Learning from a Project “Post-Mortem”

My assignment is to recall a project that I worked on in the past that was not successful and did not result in the desired outcomes. I decided to focus on a personal project that I chose to work on this past summer. For the past year, I had been planning to paint both of my bathrooms in my home. This was the first time I decided to paint without consulting my husband (the subject matter expert ha ha). Well, when I started out I did not label this event a project, but I guess if I did, maybe I would have turned out better results. After looking at the five phases of the project, I have come to the following conclusion:
Phase I: Determine Need and Feasibility

I did a poor job of identifying all the projects deliverables when it came to having the needed equipment to complete the job. I had purchased the paint a year earlier, and did not mark the color of the paint on the top of the can. In addition, I had some of the paintbrushes and masking tape in the house, but was unable to locate all of the necessary equipment because I had packed the items in a box a few months ago when I was tidying up the basement. Because I was unaware of all the items that were already in the house, I went and purchased many unnecessary pieces of equipment.

Phase II: Create Project Plan

Since I did not determine my exact need before I started the project, I overestimated and spent unnecessary monies for items that were not needed. If I had involved other people to be on my team such as my husband, (the subject matter expert) may I would have known where the supplies were before spending any extra money. There were early warning signs that problems might occur later, because it was taking too long for even the masking tape to be put in place for painting because I never seem to have any time to accomplish the task.



Phase III: Create Specifications for Deliverables

Reflecting back on the project I clearly see that I left an important player out as a team member. This project team member could have contributed his time and expertise, which could have helped with accomplishing the task.

Phase IV: Create Deliverables

The work process for this project could have been improved by coming up with a time schedule for completing the project from start to finish. It would have been more helpful to have more than just myself to work on the project. Lastly, monies could have been spent more wisely if I had taken an inventory of the equipment beforehand so I would not end up with two or more of the same items.

Phase V: Test and Implement Deliverables

What was the end result? The bathrooms were painted, however not during the specific time schedule. Was the customer satisfied? Yes, the customer was satisfied with the results of the job, however the cost to complete the job was above the estimation and the project fell behind the scheduled finish date. Therefore, the project was seen as not being completely successful.