Project Management Course Reflection: Skills, Challenges, and Growth

This reflective journal provides a comprehensive overview of a student's learning journey in a project management course. The student reflects on the skills acquired, including team management, effective communication, and risk management. The journal details the challenges faced, such as literature gaps and the complexities of risk identification and mitigation. The reflection highlights the importance of leadership and communication in project success, emphasizing how these skills contribute to team cohesion and achieving desired outcomes. The student discusses the application of these skills in both professional and personal contexts, demonstrating a clear understanding of the course's practical relevance. The journal references key concepts such as change management, stakeholder engagement, and qualitative/quantitative risk analysis, illustrating a deep engagement with the course material and its practical implications. The student also emphasizes the importance of building trust, conflict management, and transparency within a team environment. The reflection incorporates relevant references to support the discussed concepts and provides a valuable insight into the student's personal and professional growth.

Running head: REFLECTION
Personal Reflection
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1REFLECTION
Summary
In the course, I acquired various skills of project management on different grounds as was
necessary for the completion of the course. These skills and techniques according to my
knowledge were absolute necessary for which has usefulness in the future life, both in
professional and the personal settings. In the following reflective journal, I emphasized on the
learning that I received from the two modules and how it can help me in my professional and
personal life. I also highlighted the challenges I faced during the course of learning. Here I
discussed about the learning I received on how to form a team to carry out the project and the
necessary skills to organize them and reduce the foreseeable conflict in the team. Various skills
that I received for the project is mentioned the in reflection. Team management is also learning is
communicated if the reflection. Communication proved to be a major challenge for me in the
process that I had to overcome using the skills I gained in the course. Other problems that I faced
in the course are the gap in the literature. There are many issues that are not yet been worked on.
Hence, understanding these problems was a great deal of challenge for me. Risk management in
a project is a severe pain in the back as the risks are to be identified and a proper
recommendation needs to be applied in the scenario. This was the module of the learning
process. To come out of the problem, I went through as many cases as possible for forming a
proper understanding of the potential risks. I can comment that the learning I received from the
course from the course is useful in future course of my professional life as it will help in real
case scenario. It crosses the boundaries of the professional life as these are essential in personal
life in avoiding family conflicts and also in managing personal life on various grounds from
family level to social life.
Module One Reflection

2REFLECTION
I researched through the change management that is a necessary part of the project
management course in module 1. I started my learning acquiring a project team, develop and
manage the team throughout the course. Effective communication, procurements and managing
the stakeholder engagement was the necessary learning that taught me the detailed process of
human resource management plans and their implementation in organizing them. Different team
components and their characteristics had to be taken into consideration along with learning of
effective decisions making in order to develop, manage the team including the conflict
management in mind. I also learned how to conduct a quality assurance check to implement the
approved changes to change the project objectives. For conducting the procurement, I learned the
process of obtaining the seller responses, selecting a seller and awarding the contract that was
quite challenging. The key skills that I developed for the course in interpersonal level are, trust
building skills, conflict management, active listening and many more. I also learned some of the
management skills, like, influence people to support the project, negotiate agreements to satisfy
the project needs, modification in organizational behavior to accept the project outcomes and
many more. I went through several challenges in the course as the quality resources required for
learning is hard to come by. But the learning I received from the course is no doubt valuable in
future life in both professional and personal life. It will become easier for me to handle issues in
professional grounds, whereas, I am now more efficient in relationship building and managing
things in personal life.
Module four Reflection
In module four, I learned how to identify operational, political, environmental, social
cultural factors related to risk management. I went through several case studies of different
companies that faced catastrophic loss and gained insight from the cases. Later I conducted

3REFLECTION
literature study to gain an understanding of qualitative and quantitative risk analysis,
identification on the basis of the analysis report and planning to come out from the risk. The
qualitative risk analysis involves the industrial studies of similar projects and the risk databases.
Whereas, the quantitative analysis included, the project cost estimation, cost distribution, cost
risk stimulation and other involved in the factor. I learned to form strategic risk map. I
categorized the risked in this part based on their intensity. In the final part of the assignment, I
learned about the effective tools that are required in controlling the foreseeable risk in the
project. I faced challenges in the identification of the risk factors where that I overcome with the
cases studies as mentioned.
Importance of Leadership and Communication
The most effective key of leadership in project management is the communication skill
which affects the rest of the elements involved in the leadership (Men 2014). A leader with good
communication skill can supplement the other key factors of leadership like, controlling,
staffing, organizing, planning and leading that will help in achieving the desired outcomes in the
project (Qubaisi et al.2015; Burke 2013). Communication is a broader concept in this field which
involves the relationship between the leader and the followers. It helps in clarifying the problems
that are faced by the followers in completing the project and the lacks in the project plan. This
will in turn, contribute in the formation of idea by the leader about the work situation and help
him or her to bring the necessary changes in the project (Brandts, Cooper and Weber 2014). A
good relationship always facilitates the bonding among the team members which in turn develop
the understanding between the two. Other aspects of communication involve motivation, trust
buildup, keeping the fellow members updated with the situation and transparency of the benefits
that will come out of the completion of the project (Hackman and Johnson 2013). The leadership

4REFLECTION
theories state the leadership as the cumulative thought of the group and the leader is the
representative of the vision of the group (Mikkelson, York and Arritola 2015). The vision of the
leader about the project is also an important responsibility for the leader to communicate with the
team members. It will clarify the work situation for the team members and help them to have a
proper mindset and understanding of the project that will have positive impact in the project
(Larson and Gray 2013).

5REFLECTION
References
Men, L.R., 2014. Strategic internal communication: Transformational leadership, communication
channels, and employee satisfaction. Management Communication Quarterly, 28(2), pp.264-284.
Brandts, J., Cooper, D.J. and Weber, R.A., 2014. Legitimacy, communication, and leadership in
the turnaround game. Management Science, 61(11), pp.2627-2645.
Hackman, M.Z. and Johnson, C.E., 2013. Leadership: A communication perspective. Waveland
Press.
Mikkelson, A.C., York, J.A. and Arritola, J., 2015. Communication competence, leadership
behaviors, and employee outcomes in supervisor-employee relationships. Business and
Professional Communication Quarterly, 78(3), pp.336-354.
Qubaisi, J.M.M.L.F.A., Elanain, H.M.A., Badri, M.A. and Ajmal, M.M., 2015. Leadership,
culture and team communication: analysis of project success causality-a UAE case. International
Journal of Applied Management Science, 7(3), pp.223-243.
Larson, E.W. and Gray, C., 2013. Project Management: The Managerial Process with MS
Project. McGraw-Hill.
Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.