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Culminating Project Management Performance Review

Helen Galiszewski
OGL 320: Project Management
Dr. Chandler
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In the beginning of this project, I had no idea what to expect. As a newly founded project

manager I came to realize that there was a lot more to project management than I anticipated.

When looking back at my baseline assessment, I had completely missed the mark on what was

being asked of me in this assignment. I should have defined my tasks and my sub tasks in much

greater detail instead of adding in additional information that was not necessary. I also felt that I

was all over the place when speaking about my experience as a project manager and trying to tie

in all the details, when I should have been focusing on the assigned material.

When looking back at the start of my initial project plan, I had a rough start in figuring

out how I was going to format and highlight each component. This anxiety that I dwelled on,

made it nearly impossible for me to stay focused on the overall goal; so, I decided to take things

step by step and then worry about the visual aspect of the project. This project was helpful in

keeping my assignments in check and on time, however I did miss a few deadlines because I had

a contingency that came up. As a good practice, on my days off, I would spend 6-8 hours

working on assignments and getting ahead on my assigned reading. As I would complete an

assignment, I would mark it completed and the length of time that it took for me to complete it so

that I wouldn't have to back track and maintain good time management.

Some PM actions and techniques that learned from Wiefling (2007) and O’Connell

(2011) were goal setting, setting expectations and time management and utilizing project

management tools. With goal setting I learned that it was important to set immediate goals as

well as overall goals in order to complete my assignments. My first goal in this class was to

complete every assignment to the best of my ability. Did I achieve this? No, not to the fullest. I

had missed a couple of deadlines due to contingencies that were unexpected but like with any

project it is important to maintain a good sense of responsibility for my actions. When setting
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expectations, I made it a weekly commitment to look over and analyze that all my assignments

were submitted on time.

My overall expectation of this class was to submit every assignment and I nearly

achieved this. For time management I learned quickly that due to my hectic schedule I would be

allocating any free time that I had to this project plan. I knew shortly after starting this course

that I would have to dedicate more time in order to meet the expectations of my client’s project

needs, however I feel that I failed to make this a priority and therefore reflected in my overall

grade. For my project management tools, I utilized two planners, one on my phone and one on

the wall in my office, in order to keep me on track on my due dates. I also had to use my

computer which allowed me to access the reading material on Perusall and Canvas, to submit my

project plan, as well as interact with my peers and my client.

My relationship with my project manager was almost nonexistent. However, for a

moment at the end of the project, my client did reach out to me regarding a mandatory

assignment that was missing. I did reach out and explained that the assignment was completed

but that due to an oversight it would be resubmitted. I felt that due to my other obligations I was

not able to spend more than the allotted time that I had initially planned for this course, therefore

I was not able to attend the optional zoom sessions with the client. I also did not have much

interaction because I did not need to change product delivery dates.

Overall, I do not feel that I will be pursuing Project Management as my choice of field.

My experience of creating a project plan has opened my eyes and has intrigued me to do better as

a leader. I do feel that if I had taken this course without too many contingencies, that I may have

performed at a better level than I have currently.