Module 3 Paper

Allyson Anderson

Arizona State University

OGL 321: Project Leadership

Professor Ben Pandya

July 16, 2022

 Project management can be a complex, difficult career due to many factors.

Team morale, successful budgeting, and time management are the main three that can

make or break your career within project management. All three coincide within each

other and can affect the outcome of the project itself and whether the stakeholders, or

client, is happy with your work or not. The Harvard simulation is a great tool to help

project management students, or current project managers that are struggling, with

finding the balance for each project to meet all the criteria that is requested from the

client. Or to know which area could take the fall and the client still be happy with the

outcome.

The second scenario for the Harvard simulation was rather complicated to

complete. The clients were asking for unrealistic expectations, in my opinion. The

timeline requirement for the project was 17 weeks and we were needing to deliver a

level 3 product. Also, they were wanting to keep the budget within $39,220. As

someone who is not already a project manager, this was an intimidating goal for me.

Level 3 products require more tasks to be completed by the team, which means more

labor costs and more time required. I already planned to outsource some of the work to

lower the cost of labor to stay within the requested budget. The main concern for me,

was the project not being completed on time. With all of the requirements, I felt that

there was not enough grace given with the time frame or budget. One of them was

going to have to be sacrificed for the product to be at a level 3 and the rest of the project

being a success. Unfortunately, I do not have enough experience to determine which

one was okay to sacrifice. But after reading through some resources, I feel that I am

more equipped to make such decisions with confidence.

 One of the resources that I read through discussed the importance of prototypes.

Prototypes for any product are essential, because they are the test subjects to examine

the product for potential issues that could be solved before the final product is released.

Without a prototype, the company could spend more time and money to fix the issues

that could have been resolved during the development stage of the project. Most clients

do not add additional time for prototypes to be developed and tested, so it is up to the

project manager to set aside time. Adding this to an already tight timeline, could cause a

lot of issues if the project manager does not have the best time management skills. I

have already begun to practice my time management skills by setting each day as a

project that I have to complete. I write down the tasks that I need to complete that day,

including work, and set a timeline of how long each task is going to take to complete.

This way I can start to develop my skills for when I am in the career field as a project

manager. Right now, my time management is not ideal and so this is my main focus

during my senior year at ASU. I believe that within the next year my skills will develop

tremendously with practice, discipline, and a lot of effort.

Another important aspect of being a project manager is the ability to plan for

risks. During this scenario, I lost all of my team but one or two people due to an

aggressive recruiter from another company. I was not able to hire more members for

three weeks after this incident occurred. The loss of these team members put the

project behind schedule by at least 5 weeks. The recovery process was difficult

because I was not sure how to get back on schedule without ruining the budget and

team morale. While reading the required reading, it had talked about conflict resolution

and how a project manager’s main tasks are to diffuse conflicts while the team is
responsible for the main tasks of the project (Kerzner, pg 380.) This was something that

I did not realize was going to be the main focus of my responsibilities as a PM. I knew

that conflict was going to be a part of the career, but I underestimated just how much of

my time is going to be spent resolving such issues. Moving forward, I am going to

research more into risk management to be able to navigate any crisis I run into. I

believe with the crisis in the scenario, the timeline would need to be the one that was

sacrificed instead of the budget. Using the example in the reading by Kerzner, being

honest and open with the client is the most important aspect of the job as a project

manager. And with the loss of employees, I believe any client would be okay with

pushing the deadline back due to the loss of labor. If this was a real project I was

managing, I would have had a meeting with the client to explain what happened and ask

which requirement they would prefer to take a hit and go from there. But since that is

not possible with the simulation, I believe risking not finishing the project in time would

be the best option.

The last advice that I got from the readings is to have a relationship with your

clients. Having a relationship with your client can be crucial to the success of your

project, especially if a crisis like the one in the scenario happens. The ability to be open

and honest can increase the happiness of the client by being kept in the loop as to what

is happening. Also, the client would possibly be more lenient when it comes to

extending out the timeline, or budget, due to unforeseen circumstances. Overall, we

have to remind ourselves that the client is the one with the final decision when it comes

to the project. This is their project that we are just managing and taking care of. They

are the ones setting the goals and requirements for the project, so it is important that
there is strong communication. Communication is not only important to have between

the project manager and stakeholders. It is also crucial to have open communication

between the PM and the team members. Team members need to have a complete

understanding of what their tasks are and how they are contributing to the project. They

also need to understand how everyone else plays a part in the project. This is why

meetings are incredibly helpful for the success of a project. Meetings are a great way to

keep track of the current state of the project and also if anyone is having difficulties with

their tasks. It is a great time to coach team members, give everyone an update on any

changes in the goals of the project, and also to boost morale within the team.

Communication is key within project management.

In conclusion, there are a lot of skills and factors that come into play with being a

project manager. Having great communication, time management, and risk

management skills are the main three that we discussed above. There are many ways

that a potential project manager can develop these skills, but personally I believe the

Harvard Simulation is the most helpful. The simulation gives the PM a chance to test

where their skills are currently and determine what areas they need to work on more.

The simulation tests how a project manager handles tight budgets, low staffing, and

unforeseen crises. I believe with the help of the simulation, myself and my fellow

classmates will be able to enhance our abilities to become successful project managers

in the near future.

 References

Harrin, E. (2022, March 27). What Should a New Project Manager Focus On? [web log].

Retrieved July 17, 2022, from https://rebelsguidetopm.com/what-should-a-new-

project-manager-focus-on/

Kerzner, Harold. Project Management : Best Practices - Achieving Global Excellence

(2nd Edition). : Wiley, . p 399 http://site.ebrary.com/id/10366591?ppg=399

Perri, M. (2014, May 19). Rethinking the Product Roadmap [web log]. Retrieved July 17,

2022, from https://melissaperri.com/blog/2014/05/19/rethinking-the-product-

roadmap