For this assignment I chose to discuss a project that I was in charge of about 5years ago. I was an elementary school teacher and I was the social committee leader. We were planning our annual Christmas luncheon. I was in charge of ensuring that this luncheon was a hit.
What processes, project artifacts, or activities did you include in the project that contributed to its success?
What processes, project artifacts, or activities did you not include in the project that might have made the project more successful?
What I did well
I have never taken a project management class but I felt I had enough knowledge and experience (A mom of three) from planning vacations to birthday parties. So surely I could plan a Christmas luncheon. The first thing I did was meet with the social committee and discuss location, entertainment, budget, and menu. It took five meetings for us to decide on the details for the event. Finally we decided to have a Christmas Breakfast at the school and have it catered. As a team we decided this was best for our staff. During the meeting I delegated responsibilities to different members who either volunteered or I felt could get the job done.
What went wrong
The day of the Christmas breakfast was here and the teachers lounge looked superb. It looked really festive and everything was in place except for the food. I wasn't concern at first because sometimes people run late and I was at work early that day so I gave him a little Grace. Thirty minutes passed and all of the teachers were there and still no food. Okay who was in charge of the caterer? You guessed it! It was me. I called the caterer repeatedly for 45 minutes before he picked up the phone. He stated that I did not tell him the event was today. I almost exploded. What was I going to do. I have a room full of people correction, hungry people waiting to eat. I also had entertainment for the staff. I started to cry because I could not believe this happened to me “Mrs. Party planner”. One teacher pulled me to the side and asked did I pay the caterer? And I said NO! She said good I will go home and prepare a breakfast for the staff and we can have the Christmas breakfast during our recess. I agreed and explained to the staff their was a communication mishap and we will postpone the breakfast until recess time. I did have the entertainment sing Christmas songs before they had to leave. The staff enjoyed the entertainment and they were extremely understanding of the situation. I think they sympathized because of my tears. In the end it worked out and we had a great time.
Reflecting on what went wrong I considered questions ten and eleven from the checklist.
10.Were all team/stakeholder roles and responsibilities clearly delineated and communicated? If
not, how could we have improved these?
11. Were the deliverables specifications, milestones, and specific schedule elements/dates
clearly communicated? If not, how could we improve this?
Initially I met with my team. We brainstormed and I delegated responsibilities. I was so involved in making sure that everyone was doing their part I forgot to make sure I did my part. I was in communication with the caterer constantly but somehow I did not communicate my need clearly. As a project manager I should have given all of the responsibilities to my team members and monitored their progress. I did not and that caused a project to fail.
References:
Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc
Wow! This could have been a nightmare! No food for a Christmas party? I would have cried also.
ReplyDeleteDo you think using a Linear Responsibility Chart could have helped in spelling out tasks and responsibilities?
Wow, talk about "How the Grich Stole Christmas" and how small you could've felt at that time. I can only empathize with you on this. Like they always say "the Devil is in the details" and I don't know whose quote that is. I apologize for the cliches, but these two seemed to fit the situation.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Sandra's comment that a linear responsibility chart would have been a useful tool to delineate team members' reponsibilities. Also, I believe as the (PM) of the social committee it would have been much simpler if you would have resigned yourself to delegating responsibility, because of this potential mishap. Thankfully, there was someone else to step up and fulfill the desired outcome (Little Cindy Louwho).
Mark Z.
Sorry about the mispelled Grinch.
ReplyDeleteKimberly good thing you saved Christmas with your tears at my job that would not work. You stated that as the Project Manager you should have deligated all the duties to your commitee and then monitor the project. I see this as a common mistake made by leadership.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal experience I have seen that the greatest success comes from leading and letting go of duties you feel you "must" do yourself. At work and at home I set goals at the end of last year to deligate better so that I was less stressed. As yous stated if you don't communicate the details then you may be caught without your deliverables.
As a mother like yourself I think we forget at times that even the smallest child can help us somehow and feel a valuable member of the family as they relieve some burden from our hands. It is the same with a project we have to remember the oversea the project and not solely do the project that our team is there to work to easy the burden.
Crystal