Project Management

Define and Describe The Competency

Project Management is the multidimensional process of planning, organizing, and managing resources to achieve a specific set of objectives.  This includes leading teams throughout the project cycle to include initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure.  The project manager is responsible for achieving the project goals through these phases while working with all stakeholders and balancing the triple constraint of time, scope, and cost.  Project managers mitigate risk, ensure quality, monitor scope, and manage resources towards this goal.  It relies on the project manager to ensure the goals and purpose of the project are realized for the relevant stakeholders (Project Management Institute, 2017).

Contribution to Leadership Ability

Proficiency in Project management greatly enhances my ability to lead and inspire people.  The discipline provides the skills needed to lead diverse groups of project personnel towards the successful completion of deliverables and project goals.  It is through the unique and multi-layered skillset of project management that allows steadfast leadership regardless of the circumstances.  Additionally, the project management skills I have learned will enable me to confidently navigate complex problems with relative ease.

Importance Towards Organizational Leadership

Project management is an essential competency to include in Organizational Leadership.  Many of the pillars of project management, such as time and cost management, have real world applications beyond the theoretical.  It enables future leaders to successfully take on additional challenges and roles within their organizations and industries.  Additionally, the skills involved with project management can be transferred to a great number of applications, both professionally and personally.

Demonstrating My Growth and Development

Although I was an established team leader prior to starting the Organizational Leadership (Project Management) program, the curriculum reinforced and expanded on many of the habits I had unknowingly developed.  Whether it was the principles of situational leadership or theories on motivation, my skills have developed considerably since originally starting this program.  Project procurement and resource management no longer seem daunting challenges.  Overall, I have developed from someone who was interested in project management, into someone who is qualified and certified in project management

Project Management Artifact

Project Managers create many different project documents that help visualize data for project teams and stakeholders.  One such project document is a Project Schedule Network Diagram.  These documents are used to map the logical flow of project activities by order of precedence.  They are vital in determining the overall duration of the project and for finding the critical path, or the sequence of events that, if delayed, will delay the entire duration of the project.  While project management software is very helpful in creating many of these documents, it is not required, as in this example from my portfolio.

References

Project Management Institute. (2017). Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (6th Edition). Project Management Institute.