Competency
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:
Employ various leadership and management strategies in the execution of communication projects
Scenario
You are a project manager with D.O.W.S., a nonprofit nongovernmental organization (NGO) that helps people with water access and public health issues. Recently, your organization has completed a marketing campaign that focuses on increasing clean water access for children living in urban poverty who have little control over the water they consume. Now that the project has reached completion, it is time to reflect on the project and complete a “lessons learned” document to share with your supervisor.
Directions
You have just completed managing a large project for your organization, and it is time to reflect on the project as a whole. Your supervisor has asked you to complete a “lessons learned” document that uses the project schedule, weekly project schedule updates, and your weekly status reports as a guide for your reflection. Fill in any gaps in information with your “memory” of the project as a whole.
Note: You are expected to use emotional intelligence and management best practices principles to guide gaps in information regarding management of others, communication strategies and styles, and management and resolution of risks and issues.
Your “lessons learned” document should include the following:
Managing Others
How did you manage people who do not report directly to you?
What challenges did you face managing these people? How did you handle these challenges? If you did not experience any challenges, why do you think that is? What is it about your management or communication style that you think eliminated or minimized these issues?
What specific steps did you take to lead internal stakeholders to a successful outcome?
What did you do that worked well to lead them to a successful outcome?
What could you do in the future to more effectively or efficiently lead internal stakeholders to a successful outcome?
What specific steps did you take to lead external partners or vendors to a successful outcome?
What did you do that worked well to lead them to a successful outcome?
What could you do in the future to more effectively or efficiently lead external partners or vendors to a successful outcome?
Communication
How did you communicate status changes to various stakeholders?
What areas of communication seemed to work better for certain stakeholders, and why?
What areas of communication seemed inefficient or ineffective for certain stakeholders, and why?
What changes could you make to communicate more effectively?
How did you determine who needed to receive what information? Were your determinations accurate? If so, how do you know? If not, what can you do to improve on this in the future?
How did you determine when various stakeholders needed to receive certain information? Were your determinations accurate? If so, how do you know? If not, what can you do to improve on this in the future?
How did you determine how the information would be delivered to various stakeholders? Were your determinations accurate? If so, how do you know? If not, what can you do to improve on this in the future?
Processes
Describe your management and leadership processes for risks and issues. Consider the following:
How did you resolve the risks and issues presented? Do you think you could have taken different steps to resolve these risks and issues?
What management style did you use? Waterfall? Agile? A hybrid of these? Would one have worked better than another? Why?
What to Submit
Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:
“Lessons Learned” Document
Your “lessons learned” document should be a 1,000- to 1,500-word document, in MS Word or similar, with 12-point Times New Roman font.
Supporting Materials
The following resource(s) may help support your work on the project:
Project Schedule
This project schedule covers the weekly breakdown of project tasks, timelines, and project costs.
Weekly Project Schedule Updates
These document the project schedule from weeks 0 through 15.
Weekly Status Reports
These document the project status, scheduled work, issues, risks, and key takeaways for each week of the project.
Citation Help
Need help citing your sources? Use the CfA Citation Guide and Citation Maker.
