Project Management in General

(Ivan Satterfield)
OGL 320: Foundations Project Management
Mr. Darin DeBlander
3/18/22
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Paper #1

Project Management in General

Consciously or subconsciously, we all participate in completing projects, and these

projects consist of us having to use a set of skills. No one project is the same, from working on a

project at work to restoring a car on the weekend. No matter the size, big or small, we engage

in projects that use us to implement our project management skills. This paper will discuss my

awareness of project management from newly learned to acquired project management skills.

I was never aware of the project phases and the skills needed to succeed in a project. All

projects have 4 phases planning, build-up, implementation, and closeout (HBR, pg.3). Learning

about the four phases of a project can help me be consistent in honing in on making a project

run smoothly. A project always has a start and a finish, but the in-between phases get

overlooked. Creating a plan and having the skills to delegate specific tasks are skills I can

improve on. Knowing how to execute a project is very important, with monitoring and

controlling the budget process is a skill that I usually overlook. My lack of budget monitoring

almost stopped me from completing a mother-in-law project. I went over budget two times on

the project. Monitoring my budget regularly and looking for early signs that I was going to be

over budget would have helped me avoid these problems. Performing a post-evaluation could

help me elevate these budget problems by gaining insight from the team, future status, status

of ongoing critical tasks, risk assessment, and limitation of the audit (HBR pg. 27-29). The report

is significant in evaluating where you went wrong and knowing where you can make the areas

of improvement and providing a future template to be followed.

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Tools that I'm conscious of possessing to be a good project manager are being

organized, having flexibility, and adapting to changes. I am not perfect in these areas, but I'm

always trying to improve. I like to take the guessing game out of a project that I'm a part of. I do

this by checking in regularly with my boss or group members to clarify that we all are on the

same page and have the opportunity to make changes that arise. Assuming you know what

your boss wants or that your coworkers understand can lead to wasted time.

The part of project management that I need to work on is the implementation phase,

specifically managing problems. One aspect of managing problems is scope creep. I usually take

on additional tasks unrelated to the original project. When stakeholders ask for changes, I need

to be able to clearly express the ramifications that the changes would have on the project.

When my boss asks for changes mid-project, I don't convey the consequences until it's too late.

I'm always working on my people skills by being able to handle people in different situations.

Everyone responds differently to different situations, so recognizing how to handle people in

specific situations is a skill that I am continuously trying to improve.

After taking the quiz, How Good Are Your Project Management Skills, I scored an 83, an

accomplished project manager according to the quiz. The skill that I scored the highest on was

the General Project Management Skill. One quality of this skill is having negotiation abilities.

Having negotiation skills was not a surprise because I participated in two negotiation teams

with my job. I also scored high on the Schedule Management portion of the quiz. My current

job is as a frontline supervisor, where I'm in charge of day-to-day operations. I create schedules

and figure out where to place people to get the job done.
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I know that there are many areas that I can improve, such as budgeting and people

management. Cost management was my lowest scored section of the quiz. At Work, I don't

have to worry about finances like I have to with personal projects. With personal projects, it

always seems that I go over budget. I can improve my budgeting by breaking the project into

subcategories: personal, travel, training, supplies, space, research, capital expenditures, and

overhead (HBR pg. 17). Breaking the budget into subcategories will better allow me to gauge

where the project will spend the money and be able to adjust when needed. I will need to

improve my People Management skills to get better at communicating the performance

expectations. This can be done by one-on-one sit-downs and group meetings.

There are multiple characteristics that a project manager needs to possess. The skills

that have been key to my success as a project manager are the ability to be a self-starter, have

a strong work ethic, and be flexible. I don't wait for people to get me started on a task. I

motivate myself to begin projects and don't procrastinate on working on complex tasks. I take

the initiative and am willing to put in extra hours to get the job done. I understand that projects

don't usually go as planned, and I embrace the fact that unforeseen problems will arise.

I'm always actively trying to improve my communication and organization skills.

Effective communication is essential when leading a group of people to perform a particular

task. Communication is one of the critical skills because its a part of all the skills. I'm always

trying new ways to be better be organized. Being organized makes the project run and operate

smoother. I have tried excel spreadsheets and notepads to different apps to gain and add

vantage on my organization. There is no right or wrong way to organize yourself, and each

project might need different approaches. I'm always looking for a uniform way to be organized
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where I can quickly draw information when required. All these characteristics don't occur

overnight. They take time and practice to be able to implement effectively.

When approaching projects, there is no one approach that I use. Overall, I first gather as

much information as possible about the project. I like to write down steps that need to be done

to accomplish the project. I produce a daily to-do list on a notepad or an excel spreadsheet.

These lists keep me on track to completing specific tasks and let me reflect on the project when

needed. I always go over responsibilities in group projects and one on one, ensuring everyone

has the same understanding. I never assume that I know our people know what needs to be

accomplished. At the same time, all projects are not the same, following the four phase

approach that lets you systematically navigate through the completion of the project.

Learning about project management and how to effectively manage a project will help

me in my professional career and my personal one as well. I’m a frontline supervisor where I

have to deal mainly with the day-to-day operations creating schedules and placing people in

positions to be operationally successful. There are times when I’m asked to manage projects at

work where I’m in charge of working with a group of ten people. I was never tasked to be the

person on whom the entire project fell solely. I always worked with groups sharing

responsibilities for completing the project. Not all projects are the same or have the complexity

of one another. As I move up the management ladder, there will be more complex projects

where I will be the sole responsible party for overseeing the entire completion of the project.

And gaining knowledge on how to navigate through the different phases of a project will help

me succeed as a project manager at work and as a weekend warrior restoring my project cars.