Semester Wrap-Up
By ryan | July 29, 2007
This semeseter has been quite interesting. A lot has happend with this project over the course of our class.
1. Obstacles Can be a Projects Best Friend (Sometimes)
The project itself was almost doomed from the start. At first, my team thought that this project would be slightly challending, but as we starting digging for where to begin, we soon realized that this project wasn’t going anywhere fast. We first learned that the project wasn’t handled properly the previous semester by a different group of students, and that they had failed to deliver a quality product. Knowing this, we entered the project knowing our sponsor would be gunshy. We wouldn’t learn until the project began that the entire organization went MIA. Not a single person in the organization would get into contact with us. This made us realize a very important thing. Sometimes people just don’t care. Other times they disappear.
In spite of this major pitfall, we decided to carry on. Our teacher allowed us to stay on the project and to act as if we had an ‘all lights green’ authorization. This very well possibly allowed us to make the project better that it would of been simply because we didn’t have as many factors restricting the creativity we were contributing to the project.
2. Time Management
The project ended taking just about the same amount of time we estimated. When each particular task was completed, now, was slightly off, but that was due to the non-communication between the team and our sponsor and getting a late start because of it. We did learn to always add a little more time to whatever the task may be. Everyone always has an idea about how long something to take, and it almost always ends up being a hair longer than that. (Maybe even a couple.) So we took that into consideration when planning the project and the project ended just as we planned.
3. Lemme See Some Skills!
In doing this project I have used most of the skills I have learned throughout the years, both in school and out. Probably the the most useful skills I have taken from my education has been my communication skills. I have learned that it is imperative to have a solid communication base in IT, in any business for that matter.
There was something that I needed to learn on my own. This was being a successful project manager. This skill isn’t something you learn in a classroom or absorb through theoretical discussion. This is learned through cold hard trial and error. Some falter and some fall, but others come through and show what they are made of. I feel our team came through in the end and made a very successful product.
4. Life After Non-Profit
One of my personal take-aways from this project is that I really don’t want to ever work with a non-profit unless I have full control over the entire operation at hand. I have had multiple experiences with them, and I can’t say that I have ever been satisfied with the relationship established between them.
I don’t think I would change anything about how I would approach my first project on the job, either. I already work with an internet firm now, and it is very intriguing on what needs to be accomplished on a day to day basis. I guess the only thing I might consider doing differently, would be jumping on the reins a bit faster, but then again, with a full work load and school load, a student can only do so much.
I do believe that this project helped give us a glimpse into the world we are about to walk into and I do believe this experience will help out in the long run.
Topics: IT Project |