PPMP20008: 2019 Term 1 Lessons Learnt Reflective Report

This report reflects on a student's experience in the PPMP20008 project management course, focusing on reflective practice and the identification of key lessons learned. The introduction explains reflective practice and its importance for graduates, specifically those in project management. The report outlines a framework for gathering and documenting lessons, contrasting the initial plans with the actual outcomes. Two critical lessons are discussed: the need for strong decision-making skills and effective communication. Each lesson includes a detailed situation analysis, the student's emotional response, and the key takeaways. For each lesson, a specific improvement strategy is proposed, along with a plan to measure its effectiveness, justification for its achievability, relevance, and a timeline for implementation. The report concludes with a summary of the key learnings and emphasizes the importance of developing both communication and decision-making skills, along with the use of SMART objectives for effective strategy implementation. The references include academic sources that support the concepts discussed.

PPMP20008
2019 TERM 1ASS_3
LESSONS LEARNT
Name:Insert full name
Student NumberInsert student number
Campus:Insert campus or distance
Tutor:Insert tutor name
Tutorial number:Insert the tutorial number
Notes to the Author
[This document is a template. It has been tailored to suit the assessment. All fields within the template should
be completed as per the project scenario provided.
 Blue italicized text provides an explanation of what should be included for each section. Remove all
blue text prior to submission.If there are two or more options for you to decide between, revert the
option you are keeping to black and remove the other.
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1. INTRODUCTION
 Explain what reflective practice is (provide reference/s)
Reflective practice is the method of recollecting and reflection on the personal
encounters and the incidents that have taken place with the individual. This habit will be
very helpful in order to understand the things that went well or did not go well in the past
(Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). Thus it will help the individuals to follow the method of
constant learning.
 Describe the role of reflective practice for graduates (of the qualification you are
enrolled in) State what the qualification is e.g. Master of Project Management.
Reflective practice will be helping the graduates to learn from their past experiences and
make sure that they can develop some good and useful knowledge from that. The
qualifications that are needed for becoming ideal project manager are-good leadership
skills, strong decision making skills, communication ability and others (Lientz & Rea,
2016).
 Identify the two lessons discussed in the report and explain why you choose to
discuss each (e.g. why they were important to you).
Week 1 lecture, introduction to project management and Week 2 lecture, initiating and
planning project.
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
As soon as I joined the
project management subject I
realized that understanding
the basic of project
management and the
methods of initiating the
project is of utmost
importance
I realized that I have to
involve the professor, my
seniors, co-workers and any
other mentors who helps me
for understanding the lessons
 I will move forward
in a step by step
manner
 I will also allocate
the particular
amount of time for
each kinds of work
so that I can move
forward in a proper
manner
 I thought that going
through the lessons
of the book and
listening to the
professors will be
enough to learn
about the different
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project management
skills.
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
I was finding it really very
tough to understand about
the essential aspects of
project management and to
understand about the
methods of learning.
I realized that I am really
having a lot of problem due to
my poor communication skill.
I realized that things are not
going easy for me as I not
able to talk properly with the
mentors and also with my co
workers
I involved the mentors but I
realized that taking only the
views of the mentors will not
be very helpful. I have to take
help from my friends and my
seniors as well.
This will help me in order to
get the views and the
opinions of others. I have
learnt that in order to become
a good project manager I
have to take the opinions and
the feedback from all my
team members rather than
moving forward by my own
opinion
I realized that I have to take
the guidance of my teachers
and also enrol myself for any
kinds of views
I realized that I have to move
forward by following the
project life cycle model
3. LESSONS
3.1 Lesson 1
1. Situation 2. The situation made me
feel…
3. What I learnt from
reflecting on the situation
The team leader was
unavailable due to some
emergency and the project
had to be presented to the
foreign client within a very
I realized from this situation
that in order o be a project
manager, I have to develop a
strong decision making
I learnt that a project manager
has to be a good communicator
and develop a good public
communication skill.
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short period of time. However
I realized that I have to
appoint another supervisor
who will be taking up the
charge. However I was
getting tensed and could not
take any firm decision
power. I need to take decision
without thinking much about
the consequences.
I will have to develop a
proper communication skill to
make sure that all the
information is being conveyed
properly
3.1.1 IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY 1
(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
I will try to work
over my decision
making skills
I will take the
measurement of
my improvement
from self
appraisals, peer
feedbacks and
review ratings
from my co
workers
It is achievable in
nature as
decision making
skill can be
achieved through
taking of the
tough and
challenging
works
It is relevant in
the field of
becoming an
ideal project
manager so that
I can take apt
decision at the
right time without
any hesitation
3months
3.2 Lesson 2
1. Situation 2. The situation made me
feel…
3. What I learnt from
reflecting on the situation
I appointed some new
managers for the onsite
projects but could not really
communicate the roles,
responsibilities and the
decisions. I was hesitant and
did not know how to
effectively conduct the
business communication.
Thus they were uninformed
about many different aspects
and committed many
mistakes in the work
I felt in this situation that I am
not being able to convey the
business decisions and the
take project updates in an
effective manner Thus the
project is suffering a lot as
there are many
communication gaps in the
process from my end. Thus I
realized I have to work over
this aspect.
From this lesson I learned that I
have to work over my
communication skill and
understand about the principles
of effective business
communication. None of the
business communication is
complete without proper
feedback, Thus I will try to get
over my hesitation and convey
all the decision that are being
taken. I will take proper
feedback from the recipients so
that none of the communication
stays half done and can be
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completed in a proper manner. I
will also develop the two way,
open ended and also horizontal
communication system.
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
Develop a
horizontal
communication
system so that I
can take the
opinion and the
view of all the
team members.
This will help me
to put forward a
collaborative effort
and get proper
advices to move
forward in the
right direction
I will take the
feedbacks from my
mentor and also
from the peers.
Peer to peer
feedback, 360
degree feedback
system will be
useful tool for
getting the
feedback and the
opinion of team
members who are
working together
I think that this is
achievable as
communication
development is a
very important
and easily
achievable skill
The relevant
strategy that can
be used is to take
recent updates
from all the team
members and
then
3months
6. CONCLUSION
Thus it can be concluded that in order to be a successful project manager, I have to
develop the skills of effective public communication and also make sure that I am working
over my decision managing skills. It will be very beneficial for me if I develop the SMART
objectives in order to understand the relevance and the importance of these strategies.
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7. REFERENCES
Arnold, E. C., & Boggs, K. U. (2019). Interpersonal Relationships E-Book: Professional
Communication Skills for Nurses. Saunders.
Brière, S., Proulx, D., Flores, O. N., & Laporte, M. (2015). Competencies of project managers in
international NGOs: Perceptions of practitioners. International Journal of Project
Management, 33(1), 116-125.
Kerzner, H. (2018). Project management best practices: Achieving global excellence. John Wiley &
Sons.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Lientz, B., & Rea, K. (2016). Breakthrough technology project management. Routledge.
Nicholas, J. M., & Steyn, H. (2017). Project management for engineering, business and technology.
Routledge.
Ziek, P., & Anderson, J. D. (2015). Communication, dialogue and project management.
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 8(4), 788-803.
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