Before and After: A Project Management Journey Paz 1

Before and After: A Project Management Journey

Joshua Paz
Arizona State University
PMG 321: Project Leadership, Strategy, and Scope
Final Paper
Instructor Ben Pandya
December 1, 2023
Before and After: A Project Management Journey Paz 2

PART ONE
Can you identify areas of growth or knowledge regarding project management specifically or

leadership in general? Do you find yourself giving more consideration to particular areas,

principles, or practices (e.g. scheduling, scope management, communication styles, etc.)?

This was my second class in Project Management for my journey towards a degree in

Organizational Leadership. While the first Project Management class that I took was focused on

the approach of Project Management, this was the class that appeared to get to the foundation

and structure of leadership within the Project Management environment. While my

professional journey has solely been focused around Starbucks, I do feel as though the

experiences I have gained from the years of dedication and the multitude of experiences as a

leader within this multi-billion dollar company have been the best teaching moments for my

future in leadership; although my footprint may be small in comparison, my actions are put

forth as though the weight of the company lies on my shoulders.

Throughout this paper I will be referencing learning moments for myself that have been

either moments of clarity and further detail as to the “why” behind the project management

approach or items of information that were new and helped improve my leadership strategy

and tactic. I will thoroughly communicate these moments utilizing key words such as “skills,

strengths, or opportunities.”

One of the leadership skills that have been strengthened throughout my time in this course

is the ability to plan decisions ahead of time in order to better communicate with the people

that I am leading. While the planning has been only slightly altered, the repercussions have
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allowed for better fluidity throughout the day and during periods of uncertainty. “Regardless of

the amount of knowledge available, it is the decisions that are made that keep the project

moving in the right direction” (Powell & Buede, 2009. p. 9). The portion in The Project

Manager’s Guide to Making Successful Decisions that discussed why projects fail resonated with

me because the conversation surrounding failure was more a tone of acceptance and

understanding, than negativity. In Starbucks, we have many tools to help us run a successful

floor which then dictates the business flow for the day part that is being lead. One tool that I

have been reluctant to use is the Play Builder tool. This management tool allows leadership to

plan the floor layout for each employee and the stations they will be designated for during each

segment of the day. While I had utilized this tool when it first came out, I eventually fell back

onto my years of experience and stopped utilizing the tool. When reading through The Project

Manager’s Guide to Making Successful Decisions, I hit a point where I realized how my lack of

communication wasn’t just affecting the individuals that I was leading while I was in charge, but

it reflected on the other leaders as well, and in turn, the store as a whole. While I may have a

wealth of knowledge surrounding the profession I am in, it is the new leadership and the

employees that seek to better themselves at work that I was hindering and/or not helping move

into a better position. Once I realized that the leadership within the store was also struggling

with utilizing the play builder tool, I realized that I was a possible reason my peers hesitated

when utilizing the tool. I began planning out the day parts with the tool and not only showed

my plan to the employees but also communicated the reasons of why my decisions were in

place and how they would potentially lead to success. It has been well over a month since I have

made this change in my project management approach, the team and my peers have also begun
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to better their decision-making process by utilizing the tools that have been cultivated for us.

We have improved some metrics surrounding performance and sales. In the end I have realized

how crucial my decisions can be and how they might influence others around me.

Given your previous experience, as well as your more recent interactions with the Harvard

Simulation scenarios, how would you define your personal approach to project management?

What areas do you tend to emphasize or privilege while managing projects where trade-offs

are inevitable? In what areas do you find your biggest challenges?

The importance of communication and the power it holds. While communication is

important, I feel as though the way information is communicated and then in turn how it is

revisited in order to follow up and check in for thorough understanding is the step that I may

have been either missing or lacking within my leadership abilities. During a simulation, there

was a point in which the employees in the simulation required more “skills” which was a sign

that they needed more one-on-one meetings with the project manager. This not only showed

improvement in the simulation after the one-on-ones were applied, but in my day-to-day life at

Starbucks, I realized how important and impactful one-on-one communication could be. Going

into the holiday season, my store has hired a hefty number of new partners which has led to a

heavy amount of training and learning. While I usually wait until these employees have reached

a specific point before I begin to coach and or mentor, I actually began mentoring and coaching

right out of training for a few individuals. I noticed a significant difference in their abilities and

their personal confidence when working in role. After communicating with these newer

employees, I began to see learning differences and the individual working styles of each new

partner. Once I assessed the learning/working style f each new partner, I turned my
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communication skills into opportunities for one-on-one conversations which then transformed

the working style of the employees. There are a total of five new partners all hired within three

weeks of each other. I chose to use the one-on-ones like in the simulation to help build skills

and answer questions and even allow the simple aspect of a comfortable work environment

which translated int a stronger understanding of the business and the team aspect at hand.

“Providing a team structure that is appropriate, yet flexible and flat” (Kerzner, 2010. p. 389).

This motion of utilizing one-on-ones will ultimately help the team with a more attentive and

cohesive work environment with a comfortable and confident working tone.

The majority of the trade-offs I made throughout the simulations were that of budget of

employee experiences. This parallels my Starbucks work environment as well. Since 2020, there

has been an escalation in callouts and individuals just having less of a desire to show up to

work. While this may be an isolated incident within Starbucks, or Starbucks in my area, I feel as

though the protection of these individuals and their experiences at work might hold more value

than those days targeted sales. I am holding to my belief that if I invest in the individuals around

me as their leader and mentor, they will not only have a better experience, but they will

hopefully take this environment and cultivate a sense of belonging toward others thy may

encounter in the future. I hate to use the old adage “do onto others as you would want done

onto you,” but I fail to see a better explanation. I want to be the change that I wish to see in the

world.

Another area the simulations showed me where some opportunities is the final outcome and

the overall budget. While I have been aware of budget and sales goals in the Starbucks work life,

I feel as though there are experiences I have yet to witness surrounding a specific budget with
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actually planned projects and targets to hit. Starbucks is a never-ending business. Sales have

continued to grow, and the corporation is constantly innovating allowing them to stay ahead of

the curve and maintain a competitive foothold in their business category. I want to take my

strength of working with people and build upon those skills. I want to strengthen my leadership

abilities in order to approach my management opportunities and turn those opportunities into

future skill sets that will benefit myself and the organizations I will eventually work for. I want

nothing more than to walk into work with the understanding that uncertainty will be faced that

day with courage and a strong skillset built with knowledge and experience. “Uncertainty is

much more than an absence of facts; it is fundamentally a gap in knowledge which may

comprise many different elements” (Cleden, 2016. p. 63). Uncertainty will never cease to arise,

but how I approach situations surrounded with ambiguity will depend on my leadership traits

and my ability to communicate and work with others. I feel as though I am walking away from

these Harvard Simulations with a stronger understanding of how uncertainty is unavoidable, but

my strengths should not be forgotten.

Lastly, although the scenarios that you worked through in this class offered a very narrow

arena in which project management techniques can be applied, I would like for you to now

make the connection between the skills that you employed and learned to your own

professional environment—whether you are already working within it or aspiring to soon

work within a particular industry. For example, how can project management skills be useful

in government jobs, education, the non-profit sector, etc.? In other words, what are your

“takeaways” that hold direct relevance to you professionally? Be specific.

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I think that on multiple occasions I have witnessed a specific bias in regard to my work life at

Starbucks versus the future professions that I will soon be enveloped in. While I was struggling

with setting my Starbucks experiences aside, one of the biggest aspects that I am walking away

with is the approach aspect and how I create a plan of attack with multiple contingency plans

and thorough follow up for continuous improvement. The use of strategy and appropriate

placement of strengths and skills to excel during projects and various work environments will be

a continuing opportunity of mine.

I think the aspect of knowledge and knowledge management is crucial when formulating a

plan for projects. “Organizing knowledge (that is, those things that we do know about the

project) into some kind of structure, will often reveal gaps in our knowledge” (Cleden, 2016. p.

59). When assessing the projects laid before me, or the ones I have chosen, I often run through

a quick list of things that I may need to know in regard to the planning process. The formulation

of a brainstormed plan will help me better understand the areas where I may need to gather

more information or plan out time for the gathering of knowledge. I completed a full bathroom

remodel in 2022. While I started the project at the end of 2021, it took more time than I had

originally planned. Throughout the project, I ran into situations where my knowledge was

lacking. I stopped and assessed the situation, I listed all of my options, and on occasion, I even

acquired quotes from professionals should the project become out of reach of my own skill

level. In the end, I replumbed the entire bathroom and added two additional water features on

a separate line for a rain shower feature in the shower. I rewired the entire bathroom and

partially into the bedroom in order to update the areas I was working with to California

electrical building codes. All of these challenges were areas of knowledge gaps. Instead of
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learning ahead of time and planning prior to reaching these small projects within the project, I

did the learning in the moment which pushed the project end date further past the projected

end date. Through this course and especially the Harvard Simulation, I have learned to take the

information that is the direct results from my own work and use it to my advantage. I utilized

the “decision history” portion in the simulations to better my score and see where I may have

veered from success. With this I will look back through the pictures and learning moments I had

with my primary bathroom and apply these learning moments to the upstairs bathroom

remodel.

Whether the project is my own personal project or a work project, I feel as though the work

ethic built inside of me will hold a specific standard that will not allow for quitting. Where there

might be moments of failure, I will focus on managing the aspects I can control and persevere.

While I may work well under pressure, there is a level or tolerance that needs to be observed,

“Pressure can be good, but there is a certain threshold that, once broken, will cause people to

do what they can to survive” (Kliem, 2012. p. 30). I will continue to manage my performance

and ensure that my own emotional and mental stability is stable before continuing through

situations of intense pressure. I will persevere.

While Starbucks has been my life for seventeen years, I am eager after these Project

management courses to experience the other work environments that may utilize my skills in

leadership. I want nothing more than to test the knowledge I have gleaned from my leadership

experiences from managing people in a coffee shop and translate that work ethic into project

management. I will excel with the knowledge and experience both within Starbucks and my

Arizona State University educational journey.

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PART TWO

The Harvard Simulations have been such an engaging and worthwhile experience. Here are

some of the areas which I feel should be focused on while running through the

simulations.

1- When first attempting the simulation, do not be afraid to fail during your first run

through. The simulation is aiming to teach something of value for that specific

simulation. I would suggest getting a few run throughs out of the way without the

expectation of your highest score before buckling down and recording and or taking

notes on areas in which you can improve. Once you locate the hurdle that is specific to

that week’s scenario, assess the team and the workload and move forward towards a

strong and continuously adaptable game plan. Utilize all of the information that the

simulation gives you such as alerts and the decision history. This will tremendously help

with each run through.

2- While running through the simulation. Understand your team. Understand the

difference between talent and how each level of skill reacts to different situations. Focus

on managing their happiness level. The satisfaction of the employees is a metric for a

reason. I often utilized the graphs to go back and see how the happiness level of the

employees was affected throughout each simulation. This allowed me the ability to alter

the number of meetings and even dictated the skill level and number of employees

utilized throughout the project. Also be weary of the due dates and budget and how it

truly affects the project in the end.

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3- Lastly, don’t let the simulation change who you are as a leader. Apply your own

charisma and skills to the simulation. Focus on your own strengths and then learn what

the simulation has to offer as far as metrics and results. I was highly focused on the

experience of the employees because my current profession has also dictated that the

employee experience is a make-or-break situation that reflects onto the business and its

success. I thoroughly enjoyed the feedback from the employes whenever they had

gained all the knowledge, they could from me, or when they were excited to follow my

lead. It was the smiling emoji and the positive affirmation that created a “cherry on top”

effect for my Harvard simulation experience.

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References

Powell, R., & Buede, D. (2009). The project manager’s guide to making successful

decisions. Management Concepts, Inc.

Kerzner, H. (2010). Project management - best practices. John Wiley & Sons.

Cleden, D. (2016). Managing project uncertainty. Taylor & Francis Group.

Kliem, R. L. (2012). Ethics and project management. Taylor & Francis.