1. Compare how you expected the project would unfold to what actually happened. What did you learn along the way? What unexpected obstacles did you encounter and how did you overcome them?
- The project unfolded the way as planned until the direct end. The project planning was successful but the deployment wasn’t 100% successful. I learned that communicating with others may not always go as planned but when that happens always have an alternative plan available. Unexpected obstacles that I encountered within this project was ordering the correct products. There were instances where the incorrect product got ordered but I overcame that buy politely contacting the representative of the retailer and had an exchange of products.
2. Did the tasks of the project take more or less time than you thought? Why? What did you learn about time estimation? Do you know your ’multiplier’ now?
- Some tasks of the project took longer than I predicted. Take shipping for an example. Even though I have no control over shipping times the best thing I could do in this situation was to keep an eye on the statues of the shipping process. Something I learned about time estimation is always leave room/more time for error in which my case more time was a necessity.
3. How did you use the skills you acquired from coursework to complete the project? What skills/classes were especially useful and why? What skills did you have to teach yourself during the project and what was your method for learning what you needed to know?
- They way I used the skills acquired from coursework to complete the project was to always compare and contrast and weigh the pros and cons. This was not only helpful while ordering products but was helpful in almost every decision within the duration of the project. Skills that I had to teach myself was to actually figure out how to classify what maybe a ‘pro’ and classify what maybe a ‘con’.
4. What are your personal ‘take-aways’ from this project? How will what you have learned change how you approach your first project on the job? Did the project help you be better prepared for the challenges of an IT career?
- My personal take-aways would be verbally describing a situation. I am top-notch in drawing out a situation on paper within a diagram but I need work on verbally relaying those messages. What I learned would change how my approach to my first project on the job is to try not to set concrete deadlines. There should be flexibility with deadlines/due dates within project management as longs as that are within consideration. This project definitely helped me be better prepare for the challenges of an IT career.