Introduction
This personal reflection essay is to summarize the
experience I had in my Project Management class and how I intend to apply the
lessons learned in my own life. The
three areas I focus on are affect, behavior, and cognition. The affect section of this paper describes how
I felt throughout this course, the behavior section describes how this class
has changed the way I behave, and finally the cognition sections outlines what
I learned as a result of this course.
Affect
The three emotions that best describe the feelings I felt
throughout the course of this class were: sadness, excitement, and fulfillment.
Sadness: As we spent time learning about Operation
Underground Railroad, I couldn’t help but feel sadness for not only the victims
of this horrific industry, but in humanity itself. I never knew how big of an industry child sex
trafficking is and I’m sickened to think that there is enough demand in this
world for children to be used as sex objects that this horrific industry is
able to thrive.
Excitement: The more I learned about everything O.U.R. is
doing to eradicate sex trafficking, the more excited I felt about helping them
succeed. Learning new PM tools and being
able to apply them in the real world, and toward a cause that I strongly
believe in, was extremely exciting.
Fulfillment: There is not a better word to describe the way
I felt when looking at Jeremy’s face while MJ presented the donations she was
able to obtain than fulfillment. Even
though I didn’t have anything to do with the donations, I felt somewhat a part
of what was being delivered. The PM
tools we learned were able to add real value to O.U.R. and that was extremely
fulfilling to me.
Behavior
I am an extremely motivated and impatient person, and as a
result I tend to act before I think when I’m excited about something. The biggest thing this course was able to do
for me as far as changing my behavior goes, was cause me to think more
critically before acting. As this course
progressed, I noticed myself thinking about problems and situations at work and
home in much more in depth before moving to action. As an example, I’m currently in the middle of
a home remodel. In the past I would typically
pull out the hammer and start pounding before really knowing exactly what I
wanted to accomplish. This class changed
that behavior and has caused me to break projects down into smaller, manageable
projects and put plans in place in order to carry out these smaller
projects. This is very uncharacteristic
of me but I’ve enjoyed having more structure to my endeavors as a result of
this course.
Another area where my behavior has changed as a result of
this course has been with the way I communicate with others. Through studying different case studies, discussing
chapter summaries in class, and working with group members, I noticed I’m
beginning to change the way I communicate with people. I’ve always understood the importance of
effective communication but this course reiterated its importance. Communication is an area I believe to be critical
regardless of the role you hold, or the industry you work in, so being able to
become a better communicator is absolutely critical in order to succeed.
Cognition
The most important thing I’m going to take from this course
is this knowledge I obtained. From the
tools discussed and implemented to the theory behind why certain methods are
more effective, I feel like I have more knowledge and ability to succeed in
managing projects. The tools I feel were
most impactful to me were the work breakdown structure and the Gant chart. Breaking items into smaller manageable tasks
and making sure these tasks are accomplished on time and on budget are two
areas that I have always struggled with.
I hope to apply these two tools in my professional and personal life so
I can become a more effective project manager.
Conclusion
I feel far more equipped to take on new projects and tasks
in my life as a result of this course.
From the way this course made me feel, to how it changed the way I
behave, to the things I’ve learned, I have had enriching experience in this
course and hope to carry these feelings, behaviors, and knowledge throughout my
life. I would recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn to become, not
only a better project manager, but a better person in general.
