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Project Management and Decision Making

Jordan Tucker

OGL 321Project Leadership

July 7, 2020
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Project leadership is something that many of us have come in to contact with whether we

are leading or taking part of an organization While it may seem that project leadership is a task

that just requires the basic leadership skills many of us think, rather it is a much more complex

action that requires a set of skills that not only make one a strong leader but also skills to keep a

project on track, on time and, successful while motivating a team to reach a stakeholders end-

goal Like all things in life, project leadership comes with a long list of decisions that are all

interconnected and can ultimately determine if a project is a success or a failure

While examining Buede and Powell’s first chapter in their book, it is made clear that

decision making by a project leader is essential and ultimately determines how a project is run

and how a projects, team members, resources, and funds will be used. While decision making

can seem like an easy task, in chapter one, it is stated that “projects stand a far greater chance of

succeeding when quality decisions are made” (Powell & Buede, 2015, p. 1). Quality is the key to

managing any project and the quality of decisions made is also necessary. In my own experience

with managing a project, I have noticed that decision making happens throughout the project and

without a prior plan, decision that are made often lack a great deal of quality. Recently, in the

community garden I oversee, we have had a major water replacement project take place and

since we did this on our own, it left me to make many of the decisions. As it is stated in chapter

one of the reading, “it is best to begin with objectives because projects are managed according to

a set of predefined objectives” (Powell & Buede, 2015, p. 5). While we had a set budget for the

garden water project, we did not necessarily come up with a plan to complete the project by a

certain date and we also neglected to set any other parameters that would have aided at times
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when curve balls came our way. I found that is not possible to make quality decisions on the fly

and therefore the project was not as successful as it should have been. Powell and Buede note

that “ decision-making should occur as part of a dynamic process, but not a random one” (Powell

& Buede, 2015, p. 14). After reading this chapter provided in the week’s readings, I agree that

decision making should be dynamic, decisions at time have to be made on the fly but with a prior

protocol, the decision-maker can best analyze the setting and apply a quality decision that will

lead to a project being completed successfully.

Looking through several blog posts from several project management blogs, a few stood

out to me as they were able to show me that project management can encounter several issues

and there are several skills that are necessary to lead a project. After completing the first

Harvard Simulation in module one, it was clear that projects are complex and that balancing all

aspects or keeping on track is extremely important. In a blog post by Marla Waida , she

examines the common issues of project management and I found that I have experienced several

of the same issues such as lack of accountability, lack of communication, and not having a

backup plan (Waida, 2020). In both the Harvard Simulation as well as my personal life, I have

noticed that communication is key to success but overcommunicating can also cause some

confusion as well. When functioning as a project leader, I have noticed that communicating

effectively is important while having excessive meetings can have a detrimental impact on team

morale. Not having a backup plan can also lead to a failure from a project standpoint as it

requires a project leader to act in a manner that may use up resources or put unnecessary stress
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on team members all while not being able to send the appropriate deliverables to the

stakeholders.

While several issues can arise and have an impact on a project’s success, if a leader

acquires and uses management skills effectively, those issues can be easily resolved, and a

project can avoid failure all together. According to a blog post on pmStudent, it is stated that

being able to accept feedback and self-reflect are important characteristics to have to not only

improve self-management but to also be a project leader that is effective (What are Self-

Management Skills? 2020). In my own experience as a project leader, I have found that it is

extremely important to receive feedback from stakeholders and team members so that any issues

can be addressed quickly and to be able to improve myself in a manner that betters the outcome

of a project.

Overall, decision making is an important part of our lives, but even more so in the

management of a project. As a leader, it is important to make decisions of quality while also

striving to be a leader that can assess and resolve issues through a set of predetermined protocols

in any given setting to make sure that a project does not fail.
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References

Powell, R A, & Buede, D M (2015) The Project Manager's Guide to Making Successful

Decisions Oakland: Berrett-Koehler , Incorporated

Waida, M. (2020, July 03). Tools to Solve Common Project Management Problems. Retrieved

July 07, 2020, from https://www.wrike.com/blog/common-project-management-issues-

solve-right-tools/

What are Self-Management Skills? (2020, May 19). Retrieved July 07, 2020, from

https://pmstudent.com/what-are-self-management-skills/