What is Project Management?
According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the definition of "project management is the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to deliver something of value to people." (PMI, n.d.) The profession of project management is organizing, planning, and executing projects within the triple constraint which includes scope, schedule, and cost. Project management processes are necessary for an organization to implement change and within the work place in a structured way. Project managers are those leading the project teams, providing clear and deliverable goals, remaining in communication with stakeholders, and enduring a project until it's completion.
Project Management in Leadership
Throughout my academic endeavor, the material project management encompasses has not only developed me as a project manager and leader, but it has also begun building a foundation for my personal life as well. Project management, to me, is the processes of taking a vast amount of information about a project and turning it into a plan that is easily digestible to anyone that looks at. In a leadership position in project management, I also believe that I am responsible for providing for the team with resources, knowledge, collaborating on solutions to issues, and forming relationships between team members. In my eyes, a project manager must be knowledgeable of all parts of the project, and if I am not knowledgable about something within a project I am working on, I will go to those who are knowledgeable to ask them to help me understand their area of expertise. Leadership goes hand in hand with project management because the project manager is always on a stage just as a leader, so as a project manager, I will lead with integrity, honesty, and transparency assisted with clear communication to work towards organizational goals.
Artifact
I will be choosing artifacts from my personal and academic experiences showcasing a deeper understanding of my knowledge, my views, and my reflections on these eight core competencies I value in my personal and professional life. The artifact I have chose to demonstrate project management in leadership is illustrated in my Final Paper from OGL 321 - Project Leadership. For this personal reflection, we had to take what we had learned from the entirety of the course where we discussed how topics like decision-making, proactivity, uncertainty and problem-solving, scope and schedule risk management, and ethics tie into the field of effective project management. In my Final Paper for this Project Leadership course, I discuss project management skills, strengths, and opportunities; my personal approach to project management and the Harvard Project Management Simulation we completed throughout the course; and my pragmatic approach to professional work, where I discuss the experience of my profession in the custom T-shirt industry at the time.
Reflection
Project Management & Organizational Leadership
Including project management in my core competencies provides the baseline of my professional career. Project management in the organizational world is a critical part of project and organization success. When a plan is set in place, tasks are assigned to specific individuals or groups, and the project manager is effective in collaborating and communicating with team members, the chances of success are proven to be higher. In my own professional lifetime, I have gotten the opportunity to experience both an organization with and without project management processes. Without project management processes established in the workplace, I have found that the environment feels chaotic and confused with little to no direction or training. However, when an organization has project management processes in place, the work flows, the mood and moral within team members increases, and internal and external relationships flourish within in the organization.
Personal Growth & Development |
Personally, through learning and developing my project management skills, it has also been beneficial for my personal growth and development. The journey through the project management degree provided a multitude of hard and soft skills necessary for project managers including the following: project planning, project scheduling, risk management, quality management, team management etc. There are two skills from the project management curriculum that have been game-changers for my personal life: communication skills and conflict management. I have learned that communication is one of the most important factors with success, and being effective and clear when you communicate is what leaders need in order to lead successfully and drive results within an organization.
Another important skills that I believe is essential in project management and leadership is conflict management. Change is not easy for everyone. There will be times where people are fearful, against, or not given the proper resources to implement the changes happening, and this causes conflict within a work environment. When leaders are skillful in conflict management, I believe they are more able to actively listen to the team member's concerns and thoughts, collaborate with them, and implement changes that are not specifically defined for the short-term but provide long-lasting benefits within the entire organization.
Another important skills that I believe is essential in project management and leadership is conflict management. Change is not easy for everyone. There will be times where people are fearful, against, or not given the proper resources to implement the changes happening, and this causes conflict within a work environment. When leaders are skillful in conflict management, I believe they are more able to actively listen to the team member's concerns and thoughts, collaborate with them, and implement changes that are not specifically defined for the short-term but provide long-lasting benefits within the entire organization.
