Reflection upon leading projects encompassed many successes and failures in my career thus far. However, an underlying thought that kept rising to the surface was the role of a project manager. With project managers\u2019 experience, I agree with Watt (2014) as she stated, \u201cIt should be noted that expertise is not in a certain field but the expertise to run a project\u201d (p. 17). Some organizations I have worked for did not have dedicated project manager positions; most did not. My leading project scenario will describe a fictitious company and story where dedicated project managers did not exist.<\/p>\n
At the software company, considering both the customer experience (UX) and the user interface (UI) input was instrumental to the strategic roadmap for developing software for the future. The \u201cend user\u201d should be included as one of the stakeholders in the design process (Krippendorff, 2011, as cited in Mahmoud-Jouini et al., 2016, p. 149). Now imagine the Board of Directors reviewing the strategic product design roadmap and asking for the data\/input from stakeholders that guided the decision-making. A \u201cwe think\u201d or \u201cgut feel\u201d response from an executive team would not suffice. The Board advised that decisions must be based on data, not personal assumptions and predictions. Virine and Trumper (2008) emphasized that \u201cthe root cause of almost all project failures is human error or misjudgment\u201d (p. 15).<\/p>\n
Gathering the end users\u2019 feedback from customers became the highest priority project. These crucial external customer stakeholder insights must guide the design and development of the strategic roadmap. Furthermore, when considering the internal stakeholders, the executive team realized that four teams were highly impacted: (1) software development, (2) product management, (3) marketing and communications, and (4) support and training development. These cross-departmental teams all reported to different vice presidents, which gave rise to \u201cunderstanding power dynamics\u201d that can come into play when all vice presidents are leading within the same project (Conway et al., 2017, p. 16).<\/p>\n
From those cross-departmental team members who understood the project management lifecycle, the lack of planning was quickly identified as an initial barrier. How can a complex project like this be planned and executed without a project manager? Even something that sounds simple, like scheduling meetings between these four internal teams, became problematic. The common analogy of Managing People is Like Herding Cats<\/em> was a cumbersome task that vice presidents could not easily organize (Bennis, 1997). As a result, collaboration and communication between teams was not successful since they did not regularly meet. Means and Adams (2005) emphasized that communication is central to success within the project lifecycle process. Hence, collaboration without communication cannot exist.<\/p>\n Ultimately, my reflection circles back to the importance of having a project manager experienced with leading teams and stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. As seen in my scenario, the planning phase was not completed correctly, contributing to a challenging environment for all stakeholders. As I plan for projects in the future, the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK\u00ae Guide)<\/em> is top of mind as it guides the stages of the project, from initiation to closure, and best practices in areas such as scope, cost, quality, and risk management (Project Management Institute, 2017). In my opinion, having a project management specialist at the helm will help immensely with project success.<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Bennis, W. (1997). Managing people is like herding cats<\/em>. Executive Excellence Publishing.<\/p>\n Conway, R., Masters, J., & Thorold, J. (2017). From design thinking to systems change: How to invest in innovation for social impact<\/em>. Royal Society of Arts, Action and Research Centre. https:\/\/www.thersa.org\/globalassets\/pdfs\/reports\/rsa_from-design-thinking-to-system-change-report.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n Mahmoud-Jouini, B., Midler, C., & Silberzhan, P. (2016). Contributions of design thinking to project management in an innovation context. Project Management Journal, 47<\/em>(2), 144-156. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/pmj.21577<\/a><\/p>\n Means, J., & Adams, T. (2005). Facilitating the project lifecycle: Skills & tools to accelerate progress for project managers, facilitators, and six sigma project teams<\/em>. Jossey-Bass.<\/p>\n Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK\u00ae Guide)<\/em> (6th<\/sup> ed.).<\/p>\n