would meet every constraint perfectly every single time. This was dead

wrong. Through working on the simulation, I learned that every project and team is unique. How
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you approach each project should be different, based on the resources that are available to you.

Being okay with imperfection will allow you to find greater success, as ironic as that may be.

Find comfort in knowing that trade offs are real, but that is also what make a project flexible and

alive. Be willing to make sacrifices because sometimes they truly pay off.

Overall, this course has given me so much to think about and have helped me realize the

skills I have and the ones I lack. I know that I will be better prepared for project management and

leadership because of this class. I hope that as I continue on my professional development and

journey, that I will remember the valuable lessons and wisdoms that I was able to take away

from the experiences I gained from the learning materials and simulation.