Place Name of University

Introduction

Self-learning is a significant advantage to gain while going through several experiences. In the professional setting, while seeking education, self-learning comes from practice. However, several challenges need to face before jumping towards success. I have also learnt several things from seeking courses throughout the semester. With this semester and different subjects, I have also evolved as a person. Project management is a set of tools, techniques and methods which are applied to complete activities for meeting project goals. Some of the concepts in the form of subjects, I have also learned. One of the subjects from which I learned was Project Change, Risk and Opportunity Management. The change is significant because it brings several possibilities. On the contrary, risk and opportunity management identifies risk and work accordingly finds management. Therefore, the purpose of this self-reflection report is analysing my learning process, challenges as well as personal outcomes.

Description of Academic Module

In academic settings, my subjects were very interesting for this semester as I have learned more about project management and it’s activities. The academic subjects taught me about managing projects associated with an organization in a professional setup. The following description covers what I learned in the mentioned subject for theoretical developments. I have gained something important for each learning step from the subjective domain. Therefore, in the professional context, these academic subjects will be helpful to use in a real-world scenario.

The second semester of project management’s master degree has a challenging module such as “Project Change, Risk and Opportunity Management”. This module taught me a few things on project management activities and associated risks while I also understood the necessity for project change. Furthermore, I have divided the description into two different groups for a clear explanation of the learning experience for the module.

Project Change management is an important concept which I learned in this module. Change management is an integral part of an organisation where project managers seek approval for changes to the scope, timeline and budget (Perkins, 2018). I understood that changes are made to the three essential project activities. For example, the project scope requires changes to add some new customer demand. On the contrary, the project budget could be expanded for additional equipment. Hence, time, scope and budget all three get affected with project change management process.

I also was confused initially about different types of project changes. For example, there are three types of project changes such as individual, organisational and enterprise level. We were provided with lecture notes and assignment task to learn why project change in mandatory. From my understanding, individual change occurs in a company for self-learning of employees. Furthermore, enterprise change is associated with the organisation’s roles, structures, processes, projects and competence in leadership activities (“What is Change Management?”, n.d.). Lastly, organisational change occurs so that companies could change from present state to the desired state for achieving effectiveness, and productivity (Nordin, Deros, Wahab & Rahman, 2012). Hence, I understood that all three types of changes occur to make projects more successful and effective.

I was provided several assignments to gather knowledge for drivers of the project change. I figured out with such task that project change has two drivers – external and internal forces. While, external forces were improved technologies, global reach, political regulations, innovations and short product span; internal forces were an increase in productivity, growth, and organisational efficiency (Garfein, Horney, & Nelson, 2013). Therefore, I understood why project change is mandatory and what leads the organisational changes in the first place. Further, in several scenarios, project changes are required, which I acknowledged through this part of the module. Four types where change is needed, such as structural change, mergers and acquisitions, cultural change and  IT-based process change (Cameron, & Green, 2019). From here onwards, I gathered that whenever project change occurs due to one of scenario risk and opportunity management is also considered. I gathered from a module that changes made in the project increases generic risks. Therefore, risk assessment for changes is performed in an organization. Hence, I explored risk and opportunity management as the second part of the module.

Risk and Opportunity Management ensures the management of generic risks in projects. There are several things I learned from risk categories, risk identification methods and risk response plan. I gathered different sorts of risks which occurred in an organisation. In assignments, we were told to gather various generic risks. So, I used the concept of risk breakdown structure to identify complete project and organisational risk factors, events into groups (Holzmann, & Spiegler, 2011). It was challenging, but I found risks groups such as technical, project risks, organisational risks and external risks. The next step was to make a probability and impact matrix for associated risks. I also developed this matrix to gather the probability of risk through likelihood (low, high, medium) and impact through a score of 1, 2, and 3 (Dumbravă & Iacob 2013). Hence, both the processes were helpful for me to categorise risks as well as develop a matrix for setting priorities. Henceforth, risk assessment is equally important to analyze identified risks.

In this module, several risk identification methods and response plan were implemented in the assignments. For example, review of project documentation, brainstorming, interviewing, root cause analysis, risk checklist analysis, SWOT analysis, cause and effect diagram are also known as fishbone diagram (Heldman, 2018). Hence, these methods were helpful so that I was able to identify different risk as per assignment. I have mostly used fishbone analysis and SWOT analysis to self-study this module. Whereas, I have also implemented qualitative risk analysis methods. Risk register was the most common part which I created to monitor, review and reduce risks for given assessment (Leva & Sheehan, 2019). Henceforth, I now understood that risks are a crucial part of project development.

Furthermore, risk response strategies are competent to deal with adverse risks which impacts them. There are a total of five strategies I have analyzed in this module, for example, escalation, avoid, transfer, mitigate and accept (Rose, 2013). Escalation was the first step in which I could not manage some risk due to the lack of resources as well as authority. Further, risk avoidance was the next part where specific risk could be avoided by making changes in the project plan  (Rose, 2013). On the contrary, risk transfer was another process in which risk was transferred to someone else. I also realised some risks are accepted as it is; for example, natural calamities like drought, floods, and tornadoes (Rose, 2013). Lastly, mitigation was helpful to minimize some issues by making changes in the project. Hence, I developed a risk response plan and learned the management of project risks.

Feelings

With the self-reflection journey, I went through several attitudes towards the beginning to the end of the semester. Initially, I was apprehensive at the beginning of the semester, as everything was new to me. However, I was anxious due to lack of communication skills and poor English-speaking skills. The lack of self-belief made me anxious and nervous to learn and explore new domain. However, as I progressed into self-learning from a subject such as Project Change, Risk and Opportunity Management. For example, the group tasks to assist risk was helpful to develop my communication skills and interact with others. Besides, English speaking was much improved and helped in writing assignments.

Furthermore, this confidence was helpful to improve my motivation and ability to be stable at the time of academic difficulty (Connolly, Oberleitner & Guarneri, 2018). Besides, I always had stage fear and cannot face so many people at the same time. However, with constant practice and improvisation, I removed English speaking fear. Therefore, I gained much self-confidence and obliterated the feeling of anxiety after developing English skills.

However, another negative emotion which I had always faced by anger issues due to adaptability changes. As per one study, individuals who cannot control emotions become frustrated, anxious and unable to deal with problems (Awaliyah, Taufiq, & Hafina, 2019). I was going through exact feeling due to risk possibility, and lack of understanding on the subject. The concept of anger management was helpful to make my anger control. Furthermore, the cognitive approach helped to gather emotional triggers for thoughts, actions and feelings (Tsai, 2019). To learn control for anger issues, group assignments were beneficial. The group members supported me whenever I needed their help. Their coordination with me was proper, and I could submit assignments before deadlines. Hence, my overall experience with feelings like anger, anxiety, and stage fear is now in much control.

Evaluation

The subject in my semester journey taught me a lot about project management and its real-life usage. Students develop a practical process skill, for example, leadership, communication skills, group management, critical thinking, data analysis and project management (Sterling, 2016). Hence, my evaluation is also based on these skills through which I have learned up until now.

Leadership

The leadership can be defined as, “an interpersonal, person-oriented, social impact that guides in a direction, course, action or an opinion” (Müller, Packendorff, & Sankaran, 2017). Hence, leadership is one of the skills which was quite important in a subject like people in project management. The subject taught me how to work in a group and do the management for risks. Further, Project Change, Risk and Opportunity Management also analyzed leadership issues faced in a company. The projects are failed due to lack of leadership and coordination for change. As organizations go through events on the hierarchical level, it impacts on each associated team members (Morgeson, et al., 2015). The purpose of this subject is to learn people’s behaviour and function in a project team for having specific changes. Henceforth, I have learned that for effective leadership, it is necessary to gather how other team members influence each other. However, initially, I was a novice at collecting other people’s behaviour in team management. Now, I have grasped how people affect each other in a team. For instance, my group members were beneficial when I was making some mistakes. The leadership skills such as directing others for project team’s benefit was an important aspect to learn. I still consider myself stronger in terms of the management of project teams.

Communication Skills

Communication skills are the next criteria through which I have gone through several challenges. Communication is a way to build relationships with the other people involved. Furthermore, project management requires excellent communication skills with others. Due to the lack of English-speaking issues, it was difficult for me to interact with fellow students. Besides, stage fear for giving a presentation was an issue; I came within the semester. However, constant practise made me more confident in improving speaking skills. Now, I consider myself medium experienced with communication skills. As a project manager, it is essential to handle external and internal stakeholders for change. Negotiation is a form of communication skills which impress stakeholders at the time of project risk. Hence, I have developed some skills to present my views in front of the group members.

Group Work

Group activities were part of project management throughout our semester courses. To achieve better outcomes, team members should know everything about each other as well as the workplace they are working into (Oemig & Gross, 2015). Therefore, group activities were helpful to identify classmates. They were very friendly and helped me complete assignments before the deadline. The group work was another learning experience, through which my communication is also improved. Therefore, I consider myself as an expert in working in teams for next semester duration.

Critical Thinking

The critical thinking has been developed within me as the approach to complete assignments is changed. The studying methodologies are changed, and now I can understand how to complete academic tasks. Furthermore, soon I can solve problems with a clear mind and no doubts.

Data Analysis

The data analysis is another concept through which information collected is gathered and analyzed effectively. The data collection method was helpful to identify risk and opportunities. There are five essential data collection methods such as surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations and document analysis (Paradis et al., 2016, p. 263). Before this semester, I was not good at finding useful research articles. However, now I do understand where to perform qualitative and quantitative research for investigative purposes.

Project Management

The core part of my journey was to learn what project management is and how it is necessary for organizations. Project management is a set of tools, techniques, knowledge areas, and methodologies that complete project activities. Management of the project is a tough task and require proper planning for every step. Further, it includes organizational change, risk management, as well as other areas for appropriate project developments. Several organizations use project management tools and techniques to increase their overall productivity (Mir & Pinnington, 2014). As a result, project success is obtained within a faster time as compared to the traditional approach. I have learned that effective project management requires proper planning, risk assessment and fixed scope of the budget. I consider myself confident in understanding the concept of project management and it needs to the companies.

Analysis

Self-learning was an important lesson for me as it taught me many things about real-life project management principles. Whereas, the theoretical approach differs from the real-life scenario and subject knowledge taught me a few things.

Project Change, Risk and Opportunity management was an important module for me. As I was researching for understanding all types of risks, my critical thinking skills were improved. How to choose the difference between credible and incredible sources was cleared. Reliable sources were helpful to gather information about change management and risk assessment activities in the project. I have implemented qualitative risk identification methods such as SWOT analysis and fishbone diagrams for personal study (Heldman, 2018).

Furthermore, risk breakdown structure method taught me how to group risks. Additionally, I can now work on a risk response plan, risk register and change processes. While this academic knowledge also was helpful to learn about collaboration and communication within assignments. Personally, when I worked with group members, I improved my way of communicating with others. Therefore, communication made bonding between my classmates and me to finish group assignments.

I have also gained more on basic concepts of change management, risk management and opportunity management. I now consider change essential for the companies to make specific improvements. In a real scenario, change management found user resistance in some group activities throughout the semester. Some people were not working or agreeing on tasks associated with them. Further, I analyzed that risks were an uncertain event that impacted project activities in both a negative and positive manner (Rose, 2013). Hence, project management not only requires planning, however risk, opportunity and other activities associated with them too. Risk management was also done so that stakeholders were explained some pertaining decisions. Also, project budget, time and scope are equally affected by changes in an organization. For example, scope creep occurs when multiple changes are made in project activities (Farok, & Garcia, 2016). However, removing scope creep is simple by making risk mitigation plans.

With subject knowledge, I have also gained personal and emotional expertise too. Initially, I was a furious person. However, it was overcome when I started keeping self-control. Additionally, I had fear for stage speaking, which made me lose self-confidence. However, by having practice and communication, I started speaking English properly. I have also learned about real-life management principles such as leadership, communication skills, group management, critical thinking, data analysis and project management. Therefore, I have learned how to manage feelings such as anger, anxiety, communication barriers, and stage fear throughout this semester.

Conclusion

Self-learning was an essential lesson for me as I discovered so many things. The project management subjects were helpful to learn the application in real life. On the other hand, I have learned a lot in the personal context throughout the journey. I learned how to control emotions in certain circumstances when they occur. Initially, I was angry and lost control frequently; however, working in groups has taught me self-control.

Further, I had anxiety and nervousness, as well as stage fear. To overcome this, I practise a lot in front of the mirror. Therefore, my feelings were controlled due to self-learning in this semester. I have also developed some of the process skills. For example, my communication has improved with English speaking practice. I can also work in a group, perform data analysis for specific assignments as well as learned what project management is. To conclude, the semester had challenges and problems however with the help of self-learning I learned emotional control, working in stress less manner as well as worked on critical thinking in context for facing academic assignments for all the subjects.

Action Plan

References

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