Reflective Essay On Project Management Managers And Teams

Question: Describe about the Reflective Essay on Project Management for Managers and Teams. Answer: Professional guidance in management of project is important for project managers and teams. The learning of project management of body of knowledge, and planning process group in class provides proper guidelines and principles that can be utilized by project teams(Cleland, 2013). I was able to learn best practices and code of ethics to guide project professionals. The knowledgeable areas and processes learnt covered management of scope, time, cost, quality, resources, communication, risk and procurement(PMI., 2013). I learnt project integration management learning process by understanding various approaches used to manage projects. I learnt coming up with a project management plan a documentation showing activities to be performed to achieve intended objectives(Wysocki, 2014). The approaches I learnt are based on methodologies employed for different projects. For example the agile project management (iterative) which can be employed in computer related projects. In addition I was able to learn from planning process group reasons why people plan, failures of optimistic and pessimistic planning(Larson, 2011). One knowledgeable area for a project manager is time management. I was able to sequence and estimate time for various activities by developing and controlling them(PMI., 2013). I leant both work breakdown structure and critical path method as scheduling tools for time. Work breakdown structure which involves dividing projects into sub projects, tasks, subtasks, and work packages by use of codes, while critical path method is the longest path showing time to accomplish activities based on probable time after consideration of optimistic and pessimistic times. The learning process provided me good insights of how resources can be estimated and procured. I learnt how to employ analogous and parametric estimation in planning and resource costing. One critical component in implementation is sourcing of resources for the project. The learning process provided me a clear knowledge on how procurement planning is done from solicitation, selection, contract awarding to contract closeout(Wysocki, 2014). I was able to learn how human resources are acquired and developed. The leadership styles include: democratic (allows equal decision making), autocratic (project manager makes decision alone), and participative (everyone is involved in activities). Leadership is critical in project performance, team development and motivation of team members. The exposure to leadership styles has helped me choose the best style to employ in management of projects. Other skills I learnt included: the use of risk registers indicating how risks can be identified, analyzed response and monitored, the use of communication plans showing channel and mode of communication. Lastly I learnt how quality management can be maintained, assured and controlled. The extra skills learnt help management of project effectively(Larson, 2011). In conclusion, other process found difficult to comprehend and understand they include cost estimation (employing techniques of estimations); critical path method analysis (calculations of different times and floats). I did consult with other students who had understood the topics. My strength included use of project theoretical concepts and principles, while my limitation was how to make analysis and computations involving arithmetics and mathematics in project management. References Cleland, D. A. (2013). Project management handbook. New York, United States: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Larson, E. A. (2011). Project management: the managerial process . New York: Mc Graw Hill. PMI. (2013). A guide to project management body of knowledge . Newtown Square: PA: PMI. Wysocki, R. (2014). Effective project management . Indianapolis: John Wiley Sons.