Learning from a Project “Post-mortem”

The following reflection is part of an assignment for my project management course and is intended to be an account of a personal or professional project I was involved with. In this account I am to focus on what would be a project “post-mortem” where at the end of a project I would “develop a list of lessons learned” so mistakes are not repeated in any future projects (Greer, 2010, p. 42). In completing this assignment, I am to reflect on what things went well to make the project successful and what could have been done to make the project even more successful.

Let me begin by saying that I cannot recall any major professional project I was responsible for being a major player in the development, execution, or completion of. Therefore, I will need to draw upon the account of a personal project to conduct a post project evaluation/reflection. That being said, the personal project I will reflect upon involves me remodeling my in-laws first floor, including the kitchen, bathroom, dining room and hallway over a 6 week period (by the way, their bankroll) . This project was a major accomplishment for me and I am still very proud of, because I acted literally as a contractor would, from working through the pre-planning phases, physically doing the deconstruction and construction, and finally the completion. What makes me proudest is not only the accomplishment, but that my in-laws have a beautifully and professional looking remodeled first floor with new kitchen cabinets, hardwood floors, tile floors, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, and baseboards (and I did all the work).

In order to pull this project off, my in-laws and I began planning the winter before the summer I actually completed the work. In this planning, I directed my in-laws in what it was going to take to complete the work and they went to the home improvement stores to choose the items they would like for the project and I further directed them on what would work and in what quantities we would need. Once everything was ordered and delivered to their house I would begin work, to include working around my family schedule and other obligations by staying at their house during the week (summer, I’m a teacher). Built into this project were specific benchmarks, to include the date the countertops would arrive and the final completion date, which I met both ahead of schedule and I might add I completed the project within budget.

In all, I was able to work through a major home improvement project from pre-planning, to scheduling, to actual work, to completion, without re-work to a successful completion on time and within budget. However, as is always the case there is always room for improvement and besides taking a 30 year old design and updating the floor plan and the aesthetics I would probably been even more successful if I would have completed the work in a shorter timeframe (for personal reasons – my family).

Reference

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