Today’s point that I am pondering is based more on the
reflections of a class that I am taking rather than my regular musings about
school, society and, at times, the stupidity of some assignments… Not this one
but if you read the first post in this blog, you may understand my
meaning.
So, the
class is on project management. It was a
very short class that lasted only six weeks but nonetheless was filled with
many intriguing and interesting things.
The main part of the course was learning about the different parts of
managing a project, writing a proposal and the other aspects of what a project
needs in order to complete the project. Things
like the scope and requirements for a project are things that, while it may not
seem crucial actually are incredibly crucial.
Reality is,
while I do not know what projects I will be working on over the course of the
career, I have one heck of a huge project and set of events looming in the not
so distant future, my wedding. I mean
sure, I probably won’t write out a Gantt Chart or a work breakdown in the same
way as I would for a project for a company but things like a budget, risk,
limitations and boundaries are things that I will need. Not only that but I
definitely will need to deal with delegating tasks and keeping up to date on
what everyone is up to. This will
probably be made harder by the fact that one of my main people is not in the
country.
In a way,
this course is also incredibly helpful for some of the other courses I am
taking. Come to think of it, I could
have used this kind of course years ago when trying to organize a bunch of
things for a school group back in high school.
The course, however, went farther
than just a straight “how to run a project” course. It talked about how communicators often get
stuck with the writing for many projects that they may not be completely
knowledgeable about. Basically, we need
to know a bit about everything and just enough to be able to know where to find
stuff on anything. It is kind of fun but
at the same time, it can be a bit overwhelming.
That being
said, this blog is named a point to ponder thus, to stay within the theme of my
blog, I must make a ponderable point. In
a way, the point I have been pondering the entire class is whether or not I
have learned enough about managing a project in just six weeks? Is there more to learn? Probably!
There always is but will the best way truly be just “on the job”
training when I have been thrown into a project? If so, how many of these skills will I have
kept in the years it is likely to take before I am managing my own project
rather than just working as part of a team on a company project?
While these
questions run through my head on a constant basis, a more ponderable question
is whether or not I am capable of actually running and managing a project. Heck, even my wedding I am not “managing” on
my own but rather with my mom and fiancé… when I can get more than a cursory
response as input from him. I know that
I could, probably but at the same time, it is hard to believe that all the
skills needed could be achieved in just six weeks. I guess part of this is the mere fact that,
honestly, I would rather follow than lead.
Anyone that really knows me knows this well enough.
I am sure
that I have figured out as much as I can but at times, it is hard to
believe. Heck, my sister would likely
roar with laughter if I mentioned that I would one day lead a project. I help, I make things run but I don’t lead
teams… according to her. Well,
potentially others too. At the same time, I cannot wait to find out if I can…
maybe prove her wrong. That would be
fun. Anyways, I guess today’s point to
ponder is can I do this? I sure hope so!
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