Strategic IT Project Management Essay
Write all in one essay and must be at least 4 pages.
Please answer the following essay questions. Do not forget that you must do TWO things when answering the test questions; 1) develop an innovative, unique and creative solution or response to address the question, and; 2) incorporate the concepts that were covered in class (i.e., lectures, projects, etc.) into your answers. If you just answer the question (without incorporating the course material) you can only earn 50% of the possible points for each question. If you just list content from class without incorporating the content into a solution or answer, you can only earn a maximum of 50% of the possible points for each question.
This final exam is cumulative (not restricted to content after the midterm). It is expected that you will incorporate appropriate concepts that were covered throughout the entire semester to support the answer your questions.
1. No one is perfect, and Project Management takes a lot of varied skills. In addition to "technical skills", such as knowledge of PMBOK tools, PMs must have well developed "soft skills" such as the ability to handle conflict management, provide leadership for the team, etc. More often than not a single PM does not hold all of these skills. For example, I have had many successful projects in the past, however I am not very detail oriented. Project details are very important to a PM!!! I work to overcome that "flaw" by first being able to take an honest look at my skill set, identifying tendency to not be detail oriented, and to research, learn, and build better skills in this area. In addition, I also recognized my strengths and leveraged those to compensate for my tendency to miss details. Recognizing both your strengths and weaknesses can help you be a better PM.
Use the material that we have covered this semester related to "soft skills" discussed in class to answer the following questions (i.e., from the guest lecture at the start of the class; our discussions about communication, problem solving types, leadership skills, etc./also, the online Conflict Resolution Strategies lectures from 11/29 class which can be found in the content section of the class). You are also free to do some research on your own to add to these resources if you like, just make sure you integrate the information from class and that you cite your sources in your answer and include them in a reference section!
a. Create a set of essential "soft skills" that each PM should have and describe what each item is and why it is important for a PM. Your set of essential skills should include at least 10 items.
b. Provide a description of your own strengths and weaknesses that will impact you as a potential project manager (a minimum of 10, with at least 5 strengths and 5 weaknesses), you can use the items listed in your answer to "a" (above), and others that you feel are appropriate.
c. How would you assemble a team, develop processes, etc. for your group that would help you overcome or take advantage of each of the strengths and weaknesses that you described in "b".
d. Describe any "critical" skills that you think all project managers must have. Skills that cannot be fully compensated by other strengths. Make sure you provide a short description of each and not just a list (provide a minimum of 5).