Nubia Ruiz

OGL 321- Fall ‘21

9/1/21

Module 2 Paper

For a project manager, making decisions is a critical job responsibility. Although

making decisions gets easier with more experience, newer project managers can still

use the information available to help make sound decisions. One of the first steps is to

fully understand the scope of the project and the resources it comes with. If the project

manager is unaware of the resources, they might unnecessarily spend time and money.

This is particularly important when trying to fix problems.

I learned this while playing the simulation. Even though I read the instructions on

how to play and navigated the simulation, I did not know where to start when it came

time to play. I should have looked at the overall project goal and created a plan before

starting the simulation. I caught myself making decisions that I would never have done

in real life. Although this is a natural reaction, one cannot afford to make those mistakes

when put under pressure. For example, I set up too many meetings at the beginning of

the simulation. I set up daily stand-ups, weekly one-on-one’s, and status meetings. This

made productivity go down because the meetings took too much time from everyone. I

would’ve never made this mistake in real life because I have enough experience to

know better. The simulation was a great way to highlight how a decision so small has a

significant impact on a project’s timeline.

When one is in the middle of problem-solving and making several decisions, it is

best to slow down and assess all the possible outcomes of the decision. I found the
eight steps of the Decision Making Framework a fantastic tool to help anyone walk

through analyzing a decision (Powell, Robert Col. Buede, Dennis, 2009, p. 15). One of

the steps that I have not implemented before is Identifying the Uncertainties. This step

should be unavoidable because it is the most tedious task. Not finding out what can

potentially happen after decisions are made can have tremendous consequences.

The Digital Project Management blog makes a great point to consider the team’s

opinion when making a decision (Barnes, 2009). When a project manager fails to

include the team, the team may become upset because it will inevitably impact their

work if the wrong decision is made. For example, I noted the team’s stress in the

simulation, so I provided extra support by outsourcing to assist them with daily tasks.

After a couple of weeks, I would remove the outsourcing because they were no longer

engaged and “bored.” This action helped me keep the team’s morale up while also

maintaining productivity.

I have experienced working in a project where the leader would not include

anyone in making decisions. The project was to dissolve a department, and everyone

was assigned specific tasks. When it came time to move to the next phase, the leader

would not tell the team what the tasks were ahead of time. This delayed much of the

team because they needed to regather data that was previously accessible to them. If

the leader had shared the tasks ahead of time, the team could have planned how to

tackle them and perhaps complete two at the same time. At first, everyone wondered if

the leader wasn’t sharing information because it was confidential. Then, the team would

work with other departments and realize they were privier to helpful information. This
was a learning experience for me because it showed me what I shouldn’t do when I

become a leader.

Taking accountability when making mistakes is also important. In my experience,

it has always been the good leaders in my life that accept when they are wrong. I

believe that employees pick up traits from their leaders, and I hope to teach others that

mistakes are ok as long as you accept and learn from them. The ILL Blog suggested

that taking your emotion away during decision-making is an excellent way to make a

comprehensive decision. What a person knows is not necessarily correct in all

scenarios (River, 2016). As a leader, one should not rely on past experiences but rather

learn new ways to resolve issues.