Project Management Skills for Leaders
After completing Project Management Skills for Leaders through LinkedIn Learning, I have increased my knowledge on how to effectively carry out projects and lead them to successful completion. This is relevant to my coursework in a couple of ways. This summer I will be interning at Mercer as a health benefits consultant where I will work on intern projects. Learning about these planning processes will allow me to facilitate my group with a vast amount of knowledge. Also, I am currently working on a group project for my Managing Human Capital class that involves meeting many tight timelines and requirements, which this LinkedIn Learning will also help me complete.
I specifically learned about the importance of delegation, creating a culture of candor, utilizing project charters, meetings, and time management. Of the utmost importance, is utilizing the project management principles in your project. These include the following: vetting, planning, designing, and closeouts. Initially, you need to ensure that the project is even worth the time you are putting into it. Once this is established, you can begin planning. Once the project is finished, conduct a closeout. The most important aspect of any project is relationship building. It is important that you ensure that you are building a team. A good way to hold people accountable is by implementing a project charter. This is a document that everyone signs, which signifies their commitment to the plan. Take the time to actually discuss what is going to be included and necessary for this project to be carried out.
As a leader, it is crucial to ensure that those that you delegate to are completing their tasks. To do so, you may utilize the 3 magic questions and ask the person for their understanding on the following: 1. What is your understanding of the task? 2. What will the final deliverable actually look like? 3. What will be your first three steps you will use to start this project? This will ensure that people are taking their task within the project in the right direction. Meetings should be short and to the point so that no one dreads attending them and their must be a culture of candor. Everyone within the team should feel comfortable talking and asking questions.
Overall, this learning taught me about the importance and crucial requirements of being a leader within a project. This learning will allow me to facilitate the development of many future plans throughout my academic and professional career. I look forward to utilizing the project management principles in my future plans.