"Post Mortem" Review

I don’t have prior project management experience at the workplace.  However, recent incidences occurred at my former job where the department was eliminated due to the Director’s lack of confidence to scope and define the project.  I was hired to work as a Senior Job Developer.  My responsibilities entailed creating two workshops i.e.; Job Club and Work Readiness meetings.  Complete intake assessments of client referrals, document client progress and assure that client became job ready in order to facilitate job placement and job retention. Another main responsibility was to communicate effectively with funding source counselors who provided client referrals. In this project, there was a huge dilemma.  The Director was rarely available to communicate with team members as to training  or to  provide guidance related to project changes (scope creep), she always expected team members to edit or modify client documentation at the last minute without providing a viable explanation,  meetings were rarely planned and/or scheduled and when those took place they were not effective because she never sort constructive feedback  from team members,  she normally appeared to be stressed out and would advise the team that if she was stressed out that she would be sharing the stress.  As a result, she began to micromanage the department where the team members began to avoid her and team members sort to leave the agency.  During this chaotic work experience, I continued to focus on my responsibilities even though, I had not signed an agreement committing to complete my responsibilities in the project. At the former workplace, there was no Statement of Work, Work Breakdown or Linear Responsibility Charts.  However, the stakeholders continued to send to my attention client referrals because they knew that I was the team member who was completing the state-funded documentation and assessing the needs of the clients.  Last week, the funding source advised the agency CEO in writings that they intended to immediately stop referring client referrals based on the fact that they had discovered that specific documentation had not been completed by the Director (Project Manager) and they construed that information as committing fraud.  In two days, the CEO decided that it would be cost effective to eliminate the department than to re-structure it with competent staff.  That is how the team members were pink slipped and the department lost its funding.  On the following business day, the District Manager of the state funding source contacted me to offer a training position under the ATTAIN initiative and asked if I was interested in working as a Computer Lab Instructor.  I definitely agreed to be part of this training initiative funded by the State department of Education, via email an interview was scheduled for this upcoming week.   As Instructor VanErp posted this week, “there's sunshine around the next bend”!! .  I am glad that this incident occurred now while in the process of taking this course because the content of this course has provided me and my peers with positive insight on how to avoid the pitfalls that will support project failure or that can prevent the concept known as Scope Creep infiltrating into future projects.        

1. Are you proud of our finished deliverables (project work products)? If yes, what's so good

about them? If no, what's wrong with them?

At my former work place, we were not able to complete deliverables and due to this failure, the department lost funding and the department was eliminated leaving the team members without unemployed.  I am not proud because the deliverables were not completed effectively due to lack of Project Management follow up. This failure was caused by management failing to supervise the Project Manager who tended:
·         To be absent during the work week
·         When PM appeared at the work place, she demanded completed tasks to be edited or modified without giving a reasonable explanation for the abrupt changes
·         Team member meetings were rarely held and those were ineffective
·         Team member morale disappeared
·         Team members opted to leave the organization
·         PM failed to review, verbally confirm, or obtain written confirmation of team member responsibilities or confirmed team member intention to participate in the project
·         PM failed to scope the project

2. What was the single most frustrating part of our project?

The most frustrating part of the project did not know what to expect from the Project Manager.

3. How would you do things differently next time to avoid this frustration?

In the future, I would assure that the project was scoped in a professional manner by assuring that:
·         Understand who are the clients and what are their project needs
·         Understand client budget and time limit of the project
·         Assure that all objectives assigned to the project are  clearly defined
·         Communicate clearly by holding regular meetings with client, team members, and stakeholders
·         Assure that team members understand their role and responsibilities within the project  
·         Assure that all team members understand the time limits ad cost of the proposed project
·         Obtain team member agreement in writing of what their responsibilities will be in the life of the project
·         Assure that a Statement of Work is signed by all team members, client and stakeholders
·         Assure that a structured Work Breakdown and  Linear Responsibility Chart is prepared during  the planning process
·         Assure that all stakeholders communicate effectively verbally and in writing
·         Assure that we are all aware of “Scope Creep” and understand how to prevent unplanned incidents to occur
·         Review and test sections of the project as those are   completed to confirm their effectiveness
·         Communicate those results to client and  team members
·         Reward team members who stay on task as they complete their portion of the project
·         Communicate to client and all team members when the project is ready to close

4. What was the most gratifying or professionally satisfying part of the project?
The most gratifying part of the project was effectively communicating with clients and providing exceptional customer service.
5. Which of our methods or processes worked particularly well?
The method that worked well was communicating effectively with the clients.
6. Which of our methods or processes were difficult or frustrating to use?
Trying to convince the (Project Manager) that her presence and feedback was imperative in order to support the success of the project.

7. If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about the project, what would you
change?
If I would have been part of the Management team, I would have replaced the Director (Project Manager) and would have required him or her to hold regular team meetings and to effectively communicate and eventually train the team members how to complete their assigned tasks (if they did not know how or would have access adequate training sessions) in order to support the progress and completion of the project.   If I could wave a magic wand, I would assure that the Director (Project Manager) understands that by knowing the needs of the project, by understanding what strategies can be used, by understanding how to plan the objectives of the project and by not shying away from understanding the limitations of a project will assist a project manager to outline the intent, the objectives, the constraints and assumptions that will support the successful completion of any given project.

8. Did our stakeholders, senior managers, customers, and sponsor(s) participate effectively? If

not, how could we improve their participation?

The customers or stakeholders did participate effectively as they worked directly with the team members while understanding that the team was not being supported by the Director (Project Manager).

References

Greer, M. (2010). The Project Management Minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/59896/CRS-CW-5089754/EDUC_6145_readings/PM-Minimalist-Ver-3-Laureate.pdf

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.