A few years ago, I was tasked to design and create a website for an institution and the greatest challenge was that they were not certain what they wanted but they felt I was the right person for the job and I could meet their unknown expectations. Whenever I asked for a meeting, I was told to go and put something together so the next seemingly sensible move was to put together a team based on skill, knowledge and understanding of the institution, effectiveness and level of access to the networks and resources in the institution as suggested by Jane Suchan (2013). Although I did not have insight into project management, I clearly understood that I needed to work together with a group of people to “execute tasks necessary to meet customer requirements” (Suchan).

I must say that after close to two years of trying to squeeze water out of stone, I was very pleased with the final product. A product that met the needs of the local institution and fit into the broader international institution.

Building the team was not so easy and working with them was even more challenging. There was no project charter and it was assumed that all team members understood their roles. There was no meeting with the major stakeholders; the clients  made it clear they wanted to deal with only one person, me. What they did not realize was how hard they made the job and that a meeting with them would have secured buy-in from other team members (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton and Kramer, 2008).

This project was reworked so many times that by the time it was completed, only two of the team members, myself and the photo editor were still working on the project and I quit right after it was delivered. I could not go through all this whenever updates had to be done.

The one thing that was a weakness in completing this project was yet still a strength and that is the engagement of team members. Others just sat and listened and would not complete tasks assigned them. The novelty of being on the website design team was just that but those who worked together were able to complete tasks and meet deadlines.

This project would have been more successful in terms of meeting objectives and deadlines with stakeholder involvement. Yes, the overall management in terms of time, resources, etc. is relevant but it can be grueling tasks if all parties are not involved with a clear charter from the get go.

Reference:

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects.       Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Suchan, J. (2013). Build effective project teams. In Office.com. Retrieved May 13,       2015, from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/build-effective-        project-teams-HA001211172.aspx