Lessons Learnt Report for PPMP20008: Initiating and Planning Projects

This report presents a reflection on the lessons learned by a student during the PPMP20008 course, focusing on initiating and planning projects. The introduction emphasizes the importance of effective communication and leadership in project management. The report details the framework used to gather and document lessons, comparing planned versus actual approaches. Two key lessons are explored: the importance of proactive team participation and the need for contingency planning. For each lesson, the student describes the situation, feelings, and insights gained, followed by a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) improvement strategy. These strategies include rewarding proactive team members and consulting with experienced project managers to ensure requirements are met. The report concludes by highlighting the significance of these lessons for future project management endeavors.

Running head: INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 1
Initiating and Planning Projects
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 2
INTRODUCTION
The success of a project calls for a leader who has the ability to effectively interact
and communicate with the project team members. In this essence, learning will be an
essential tool in addition to my experience to aid me in realising a range of aspects related to
management. Good management in a team hone interaction and coordination in managing
different situations (Srivannaboon, 2009). The reflection part in this sense is learning that has
been achieved in the course of team management. The key reflection is regarding project
management with the being to sustain the project team unity for the success of the project. I
learned two lesson in the course of action. First effective communication is key while
managing a team of individuals and second good leadership skills (Kelly, 2018). The task of
managing people is tough because it entails evaluating their performance based on the
planned strategies. These lessons are significance in relation to team management since they
decline conflict due to misunderstanding for successful work delivery. These factors played a
great role in improving my learning.
2. LESSONS LEARNT: FRAMEWORK
2.1 How I planned to gather and document lessons learnt
When…
I planned to identify and
collect lessons learnt
Who…
I planned to involve in the
process of gathering lessons
How…
I planned to document
lessons
I planned to identify and
collect information
regarding the lesson learnt
after being introduced to
PPMP20008 project in class
by our instructor. I decided
I planned to include my
course mate in the process
of gathering the learned
lessons. He has outstanding
skills related to project
management, which would
I had to document my
lessons while undertaking
assessment matters faced by
the team and leading the
team. In the process, I was
able to understand how to

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 3
that I will be collecting and
documenting the lesson that
I learn on a weekly basing
until the final week when
the project will come to end.
of great significance toward
attained my course objective
by documenting all
teachings gained in the
project.
handle the project team and
issues arising within the
team.
2.2 What actually happened?
When...
I identified and collected
lessons learnt
Who…
I involved in the process of
gathering lessons
How…
I documented lessons
What actually happened at
the time of identifying and
collecting that is that I
decided to work with two of
my friends who were taking
the same course. Therefore I
asked my friends to record
lessons that they found to be
significant toward
development of the project
then we could compared
ours lessons and analyse
then compile the lessons that
we found to be of relevance
in line with PPMP20008
project.
I involved two of my friends
taking the same course. In
the process I learnt a number
of things and the most key is
that working in a team hone
the organisation structure of
information. The most
significant aspect that I have
learned is that the best way
while working in a group is
listening to all members.
The best approach to avert
disagreements is allocating
each member a different
task. This provide each
member with a
I was able to document
factors that result in
problems in a team like poor
communication and conflict
among team members.
Certainly, project members
experience disputes because
of poor communication
channels, such that not all
members are informed about
a given aspect in a project.
As a result, such issues leads
to lack of understanding
between members. The
project manager should
communicate effectively to

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 4
responsibility. After
completing each task the
team should hold a meeting
to discuss their achievement
and challenges, through this
approach it is not possible to
hear of disagreements.
Indeed, by allowing
members to work on
different tasks provide them
the opportunity to work with
minimal interference, which
is significant way of
avoiding disputes in the
team.
all project members any
project changes to avoid
confusion among teams.
Similarly, working in a team
has allowed me to become
responsible as compared to
working alone. When an
individual work alone it is
easier to procrastinate.
Working in team allows one
the responsibility to work on
a specific project within the
stated time, which help to
avoid postponing (Hargie
et., 2017). Working in team
allows one to develop
leadership skills in the
project that they are in
charge since the project
depend on each member’s
contribution.
3. LESSONS
3.1 Lessons 1

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 5
1. Situation 2. The situation made me
feel…
3. What I learnt from
reflecting on the situation
In the course of working on
the course project
PPMP20008, it came my
understanding that the project
team members were not
proactively taking part in
some project discussions and
scheduled meetings. In
addition to that, I realized that
there some members who
were discouraging other
members, which is a negative
contribution to the project
quality and effectiveness
Cleveland, & Cleveland,
2018). Indeed, these
behaviour is a reflection of
lack of seriousness and
unprofessionalism among
team members. These
behaviours impact negatively
on the team productivity.
The situation of discouraging
project members and some
members not participating
actively toward the success of
the project made me feel
disappointed. The role of the
project leader is to ensure
effective communication,
which should involve each
project participant. Some of
the members behaviour of
discouraging other members
really annoyed me because
working in as a team should
work to unite people and not
to disunite them. The
discouragement made me feel
that those members who were
discouraging others their
intention was not to realize
the course project objectives
but their personal interests.
When working in a project all
members should work toward a
common goal. To ensure no
cases of disagreement among
team members the project
manager should possess
effective skills of
communication to ensure that all
members are on the same page
(Harrington & Lewis, 2013).
Lack of proper communication
leads to disagreement among
teams which leads to wasting
much time on resolving disputes
instead of working on the
project (Kerans, 2014).
3.1.1 MPROVEMENT SRRATEGY 1

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 6
(a)
Improvement
strategy
Explain what
the specific
strategy is that
you will
implement to
address the
lesson identified
above
(b)
Measurement
How to measure
if the strategy
works
(c)
Achievable
Why the
strategy is
achievable
(d)
Relevant
Explain the
relevance of
strategy to
address the
lesson
(e)
Timing
When the
strategy will be
implemented
To ensure
proactive
participation of
all members of
the project and
develop a
positive work
setting the
members who
will work an
extra mile will
be appreciated
by rewarding
To measure
whether the
stated strategy
will work or not,
all members
commitment
toward the
project will be
assessed based
on their work
quality and then
submitted by
each member.
The strategy is
attainable
because it is
easy to analyse
the type of
work quality
submitted by
all team
members.
This strategy is
significant
because it helps
to support the
effectiveness of
all project
members by
coordinating all
tasks to ensure
they are
completed on
time.
The strategy will
be implemented
from the
commencement
of the project
according to the
specified course
dates.

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 7
them as a
motivation to
keep up the
same spirit
(Kelly, 2018).
Also, a record of
work will be
prepared to
capture all
members and
assess their
daily
contribution to
the project.
Indeed, this will
aid to evaluate a
satisfactory
approach of all
project
members.
3.2 Lesson 2
1. Situation 2. The situation made me
feel…
3. What I learnt from
reflecting on the situation

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 8
I faced a situation of not
having prepared a
contingency plan for the
project.
This situation made feel
frustrated and confused
because I had no any backup
plan for my project, which
means that in case the first
plan could fail I would end
being doomed.
I learned that before starting any
project it is important to check
and ensure that all project tools
and requirements are in place
before commencing the project
(Kerans, 2014). This is
significant because it helps to
avoid confusion and frustrations
in the course of the project.
3.2.1 IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY 2
(a)
Improvement
strategy
Explain what
the specific
strategy is that
you will
implement to
address the
lesson identified
above
(b)
Measurement
How to measure
if the strategy
works.
(c)
Achievable
Why the
strategy is
achievable
(d)
Relevant
Explain the
relevance of
strategy to
address the
lesson
(e)
Timing
When the
strategy will be
implemented
To avoid the
above
To measure if
the strategy
The strategy is
achievable
The relevance
of this strategy
The strategy
will be

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 9
experience I
will ensure that
before starting
my project I
check to ensure
it has all the
necessary
requirements by
consulting a
project manager
with experience
to check and
ascertain that all
requirements are
in place.
work I will
prepare all the
necessary
documents for
the project and
present them to
an experienced
project manager
to confirm
whether I have
attained all the
needed
requirements.
because it only
need the
inspection of an
experienced
project manager
to confirm the
requirements
(Srivannaboon,
2009).
is that it helps
to avoid facing
problems of
lack of certain
requirements
once the project
has kicked off,
which helps to
deliver the
project on time,
on budget and
satisfactory to
the customer.
implemented in
the initiation
stage just
before the
project begins.
6. CONCLUSION
To conclude, through this project course PPMP20008, I have learned various
significant aspects in relation to project management. In this sense, I will use the documented
learning lessons from this project for my future projects.
References
Hargie, (2017). Communication Skills for Effective Management. Macmillan International
Higher Education.
Kerans, A. (2014). Project-based management technique for radiofrequency spectrum

INITIATING AND PLANNING PROJECTS 10
planning and allocation: Part Two: The project management plan. Australian Journal Of
Telecommunications And The Digital Economy, 2(4). doi: 10.7790/ajtde.v2n4.60
Cleveland, M., & Cleveland, S. (2018). Building Engaged Communities—A Collaborative
Leadership Approach. Smart Cities, 1(1), 155-162. doi: 10.3390/smartcities1010009
Harrington, H.J. & Lewis, R., (2013). Closing the Communication Gap: An Effective Method
for Achieving Desired Results. CRC Press.
Srivannaboon, S. (2009). Achieving Competitive Advantage through the use of Project
Management under the Plan-do-Check-act Concept. Journal Of General
Management, 34(3), 1-20. doi: 10.1177/030630700903400301
Kelly, G., (2018). Team Leadership: Five Interactive Management Adventures. Gower
Publishing.