Christian Parrish

OGl 321

Professor Wisehart

Oct. 9, 2020

Part 1

When I first took the assessment on how good my project management skills were I had

little experience with any form of project management beyond self-managing a team. I knew I

was terrible at scheduling and planning, and I had problems with delegating responsibilities as

well. These skills were addressed over the course of the semester in the readings as well as the

simulations, and I was able to take aspects of the course and directly apply them to my current

work situation. These area I found the most helpful was delegating and leading through service.

When at work I tend to take entire projects on by myself or micro-manage the projects so they

are done to my standard. However once I realized that my team members were more capable

than I gave them credit for and that delegating and instructing through showing were effective

tools that allowed me to focus on my tasks while still getting the work done, the shifts I worked

started running much more smoothly.

My personal approach to leadership has always been one of working alongside my

coworkers or team members. I hate managing from afar, as I feel it creates a rift between my

workers and myself as they think I am unable or unwilling to do the work myself. I also find that

working alongside my team members shows them that the tasks I hand out are important to the

overall goal and that I am not out of touch with the project. During the simulations I valued

employee morale over budget or deadlines, and often focused on deadlines over the budget. I
found that this increased employee productivity, and we could often hit the deadline if not come

in under budget. Obviously any amount of money can be thrown at a problem, and I ran into this

mentality with the simulation, I would often add more team members or push for a higher

product at the cost of the budget because my fictional job wasn’t on the line like it might be in

real life.

My goal with my future career has always been to work in some form of creative industry

where each day presents new challenges, and I can use my energetic attitude to contributor to the

company. I have been looking at working for various graphic design firms, video and audio

companies, and marketing firms all of which appeal to me. In these environments project

managers are a little less rigid in their approach, as the jobs themselves demand flexibility. In

these jobs deadlines are often rigid and morale is of utmost importance in order to produce top

product. Depressed and stressed workers are less creative after all. Skills like having a flexible

management style and being knowledgeable and willing to step in and help on aspects of the

project are important, as well as proper scheduling and time management. Scheduling is

particularly important as many people in the creative arts sector work from home or remote

locations, and time zones must be kept in mind as well as shifting schedules in order to get the

product out in time.

Part 2

 Suggestion 1:

o The deadline of the project can be changed! I didn’t learn this until the later

simulations, but it makes a huge difference. You receive different feedback from

your team based on how close or far away the deadline is. Adjust this for a week

or two to get different feedback, especially if you are planning on having a

 project done early. There is nothing worse than working for a closer deadline and

finding out near the end that you won’t make it.

 Suggestion 2:

o Make sure to listen to your team! Your team responses aren’t just there as filler;

each suggestion offers insight into what is troubling or pleasing your team. For

example, a common response I received was, “We have earned all we can from

you.” This response was most common when I had one-on-one meetings

scheduled and the team didn’t need that personalized learning anymore. This told

me I could drop the meetings and save an hour for other tasks throughout the day.

 Suggestion 3:

o Change team members up to save money or make a final push! You can add or

remove team members at any point during the simulation, as well as change their

skill level. You will take a small drop in your productivity until the new team gets

to working well together, but if you have the budget to spare, add another worker

or two to help bring that deadline closer! You can also change to less higher

skilled workers, or reduce the skill level and add more basic workers. This can

help in earlier simulations as the printers are not as complex, and more workers

can lead to better results.