TALEÑO, Frenzl Glaze T.

CESE103 – A8
SW#2 – reaction paper
Last May 7, 2020, Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers, Inc. (PICE) conducted a webinar
with Dr. Rencie Padernal as the speaker. First, he talked about this project wherein he is the project
manager then gave us an overview on how a project manager handle the components, the work and
delivery plans, construction method/strategy, monitoring and evaluation, how conflicts should be
managed, and the making of project completion report.
According to him, the different components of the project must be understood by the project
manager because if not, then the project manager will not know how to approach the construction
method. A project manager should also know the hindrances they will be facing, for example, rainy
days and the quarantine rules we must follow right now. For these to not cause bigger problems, Dr.
Padernal said there should be a proper coordination between the project manager and the supplier.
Also, it’s difficult for a project to face no problems during constructions, so a project manager should
already take notes of the potential problems that could happen during the construction or delivery so
they will still have time to find solutions to avoid those problems. A project cannot be done without a
team so these plans should be approved by the whole team. Teamwork is very important since
without it, it can cause delays and even much worse problems. Dr. Padernal suggested that the
project should be flexible especially if it will take a long time to finish because like what was stated a
while ago, there will always be problems and a project must have an ability to adjust if those
problems occur. A project manager must also know what their construction method or strategy would
be to avoid delays and other problems. The most efficient way should be followed since there is a
timeline that must be followed. He also discussed the importance of monitoring and evaluation since
the project deals with thousands of components so they should be monitored. Keeping records would
also help us in our next project since your performance can be seen there. Conflicts within the
construction must also be managed. Dr. Padernal gave the following examples: right of way problem,
community complains during constructions and issues with the main contractor. All of these should
be managed for a project to be successful. He asked his audience to always prepare the project
completion report even though sometimes it is not required but however, according to him, it is very
important since a project owner would want to know what happened during the construction and this
will also benefit us since we will know the mistakes that occurred and we would be able to correct
those mistakes and make sure that they will not happen again next time.
To be honest, on this webinar, there are some terms that are not familiar to me. However, this
still gave me an idea on what should I expect on my chosen career. I’m aware that at first, it’s going
to be difficult for me since I do not have an experience yet, but with the help of attending webinars or
seminars like this, I will know what to do once I’m on field already. I think the most important lesson
I have learned during this webinar is the importance of stating the problems or the potential
problems, but do not stop with that. Solutions should be discussed too. We cannot escape problems
but with the proper planning or management, problems can be avoided or lessen.