Final Paper

By: Hadley Schmidt

OGL 320 Foundations Project Management

Dana Barnett
 Part one

This was one of the most applicable classes to my degree and real life when it comes to

leadership. Although it’s very technical when it comes to the theory of leadership it is

also very relatable and almost all of us in this class have had experiences or difficulties

when it comes to one of the principles we talked about during this semester. This first

part will be a quick review of what stood out to me the most from this class over the

semester.

Starting from the beginning of class I remember the importance of culture and

constructing your team before beginning a project. Sometimes we have no say in who is

involved with us in projects. But, during the times we are in charge of who is part of the

team we need to take full advantage of the opportunity. The practice I learned from

creating a project team was to avoid contention at all costs, this can mean opposing

views or even opposing personalities. Another important aspect of building a team for a

project is choosing people who are interested in completing the project and who

motivation and have experience in the field of work you are doing. From what I

remember project managers aren’t always able to choose who is on their project’s team.

This is where the importance of culture begins. A team's culture can make or break the

project the team is working on. And not only are there a wide variety of cultures from

stable cultures to outcome-oriented cultures but sometimes a project manager should

change a team's culture to stay competitive or adapt to changing conditions. No matter

who is on the team after the project starts it’s important for the project manager to keep

the team unified with the same culture so that the team can overcome the project’s
biggest obstacles. One of my greatest weaknesses that I’ll elaborate on later in part two

is the project management plan. I’ve always struggled to stop and plan in detail

something I’m about to do because a part of me thinks it would be more productive if I

just started doing it. And yes if you were wondering I rarely do read instruction manuals.

That’s why it was so eye-opening to recognize what a large part planning is in project

management. We didn’t spend just one module on planning, we spent two! For me,

some of the most vital parts of the project management plan were the scheduling, the

various estimates, and the responsibility assignment matrix. Without a schedule a

project won’t ever be completed because there isn’t a deadline or a structure, a project

without a schedule is a wish. Of course, it’s important to be realistic with a project’s

schedule and not expect something impossible from a team because it will only

demoralize and frustrate them. On the opposite side of the spectrum creating a doable

schedule but keeping it challenging will keep the team focused and on track always

keeping the next goal in mind. Estimating projects is a difficult process as well. One way

to ensure that the future will almost certainly be different is to try and predict it.

Nevertheless, a big part of planning is estimating how long the project will take and how

much it will cost. This is a double-edged sword because if you underestimate the cost

stakeholders will get angry the more money is spent over budget, but if you

overestimate the cost a lot of money could be wasted in using it ineffeciantly(just look at

the government). It’s an important part of planning that needs to be done and done as

accurately as possible. The last part of planning that ties into the work breakdown

structure are the responsibility assignment matrix. You cannot begin to work if you don’t

know what your job is and the responsibility assignment matrix fixes that. Pointing down
on paper the various team member’s responsibilities is a quick way to see who might be

overwhelmed and who might have spare time to help others out. Of course,

responsibility plays a large role in it as well because once work isn’t completed or is

behind schedule one can easily find who is responsible for it. Work breakdown structure

further clarifies who exactly is doing what and when. This was a fun group project, and

the biggest lesson I learned afterward was that it clarified every part of the project so

much, that there was little room to question or get confused about. Human resource

management was an interesting topic to learn about because every business seems to

experience these kinds of problems whether they be internal between employees or

external between employees and customers. From what I saw and read I understand

that not only is “honest the best policy” but that honesty all the time is the best policy. In

some of the case studies, we read a few misunderstandings that led to millions of

dollars being lost or feelings being hurt and relationships ruined(in some cases both).

Back to planning and communication, I think the best human resource management

plan is to always communicate clearly and openly so everyone is on the same page and

no one is left in the dark. The last part of the semester taught me that professional help

is important, no matter how successful you already are.

As I said, I’ve learned a lot from this class and a lot of things are fairly applicable even in

my present-day life. In part two I will talk about how what parts of project management

I’ve already applied to my life. I’ll also table what weaknesses and strengths I feel like I

have when it comes to project management.

Part two
One thing that we mentioned at the beginning of class is that although the study of

project management is fairly new projects and managing projects is something that

almost every person has to do at least on time in their lives. As I looked back on my life

during the semester I recognized a few small projects that I’ve participated in that

could’ve benefitted from the principles I was learning in this class. In part two I will

discuss what impacted me the most from this semester and what I hope to apply the

most in the future.

If you couldn’t guess already I’m going to talk about planning. I have a pretty anxious

personality that feels if I’m not moving I’m not accomplishing anything. This has

sometimes gotten me into trouble but most importantly has wasted a lot of time when it

came to being efficient in completing projects. Earlier in the paper, I remarked that I

never read instructions manuals. This, believe it or not, has led to a lot of wasted time

where I spent the majority of my time taking things apart I had done wrong when I was

supposed to be putting things together. Being impatient and not wanting to plan has had

a few negative effects on me, but when taken to a broader context it’s easy to see how

the lack of planning can derail and upend a project. This semester during a group

project our group planned a turkey dinner. After spending hours as a group putting the

plan together it was hard for me not to think that it wasn’t worth doing this much

planning for this small of a project. And although it was a bit of overkill I recognized that

amount of stress and contention that was going to be avoided because of the project

management plan and work breakdown structure we had put together. I haven’t been

too involved in planning any thanksgiving dinner, but it’s not hard to imagine hurt
feelings that might come up because the food wasn’t prepared correctly or that

someone forgot to invite someone else. This project management plan and work

breakdown structure didn't leave any room for confusion on anyone’s part. And that’s

the biggest lesson I think I took away from this semester. In the end, It’s ok whenever I

do little projects to not plan out things and to do it my way even if it’s not the most

efficient sometimes. But when It comes to teamwork I can’t be so selfish to try to do

everything my way. Project management almost always means helping a team

accomplish a vision that you have. A team can’t complete projects if the project

manager does everything their way or tries to keep the plan within their head without

explaining it to everyone else. A project management plan ensures that a team can

work together. Everyone’s view is taken into account and everyone is given a laid out

plan on how they can help accomplish the project. The individual team members can

then choose to approach the project in the way they prefer whether that be careful

deliberation or reckless abandon, but it’s the project manager’s job to help everyone

understand at least what they are doing. So in a way, this class taught me the

importance of communicating what I want with other people I’m working with. Planning

is one of my weaknesses, but when it comes to project management I also have a

strength or two as well. Human resource management was an interesting topic that

stuck out to me this semester, which is strange because I’ve never been interested in it

before. Contention is almost inevitable in business and it’s important to have ways to

manage problems whenever they come. I deal directly with customers almost every day

at my job with Valley Security doing fire extinguisher maintenance. I communicate with

the customers whenever they call with order and whenever I meet with them to
complete it. Recently I realized that in the year and a half I’ve been working there doing

fire extinguisher maintenance I’ve never received one complaint from an unhappy

customer. Usually, human resource management is about problem-solving and helping

hurt feelings, but I think that the best human resource management is preventative.

When I began doing fire extinguishers at Valley security there was a laid-back attitude

about getting orders completed, usually with a phrase like “we’ll get there when we get

there”. As I became more familiar with completing orders I realized that where the

previous employee might have waited a week or two to complete the order I could

complete some orders in three to four hours. It felt good to get orders done quickly and

customers sometimes sounded surprised when I called telling them the orders had

already been completed. I also try to be friendly and positive whenever I work with the

customers, especially if I’m going to spend hours with them. This class not only helped

me see a weakness I have, but it also helped me recognize a strength that I wasn’t

aware of, the strength of preventative human resource management. The best way to

deal with problems with customers is to try your best to make sure there are no

problems in the first place.

Project management has been a part of my life in various ways, but this class was able

to teach me how I could have the most success whenever I reached my next project,

big or small. Because of this class, I’m more aware of the best way to start, maintain,

and complete a project. I’m also more aware of the weaknesses that I have that I can try

and work on, and also the inherent strengths I wasn’t previously aware of. This was by
far the most applicable class I’ve taken this semester and it will be interesting to see

how I will apply its principles in the future.