Running head: OGL 321 Module 7 1

Lindsey Mills

OGL 321: Module 7

Professor Ben Pandya

February 28, 2021

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Project management plays a vital tool in today’s business world and can be defined in

many ways. Project management is defined by HBE (2004) as the allocation utilization and

allocation of resources to achieve a specific goal within a very specific period. This course has

taught me that being a project manager is more than just managing tasks or people, it is about

leadership as well. Projects only last for short periods of time, and as a leader, I’ve learned that

this presents the project leader with a brief amount of time that is concentrated and this takes

genuine effort to influence the project team in such a way that creates positive results and

generates an environment that people want to work in.

Part 1

Project Manager vs. Project Leader

One of the key learnings for me during this course has been defining the role of a project

manager and a project leader. Before this course, I thought they were the same. I have learned

through this course that management is different than leadership. The Harvard Simulation taught

me that being a project manager is more than just being a supervisor over a project. Managers

make sure tasks get done. They communicate with stakeholders. They keep projects on track.

And the manager is operationally driven. Leaders, however, coach, teach and offer one on one

support, developing people in the process of management. Project leaders want their team

members to be self-sufficient, grow and learn through the life cycle of a project. In this course,

having the ability to practice these skills through the Harvard Simulation was very eye-opening. I

learned that for my project team to be successful they not only needed a project manager that

would keep them on track task-wise but one who would also be available to coach with one-on-

one support throughout the life of the project. I learned that on some weeks I did not have

enough coaching and during those times, the team would feel that the project was doomed for
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failure because of the lack of communication and support. Being a worthy project manager

means also learning to be a good coach and support person for the project team.

Self-reflection OGL 320

In OGL 320, the course before this, I had the opportunity to take a quiz “How Good Are

Your Project Management Skills?”. When I took this quiz a few months ago I did not feel

confident in my project management skills. Looking back on my reflection from this module I

scored a 71 which meant that I had an average understanding of what it means to manage

projects. When I took the quiz back then, I think I had a mindset of manager versus leader. One

of the areas I used to struggle in was the concept of “false starts”. I was able to get a project

started and have strong results in the beginning and middle of a project but I was unable to see

these results come into full fruition by the project deadline. In this course, I have learned that

project leadership is a key component to avoiding these “false starts”. This course has taught me

that leadership by way of coaching and development of the team is one of the ways to bring a

team through the entirety of a project. I can see this is because the team feels supported and

perhaps gains vital skills along the way by way of the one-on-one training and preparation done

so by the leader.

It was eye-opening to take this quiz again a few days ago after completing this course. I

did score a few points higher this time with a 74. Although, I was somewhat disappointed that I

am not in the highest category of “accomplished project manager”. What this tells me is that I

still have room to grow and learn how to be a better project leader. This course has taught me

through the Harvard Simulation how project scope, schedule, leadership, and communication

play critical roles in having successful projects. The simulation was an opportunity to practice

how I would respond as a project leader through various scenarios. Projects are unpredictable
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and throughout the course, these simulations became increasingly difficult. I enjoyed these

challenges because they caused me to think about my leadership approach. As I made decisions

in each of the scenarios, I could experience whether or not these helped or hindered the project's

progress.

Communication Style

One specific area that I have grown in throughout this course is communication. I have

learned that as a project leader communication is critical to the success of any project. The

Harvard Simulation taught me that the level of communication is directly linked to the skill level

of the project team. Throughout the course, there were weeks when the simulation required team

members that were highly skilled to complete the complexities required. I learned that the higher

the skill of the team members the communication approach from me as the project leader

changed. Members that had a high skill level did not need as much one on one coaching from

me. In fact, in some cases, they would say “we can’t learn anything more from you”. This was an

indication to scale back the communication. I learned that too much communication through

team meetings and one on one connections, actually took away precious time that the team

needed to work on the project and complete the deadlines. Team members that had lower skills

needed more one-on-one coaching to be successful. I found that in some simulations I needed to

have one on one coaching more than once a week. I have taken this knowledge and applied this

to my current role as a Store Manager and the leadership team I have at Starbucks. I have

changed my communication approach with my shift supervisor leadership team. My current

leadership team consists of 3 shift supervisors that have more than 2 years’ experience in the

role. The other 2 have one year or less of experience in their current leadership positions. During

our meetings, I discovered that some of the information was too complex for my supervisors
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with less experience. I found that after our meetings they would both have multiple questions and

I realized that they needed more one-on-one coaching support. Our meetings are typically one

hour long. I needed to come up with a strategy so that my team could get the most out of our one

hour together despite the different skill sets that my team has. I decided that what I needed to do

was change the schedule. For one of my leaders Emily, who needs additional support, I decided

to meet with her 30 minutes before our leadership team meeting. For the other, Katie, we now

meet 30 minutes after the team meeting is over. This change in the schedule has helped our team

immensely. I have found that I can answer their questions before the meeting and or clarify

complex topics after the meeting is over. This means that during the team we are all together we

can focus on our stores' goals and I no longer need to worry that the less experienced leaders are

falling behind.

My Project Management Approach

In this course, I have learned more about how I approach my team and how I handle team

projects. Through the sequence of decision-making in the Harvard Simulation, I have seen how I

emphasize various aspects of team dynamics and how I approach project work. Each week

during the simulation we would earn points based on team morale and stress. This is something

that I found myself consumed with. Each week of the scenario I strived to keep the team happy

during these simulations. One of the reasons why I think I am stressed over team morale is

because this is something that I strive to keep under control in my current role. At Starbucks one

of the major responsibilities of a Store Manager is to maintain a working environment that is one

where people feel they are supported and maintain positive morale. While this does not mean

every day will be free of stress, as a manager, I am tasked with doing my best to alleviate stress

for the team and create a place that is encouraging for my employees. During the Harvard
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Simulation, I learned that various projects caused the stress to increase for the team. This was a

big challenge for me in my leadership approach. The simulation taught me that even if you are a

great project leader, there will be times when the stresses of a project are inevitable. Sometimes

the complexities require the team to give more, such as work overtime hours or take on extra

tasks when more work is added. I learned that the best way to approach this is with a positive

attitude. As a leader, I learned that communication is a key element when stress is high. Team

members need to have all the details and be updated often on team progress. In the last scenario

of the Harvard Simulation, there was an incident of a car crash among the team members which

caused a major blow to the morale of the group. This taught me that there will be situations that

affect a project that will be out of my control. I learned that as a leader there has to be a balance

between prioritizing team stress and morale but also completing the task at hand. I think that I

tend to prioritize team members over the schedule or budget. Despite team stress and morale, it is

the role of the project leader to make sure that the project is completed on schedule and within

the budget. I learned that sometimes this means that there will be added stress for the team and

there will be situations where the team may be unhappy for some time.

Accepting Failures

According to HBR (2004), projects big and small are prone to failure and they do well

over half of the time (pg. 123). Knowing this, as a project leader this course has shown me that

failures are not something to be ashamed of or shy away from. Failures are opportunities to grow

and learn. Being a continuous learner is something I want to strive for and I am discovering that

failure is just part of that process of learning. During this course, I had many failed projects

through the Harvard Simulation. Each time I failed a project I took notes on the parameters I had

in place and used this information to help me try again. Taking the time to reflect on what went
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wrong with each scenario helped me not only complete the current project but helped me as the

weeks of this course went on. I used these notes to complete other projects I was able to use my

knowledge of failures to help me get better results on harder projects. This is a concept I can use

in my current role. At Starbucks, we have projects big and small. A small project might be re-

organization of a back stock room or training a new group of employees. Other more complex

projects for me are; mentoring a struggling leader or continuing to getting results despite the

many challenges of the COVID pandemic. I have realized that I need to create space in my

management approach to document failures and strategies that have not produced positive

results. I have decided to do this by creating a OneNote document of current and past projects

that I have worked on. This will help me remember where I have been, what worked within

various projects, and what did not. It will help me modify my approach for future projects big or

small throughout my career.

The World Needs Project Leaders

I never thought of myself as a project leader. But I have seen through this session how

project leaders communicate a vision and this is something I do every day. Every day I lead a

team of people to create a place at Starbucks where I want people to feel joy, warmth, and

belonging. I’ve seen that the role of a project leader also ensures that deliverables are met. They

help stakeholders remain confident that their company’s goals can be achieved through the

resources and teams that the company has in place (Aston, 2021). Without project managers it

would be impossible for organizations to organize, train, mitigate risk, control quality, plan and

lead teams (Aston, 2021). This session has taught me how important project leaders are and

reaffirmed that the work that I do to lead my team is significant and contributes to the success of

my company. I often think about the accountability that I have to continue to drive results and I
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know that I have been given many responsibilities that go beyond just being a manager but also

being a leader. As former President John F. Kennedy once said “To whom much is given, much

is required”. My work is not done and I will continue to strive for excellence in my project

leadership approach.

Part 2

One of the ways I was able to learn more about project management leadership this

session was through the use of the Harvard Project Management Simulation. In this simulation

each week I was offered a description of a project. I was put in the position of the project leader

for each week. Based on the needs of the project and timeline, I could then pick how many

members I wanted for the team, select their skill level, select outsourcing, and the amount of

support I offered to the team as the project leader. After going through 7 different scenarios, I

have compiled a few suggestions that I think are valuable and could be used for anyone planning

to participate in one of these simulations in the future.

1) Managing Scope, Resources, and Schedule

One of the challenges you will have as you encounter each week’s scenarios is the

varying levels of scope. The scope is the complexity of the project or work necessary to achieve

the goal presented. The complexity of the project will require different kinds of teams. These

teams will either be small or large and have specific skill sets to accomplish the target. The

higher the skill level of the team the higher the cost and resources needed to complete the

project. One aspect I kept in mind during each simulation was “the people in the project are my

greatest asset and without them, the project could not be completed”. Outsourcing will be one

way you can lower the cost of resources for your project. However, be warned that with

outsourcing you may need to increase your communication with the team. Outsourcing means
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using a third party to complete task work. Adding a third party could mean that the quality of the

product diminishes and communication can get muddled. Remember that when you see the

resources and cost for your project are high, that for you to create the desired results, you have to

spend the money to get there. The schedule is also a major part of each week’s project scenario.

There will be various scenarios where the schedule-timeline seems impossible to meet. I want to

assure you that with the right number of team members and skill level, the schedule deadlines

can be met. There might be some projects that go over the projected timeline. As with any

project, there will be give and take, and this is just part of the life-cycle of any project.

2) Patterns to Look Out For

After completing several scenarios, you will begin to notice patterns that make

projects end more successfully. One specific pattern I noticed was that smaller teams seemed to

work better than larger ones. The smaller the team the higher the skill level you can afford in the

budget. With an increase in skill, you can accomplish more tasks each week of the project and

get more done. When you can accomplish more tasks per week the closer you will be to

completing the project by the target end date. Another pattern to look out for is that each week,

regardless of the team size, you will need to add some kind of support for the group. Support for

the team can be offered in a few different ways. You can select from one-on-one coaching, daily

debriefing, and product reviews, just to name a couple. The level of support needed is also

directly related to the skill level of the team. The greater the skill level of the team, the less one-

on-one support the group will need from you as the project leader. As the scenarios become more

difficult you will need to check and adjust your approach to support. Even highly skilled team

members still need consistent communication to keep up with the complexities of each project.
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3) My Approach

One area of the Harvard Simulation that was hard for me was the scoring. At the end

of each project, I received a score based on whether or not I was able to meet the project’s

objectives for scope, schedule, resources, and the stress/morale of the group. Each week I

found myself striving to get maximum points in all of these categories. I quickly learned that

there will be some project scenarios where there was give and take in these areas. On some

weeks I was able to receive maximum points under schedule and scope but lost points in

resources and team stress. One way that I was able to maximize my points each week was to

take notes during each scenario. When I took notes along the way, I could use that

information for future scenarios. Even though each week the simulation was slightly

different, I still noticed some patterns that could be applied to each one that would help me.

Lastly, and the most important aspect of my approach was understanding that the score was

not the most important part of the simulation. Getting the highest score was not the purpose

of the simulation. The score was simply a metric to track my progress and growth as a project

leader. I learned that is a way to see how much I was learning from the course. As someone

that strives for excellence, it was hard for me to see low scores. I wanted to get maximum

results every week. If I found myself getting low scores, I tried to think outside of the box

and do the simulation one more time. There were a few scenarios I felt like giving up, I tried

the scenario just one more time. I found that this led me to getting the highest points possible.
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References:

Aston, B. (2021, January 18). Why is project management so important to an organization?

Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/why-is-project-

management-important

HBE. (2004). Harvard business essentials: Managing projects large and small. Boston: Harvard

Business School Press.

Mind Tools. (2017, August 15). How good are your project management skills? Retrieved

February 28, 2021, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_60.htm