Project Management Reflection Report: Blood Donation Camp Project

This report provides a reflective analysis of a project management assignment focused on organizing a blood donation camp. The student reflects on lessons learned, including the importance of raising awareness, setting up the location, legal considerations, marketing strategies, and budget management. The report also emphasizes the significance of teamwork, highlighting the benefits of diverse skills, effective communication, and shared responsibility in achieving project goals. Furthermore, it explores the application of project management tools and techniques, such as PID (Project Initiation Document) and Gantt charts, to ensure the successful execution of the blood donation camp project. The student reflects on the challenges faced, the strategies employed, and the overall impact of the project, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of project management principles in a real-world context.

Project Management Practice

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Reflective on lesson which is learnt from the project:...........................................................1
Reflective on working as part of team....................................................................................4
Reflective on PM tools and techniques including PID...........................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
.........................................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The present report would be based on reflective essay writing about what has been learnt
in the whole project which was made in group presentation. Reflective writing is the process of
writing about what individual has leant during certain activity which they have attended this
could be anything including seminar, presentation or any formal meeting. It will also be
including that which tools and techniques were been employed at time of making the
presentation. As the group work which is been done was based on organisation of blood donation
camp in Luton so that people could be aware of what are the benefits of donating of blood. Being
within one team and doing work according to that team will also be very much important. So this
part will also be included within this reflective writing that what all things were learnt to be with
team and finishing the work.
MAIN BODY
Reflective essay or writing would be termed to as telling and describing whole
experience which we have gained. This will also be including the event which took place so that
whole interaction and incident could be clear in terms of what was learnt and what need to be
changed (Cook-Sather, 2018). As five of us were included in making group presentation on
organisation of blood donation camp in Luton the main objective behind this camp was
encouraging and then creating awareness of donating blood to them who are in need of. One of
the main aim of this presentation would be of opening blood donation camp in the town centre
and also that of providing marketing and hospitality of campaign.
Reflective on lesson which is learnt from the project:
As per the presentation which we have been prepared on the topic we have learnt many
things as there were a lot to learn from the part of presentation. The expected benefits which was
aimed towards the given campaign was termed to as raising awareness of importance of blood
donation within town which we have chosen i.e., Luton in its city centre. From the presentation I
have learnt that it is very much important that we are encouraging many people to donate their
blood according to their blood group.
Blood is very important part of human body which is helping us to survive and fight with
many harmful and dangerous disease. But there is many a time when persons are getting shortage
of blood in their body and are in urgent need of it. If they are not been able to get blood at right
1

time then they could even die because of this so there is need to provide them blood on time so
that they are been able to survive. Blood donation camp is the best way out which is telling and
encouraging many people to give their blood to those who are in need of it. This process is also
very much good for that individual who is donating their own blood as they would be protecting
their own health and will also be safe to donate. I was having my first chance to make
presentation on such a good topic from which I would also be learning very much. As I have also
come to know the importance of these types of camps which should be organised at equal time
interval throughout year.
Which will be easy to make the availability of blood throughout the year for those who
are in need of blood of various group (Yakhforoshha and Shirazi, 2018). I have learnt this when
we decided that by what means it would be clear that this type of blood donation camp was
successful or not. So by taking out number of people who would be attending this camp, number
of volunteers for marketing and hospitality of the camp and with the level of blood which we
could be able to collect. As per my learning this process of presentation it becomes very much
important that I'm having clear knowledge about blood donation camp.
This group presentation was done as per the plan which we have made at the starting of
our work. The process started after planning that which work would be done by whom and what
work needs to be actually done. This included type of information which should be written down
like the number of people who are estimated who are attending the program and value of blood
which we would be getting (Vetter and Nunes, 2018). In making presentation it is very much
important that we are employing or people are involved in developing of the work so that it
becomes essential.
There are many types of resource which are to be used while preparing presentation and
collection of data or information. However, the activities which need to be implemented within
this camp would be those of (Yoder and van Hover, 2018). First thing which I have learnt form
this was setting and choosing of location which was most important part of organisation of camp.
Location should be that which would be most convenient for people who are attending the camp.
What are the risk involved in formation of camp must also kept in min which would be related to
location or less number of volunteers who are been involved. I have also leant that there could
also be legal issues that are linked to this camp like that of obtaining permission from local
2

municipalities or camp would be taking place ion the town centre so it is essential that proper
paper work is been done.
Refreshments to all those who are coming to donate their blood and the one who would
be taking the samples is also important. In following group presentation we have also included
that what equipments would be needed while conducting the camp like that which are there in
hospital and these would also been provided from hospitals. What type of marketing strategies
should be adopted so that this good course would be taken far to a large public forces. I have
learnt that without the activity of promoting about product or program it would not be easy for
anyone to reach out to larger market. Telling many people means that you are building more
share of prospects who are then persuading to attend the activity. It is vital that lots of people are
made to know about the process which will be taking place so that they are then been able to be a
part of camp. Marketing would be promoting our blood donation camp which will be making it
easy for us to circulate our campaign to larger people and creating awareness about it would also
be done.
This learning will be matters on fact that after this we would be making budget on whole
spending and amount which is available with us. Like which thing would be costing how much
and what is our overall budget and which activity would be most expensive. Contingency fund as
I have learnt must be about 10% of total budget of about £10000 i.e., £1000. Equipments in this
part included that of clean procedures tray, non-sterile gloves, tourniquet, blood sampling device,
blood specimen bottles, alcohol swab, cotton wools balls, sterile plaster, laboratory forms, labels
and transportation bags. All of them would be most expensive which is about 2000 and also
facilities and venue used parking is costing about 3750. Rest all the other activities which I have
learnt in this presentation are safety like fire and first aid; renting of 7 sets of table and chairs for
donators, advertisement or marketing like that of poster or Facebook; complimentary juice and
biscuits for donators and then organising lunch for society members and volunteers.
The presentation will also be containing product breakdown structure will be prepared
which would be telling about what all need to be done and how would it be done. This structure
will be helping me to understand that how could I manage my work according to what is most
and what is least important as per the part of my duty. Then according to this structure I could be
able to prepare network diagram which would be telling me about my whole work in the short
3

way and telling that what activity could I skip to save my time or cost as well. In order to look
about the planning of the work which are done we could also be drawing Gantt chart which
could be telling about which activity would be coming after which one and each task would be
taking how much time.
Reflective on working as part of team.
As all the members of the group were getting chance of working within team of 5 people
which was opportunity to develop (Mummalaneni, 2014). Group working and dynamics are part
of working within people which would be enabling everyone to identify and enhance their
hidden talent or their potential of doing task while they are working with many types of people.
There are lots of difference when we are working in team with that when we are working alone
as at that time we would only be learning about oneself. While at time when we was working
with certain type of people we would be getting knowledge about topics at which we are not
having knowledge of. Working in group dose not only mean that we are been put into group and
we have to do our own job but it means dividing whole work in to different task which is
distributed evenly.
This means that all of us who are been working into that group would be meaning that we
are enabling each other to work together with each others help. Everyone is having their own
skills, knowledge and attribute which is helping all of us ot work together and solve the problems
if any. I have leant that this teamwork is important in almost every part of life thus enabling us to
work in any type of environment which is particularly dealing with team members. While I was
working with my team to develop a group presentation on organising blood donation camp in
Luton. I got to know that this working in team of people who are having lot of knowledge about
various things was a great opportunity.
As we all at the first time when got to know each other we thought that this work would
not be an easy task to deal with such different types of peoples. But then also we decided that we
all would be working and helping each other so that this project could be completed. After
knowing each other or introducing we decided that who would be doing which type of task
dividing work according to everyone ability would be task of team leader. So after the common
decision of everyone I was elected as the team leader who was responsible to manage all other
team members till the time when work was finished and presented before our teacher.
4

I as team leader and been a member of that team took up this challenge so that
presentation could be made very good at our end and everything could be included within. I
made sure that all are getting job as per their own ability, they are working as team which would
be the most important part of our work and also that we all are solving our problems in an
effective way (Karakas, Manisaligil and Sarigollu, 2015). I have learnt that if people are working
as team as they are been able to achieve their goal in better and efficient manner which is
important as well. While we were making our presentation at that time we were having certain
task which was vital to achieve and there were certain benefits which need to be come out after
the blood donation camp.
The main objective was to raise awareness that how much important this camp could be it
was essential that we are encouraging people to donate their blood to patients who are in need of
this or are suffering from disease like that of Anaemia. Donating blood is not just important for
person who would be getting treatment from that but also for that who is engaged in regular
donating their blood this was the thing which I have leant at time of doing this project.
Working in team there are many things which we should remember so that this task
becomes easy on the part of people. But to be an effective part of team I should be having certain
behaviour which will be avoiding conflicts within team members. The main thing which we
should be keeping in mind involve that I'm being involved in trusting my teammates with their
ability to work. Everyone need to know their work and role in team that who needs to do what at
their part and heading towards group objective will also be important.
In this task when we are been able to identify what is the problem which is leading to
problems and then diagnosing the solution to that problem would be important on my hand. But I
as team leader should be allowing the teammates to decide over solution about problems. If I'm
engaged in promoting and supporting the members of my team then this will also be enabling to
achieve the objective. This will also helping them to get the best out of them so that they could
be able to identify their ability of working in team. Both working as teammate and like that as
leader would be two roles which I need to play while I'm working in that team. Working in team
I have also learnt that skills, abilities and knowledge would be helpful for gaining the assignment
so that next time when I would be involved in team working I should be taking my knowledge
forward.
5

The most successful part of our experience of team working was that our project was
completed at correct time as per the deadline which was given to us. But there were many
problems while we were dealing with people the most common among them was conflicting of
teammates with each other. This was not allowing them to work as one team but then also they
were all trying to resolve the issue. So I have decided that if the same type of work I would be
getting in future then I should be preparing all teammates to work together within team.
Reflective on PM tools and techniques including PID.
Project Initiation Documentation (PID) is that founding stone of any project which is
been prepared to get the information about what will project be on, how will this be conducted
and what would be the deadline of it (McGibbon and Van Belle, 2015). This is regarded to as
most important part of any project which could be also termed as outline or blueprint of work
which would be done. PID will be containing information which are like that of starting of that
project and the process which are to be employed at time of making of that project. This would
also be regarded to as reference point so that project team knows what they need to do and client
know what is been done within that project.
Projects IN Controlled Environment (PRINCE 2) is that method which is been employed
so that work which will be done is controlled and divided into manageable stages. There are
certain things which are been included within this PID so that our client and project team
member s are having idea about what need to be done. The documentation which need to be
included within this would be goal of project, scope, organisation which will be doing this
project, business case, constraints, stakeholders, risk which are involved, project controls,
reporting frameworks, PID signing off and at the end summary of the whole PID.
Thus, project management is the application of tools and techniques which will be
directed towards use of various resources so that it could be completed within given time frame
with maximising quality and minimising cost of project (Glinz and Fricker, 2015). It is very
much important to use correct type of tools and techniques while working on specified project so
that chance of failure of project is been minimised. The process involve making PID, then
initiation of project, executing and then closing of the project.
There are various types of tools and techniques which are to be employed while preparing
of project it is important that we are having full knowledge about them at the starting phase only.
6

Which will thus be enabling us to identify that which one would b best suited so that conclusion
could be drawn. If we are not having any specified knowledge about which tool or technique
should be used then this will be creating problem for us to finish our work.
The tools which need to included within project management will be including computer
based and manually tools. It is the duty of project manager that which type of tool they are
employing to conduct project among them all Gantt Charts and Program Evaluation Review
Technique (PERT) could be used (van Aken, Chandrasekaran and Halman, 2016). Both of them
are either done manually or computer software are also there which will b helping me and our
team to conduct the project properly.
Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) is mainly used so that we could be able
to define as well as control all task which are been conducted and important within framework of
our project. There is also another term which is often used interchangeably with this PERT
which is Critical Path Method (CPM). They would be telling us about schedule of project in
order or sequence in which project would be conducted and also showing that whether two tasks
could be performed at the same time or not. If the same is represented into graphical terms then it
will be called to as Project Network or the CPM Diagram as well (Project Management: Tools &
Techniques, 2018). Under this we could be able to see that how all activities of project are to be
interrelated to each other, which activity is coming after which one and what could be sequence
of project. There need to be followed some steps in PERT which are could be as follows:
Identification Of Activities- this will b enabling me to set the milestone of the project from the
starting to end points of project.
Determination Of Sequence- after this I will be planning of which activity should be coming
before and after which one.
Construction Of Network Diagram- then network diagram or graphical representation would be
made of that whole sequence.
Estimation Of Time Required- how much time will be allotted to each activity will be set up by
me so that I could easily deal with all activities on correct time.
Determination Of Critical Path- this is that time or path which will be telling me that how could
I be able to save my timing by doing or performing two activities together. There are four critical
7

paths namely the Earliest start time (ES), the Earliest finish time (EF), the Latest start time (LS)
and Latest finish time (LF).
Updating PERT Chart- seeing that time was not wasted and progressing of project will be
important so that we are been able to make certain chances if necessary.
On the other hand Gantt chart is that tool which is helping us to show calendar task
assignment which will b given in month, week and days. This will also be helping us to
determine how much time would be needed to complete one certain task and what could be one
possible best way to do one task faster than the others. I need to follow certain steps which will
be telling me how to draw Gantt charts within project (Karakas, Manisaligil and Sarigollu,
2015). Like listing up of activities, heading with days or weeks which will be required to do each
task, plotting of the task, scheduling activities and then presentation of this analysis.
With the help of this I came to know that both of then are having their own benefits
which will be helping me to construct the charts and then finishing off my work in an efficient
manner. Like in Gantt chart if I'm using I would easily be able to see the scheduling of whole
project with this only it will be easy to compare actual progress with planned one.
CONCLUSION
From the above reflective work I have learnt that if I'm using Gantt charts as the most
effective tool of project management then it will be easy for me to conduct the whole project and
thus allowing comparison of multiple projects at same time with determination of risk and
resource allocation as well.
8

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Cook-Sather, A., 2018. The Transformative Potential of Pedagogical Partnership: A Sampling of
Student Partners Stories. Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education. 1(23).
p.1.
Glinz, M. and Fricker, S.A., 2015. On shared understanding in software engineering: an
essay. Computer Science-Research and Development. 30(3-4). pp.363-376.
Karakas, F., Manisaligil, A. and Sarigollu, E., 2015. Management learning at the speed of life:
Designing reflective, creative, and collaborative spaces for millenials. The International
Journal of Management Education. 13(3). pp.237-248.
McGibbon, C. and Van Belle, J.P., 2015. Integrating environmental sustainability issues into the
curriculum through problem-based and project-based learning: a case study at the
University of Cape Town. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 16. pp.81-88.
Mummalaneni, V., 2014. Reflective essay and e-portfolio to promote and assess student learning
in a capstone marketing course. Marketing Education Review. 24(1). pp.43-46.
van Aken, J., Chandrasekaran, A. and Halman, J., 2016. Conducting and publishing design
science research: Inaugural essay of the design science department of the Journal of
Operations Management. Journal of Operations Management. 47. pp.1-8.
Vetter, M.A. and Nunes, M.J., 2018. Writing Theory for the Multimajor Professional Writing
Course: A Case Study and Course Design. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching
Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture. 18(1). pp.157-173.
Yakhforoshha, A., and Shirazi, M., 2018. Effectiveness of Integrating Simulation with Art-
Based Teaching Strategies on Oncology Fellows Performance Regarding Breaking Bad
News. Journal of Cancer Education. pp.1-9.
Yoder, P.J. and van Hover, S., 2018 . Teaching History to ELLs in Standards-Based Settings:
Implications for Teacher Educators. In Teaching History and Social Studies to English
Language Learners. (pp. 39-65). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Online:
9

Project Management: Tools & Techniques. 2018. [online]. Accessed through:
<http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/488_f02_papers/ProjMgmt.html>
10