Pjt 501 Assignment 1

Information technology (IT) project management in the domain of public education can be a complex undertaking fraught with challenges and risks. The ability to effectively oversee a project, which is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result (Project Management Institute, 2013), can be crucial in supporting academic initiatives and engagement in school settings. This paper will describe and then reflect upon the experience of being tasked with the project of creating a mobile lab at North Saanich Middle School. The reflective portion will examine the process through the perspectives gained because of the subject matter presented in PJMT 501 as the beginning of this course coincided with the start of the implementation phase and continues concurrently with the closeout phases (Schwalbe, 2010, p. 58) of the project. Specifically, three examples of how scope, time, and cost goals (Schwalbe, 2010, p.9) became unbalanced will be examined and a reflection on how to learn from these experiences will be forwarded. This perspective will help to describe how the exposure and deeper understanding of the basic principles of Project Management not only influenced the completion of this project but also will influence future approaches to other IT projects.

Although the life cycle of the Mobile Lab project passed through an initial, intermediate, and final, phase (Project Management Institute, 2013, p. 38) which culminated in the creation of a functioning mobile lab, little else of Newton’s vision of success can be attributed to this