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Running head: SUCCESSFUL DECISIONS

Successful Decisions in Project Management

Olivia Boatman

Arizona State University

OGL: 350 Diversity and Organizations

Mr. Pandya

October 17, 2020

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Successful Decisions in Project Management

Whether you are aware of it or not, we all have managed projects at some point in our

lives. This class is a project in itself, with products to deliver and a stakeholder (professor) that

sets the quality control parameters to ensure that our assignments are done in a certain way to

receive maximum payment (points). The world of project management has many moving parts

from planning, executing the plan, identifying risks and contingencies, keeping the project on

schedule, and making the right decisions on the way in order to satisfy the client. It doesn’t

matter whether you’re the project manager, a blog writer, or completing simulations for a college

class, making good decisions can benefit anyone on this journey called life.

Part 1

All projects have leaders, the project manager. The project manager leads the entire team

to either a successful end result or a failed one. It’s up to the project manager to make good

decisions during the project in order to lead the team to project completion. This is what project

leadership is about, taking charge and influencing people in order to achieve the best end result

for the stakeholder. There are many things a project manager has to worry about, we’ll call these

objectives. “Projects traditionally have three overarching objectives – meeting the budget,

finishing on schedule, and meeting client specifications” (Buede & Powell, 2008, p. 2). Buede

and Powell say that if these objectives are achieved, the project is typically considered a success

(2008, p. 2). So, when a project manager is making decisions, they need to keep these three items

in mind to make sure the project is meeting key targets along the way. If a project isn’t a success

and ends up a failure, these three items are usually looked upon to see where it all went wrong.

But an important aspect to consider, is that the decisions made revolving around these objectives

are truly where the project leads to failure. While many team members in a project make
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decisions, it is ultimately the project manager that will make the decisions that lead the project to

success or failure (Buede & Powell, 2008, p. 6).

Good decisions start with understanding the decision-making process. Most of us

probably don’t have a decision process. We think and evaluate in the moment and do whatever

makes the most sense at the time, without thinking about the repercussions. As a project

manager, this can have detrimental impacts on your project because there are many things to

consider when making any decision for a project. So not only should you understand the

decision-making process, you should implement one into your projects. When you establish a

decision-making process, it is easier to keep your project objectives in mind and make sound

decisions that won’t impact your project’s budget, schedule, or shareholder expectations. Buede

and Powell explain that “when a rational and explicit process is absent, decisions are not well

structured, not discussed widely, and not well documented” (2008, p. 13). The best way to make

good decisions is to plan. Plan your project around the main project objectives and keep these in

mind when making all decisions.

Part II

An article titled Top 10 Main Causes of Project Failure caught my eye because of the

first item on the list. The first listed item for project failure according to Rosanne Lim is poor

preparation (2019). The planning stage of the project is the most important one. You should plan

out your project to the best of your ability, identifying all possible risks and contingencies so you

are prepared if these things happen. This is also where you identify your budget, the schedule,

and your shareholder’s specific expectations, so it’s a crucial step that can’t be missed. You’ll

figure out all the details and project objectives while planning, and this will affect the decisions

that you make during the project. Another item on the list that leads to project failure is
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competing priorities. I’ve experienced this firsthand in our simulation during class. I’ve ran a

simulation where I’m way over budget and way behind schedule, all while my team is stressed

out. These competing factors are very hard to manage when it’s all going wrong. You don’t

know whether to focus on your people, your money, or your time. Lim claims that “having good

cost estimations at the start will eliminate this problem” (2019). This relates back to planning at

the beginning of your project to avoid these kinds of pitfalls in the middle.

As a project manager, it’s up to you to lead your team and delegate tasks. This involves

strong decision-making skills. Project-management.com says that creating a delegation plan

helps with showing the main tasks components and the people meant to complete these tasks

(2017). This was interesting to me because it goes back to the beginning of the project where you

create a plan. Of course, you think to plan out the main components of your project, but you

should also spend time planning out who is going to complete each task. You should know your

team’s strengths and weaknesses in order to delegate tasks to the person most suited for the job.

Communication is also a big part of delegating tasks. A project manager should explain the

importance of each task, set expectations, and communicate deadlines. “Be clear on what the

task is and is not” (Project-management.com, 2017). Understanding what the tasks is helps with

task completion and involves making decisions regarding the task. You have to decide what the

task is and what it is not in order to successfully complete said task. Having good decision-

making skills will help you much more than you expect in your project.

Part III

These resources helped enhance my understanding of project management by reinforcing

the idea that planning is the most important step in managing your project. I learned this in my

previous OGL 320 class, Foundations of Project Management. The two biggest pieces of
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knowledge from that class that I received were planning your project is essential and being

obsessed with your client is essential. Your project is not yours, but your shareholders. That’s

why you have to keep them in mind with every step, and make sure you know what their

expectations are at the beginning so you can keep these in mind through the duration of your

project. This will help guide your project, and the decisions that you make on the way. I also

agree with all of the assertations given by Buede and Powell, Rosanne Lim, and Project-

management.com. This is because I agree that preparation, delegating tasks, and making good

decisions are all imperative to your project resulting in a success.

Simulation A is all about decisions. A project manager in real life won’t have some

magical tool in front of them saying their project is over budget, behind schedule, and the team is

entirely too overworked. They will know this information based on the problems that come up

and the decisions that they make. Simulation A is a great tool in seeing how your decisions

directly affect what happens in your project from week to week. Will your unskilled workers do

well with extensive outsourcing, or will this leave them confused? Will your highly skilled team

do well with one-on-one coaching every week or will they get bored? You can answer your own

questions as they arise through this simulation and come to a conclusion based on your decisions.

A project manager can do the same thing, monitor their decisions and have a thought-out process

in making these decisions, while keeping key questions about budget, schedule, and stakeholder

input in mind.

Good decision making and implementing a decision-making process can help mostly

anyone in their jobs, personal lives, or any time you have to get tasks done. I’m able to take the

decision-making process that I learned about through these readings and use it to my advantage

at my current job as a shift supervisor with Starbucks. I make decisions every day, ones that can
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impact the entire shift and the next shift that comes in. By implementing a decision-making

process, I know that I’m thinking things through and using all the resources available to me in

order to make a decision that will be most beneficial for my entire team. Buede and Powell’s

diagram on page 15 is an excellent resource in guiding your decisions (2008). The steps involve

defining the problem, establishing objectives, identifying alternatives, identifying uncertainties,

assessing alternatives, gathering information and updating your assessment, deciding and

implementing, and monitoring your decision (Buede & Powell, 2008). So as long as you take the

time to define the problem, assess your options, compare these options to the current status of the

project, and monitor your decision, you should be on the right track to making the right decisions

for your project. I can keep these items in mind while on the clock so that I can make choices

that are most beneficial to all, and the organization itself.

Regardless of where life takes you, making sound decisions is beneficial to all. I know

I’ve made some poor decisions in my life, but if I had taken the time to analyze all of the facts

and options available to me, I know I would have made a more sound decision. I will implement

a decision-making process when making significant decisions in order to excel in my

simulations, my current work, and someday in my future profession. I can only hope to one day

be a proficient leader that uses all of the knowledge available to me in order to push my team

towards success.
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References

Buede, D. M., & Powell, R. A. (2008). Good Decision Making: The Key to Project Success.

In Project Manager's Guide to Making Successful Decisions (pp. 1-18). Oakland, CA:

Berrett-Koehler.

Lim, R. (2019, June 04). Top 10 Main Causes of Project Failure. Retrieved October 20, 2020,

from https://project-management.com/top-10-main-causes-of-project-failure/

Project-management. com. (2017, February 08). How to Delegate for Project Management:

Rules & Techniques. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from

https://project-management.com/12-rules-of-delegation/