Daily Image
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
UI Design
Gantt Chart
Credo
This artifact is included to show not only design, but architecture as well. My
time as a student at Neumont University has taught me that nothing is limited. I
have had the opportunity to design and architect several projects. This quarter
I am the Project Manager of the IHC – Patient Encounter Tracking System. During
early stages of the project, as Project Manager, I had to deliver time-framed information
quickly and correctly. I took the initiative to learn about this project over my
break before the quarter had even started. I convinced myself that I would improve
my portfolio with this project in mind. I am currently taking a project manager
class and have taken leadership development to fine-tune my skills. This project
started with great motivation and excitement. I had the opportunity to create a
program to make a difference in peoples’ lives. When I say, make a difference in
peoples’ lives, I literally mean saving lives. We are creating a Patient Kinetics
Tracking application to track individual patient information. It will track their
name, age, drugs administered, drug protocol, side effects, etc. This project will
make use of recorded statistics to make recommendations to a clinical pharmacist
on what drugs and doses to give to a certain patient. This tool will validate and/or
correct the pharmacist decision to administer their patients any type of medication.
As a Project Manager, I need to show confidence in the application, not only to
complete the task, but also to motivate the team. Teamwork and communication will
either make or break a project. Lead and guide project from start to finish.
Skills: I have gained “real-world” experience in dealing directly with clients
to understand and interpret their ideas. I further developed my communication skills
as a leader. I am better able to delegate responsibilities correctly to utilize
individual’s strong points and help increase their weakness at the same time.
What went well: The architecture I created and the ideas I had were implemented
successfully and quickly. I received a great deal of positive feedback on the look
and lay out of the design. The flow of the “Hover Menu,” is really intuitive and
easy to use. My team demonstrated trust in my ideas and instructions and followed
them with confidence. I defiantly cannot take all the credit for this project. I
have a wonderful team that has worked well together. I am grateful for the opportunity
to work with each individual on my team. I hope and plan to keep them in my network
and would gladly recommend them to any company that they wish to pursue to for their
career.
This artifact demonstrates my ability to work with Microsoft MS Project 2003. This
artifact is a schedule of a simulation for my Project Management class. These schedules
are fun and at the same time a big headache. This demonstrates my ability to piece
together complicated schedules like a puzzle. This is a smaller sample of what you
can do, but it shows how hard a simple project can be to schedule. Project schedules
are really harder to put together than you would thing by just glancing at a screen
shot. You have to include available resources, costs, skill, dependencies, etc.
When creating this artifact I thought I was doing it wrong everyone else in the
class had it scheduled over 3 weeks. I had it down to 4 days, plus I didn’t consume
all of my resources. I was amazed at how quickly I picked it up. I could have actually
fit it to 4 days, but I included extra time in my projected end date. I incorporated
time in for loss of time, someone quitting, slacking, etc. In my simulation I skipped
through one day as a loss of time. In my reports I stated “We loss a day’s work
due to a power outage”. I still finished this project with a ½ day to spare.
Skills: I have gained the knowledge of just a small thing a Project Manager
would have to do in his daily tasks. Understanding what it takes to accomplish such
an overwhelming task.
What went well: This schedule completed an outline of what tasks needed to
be accomplished. I included finished project 2 weeks sooner than anyone in my class
to complete.
This artifact shows some of my outlooks on life, from a leader / Manager view point
as well as someone reporting to a leader. I wrote this Credo, not only to show others
how I feel, but for my own preservation. This detail my thoughts on what, why, and
how to be a successful leader. I have had many experiences in the work place, on
what to do and what not to do. One of the biggest things I learned when writing
this artifact is to learn from others. People will say the best way to learn is
to learn from experience. Which I agree with, but there are many things in this
world I DON’T want to experience. There is an up and down side to everything. I
plan to always look upward in life and set and attain goals. This document shows
my current goals and hope of direction of what I to be accomplish as a leader. I
hope to continue to grow as a leader, and encourage others to grow either on their
own or along side of my.
Skills:This artifact shows some of my outlooks on life, from a leader / Manager
view point as well as someone reporting to a leader. I wrote this Credo, not only
to show others how I feel, but for my own preservation. This detail my thoughts
on what, why, and how to be a successful leader. I have had many experiences in
the work place, on what to do and what not to do. One of the biggest things I learned
when writing this artifact is to learn from others. People will say the best way
to learn is to learn from experience. Which I agree with, but there are many things
in this world I DON’T want to experience. There is an up and down side to everything.
I plan to always look upward in life and set and attain goals. This document shows
my current goals and hope of direction of what I to be accomplish as a leader. I
hope to continue to grow as a leader, and encourage others to grow either on their
own or along side of my.
What went well: Writing this document, helped me realize what my thoughts
about management and leadership should be. If I had to write this document again
I would only change 2 things. I would change the length and include more detail
of my thoughts and my feelings.
Credo
Developing a sense of what values are significant to me and developing my skills
as a leader are important steps I need to take. My personal views on leadership
are a mixture of things I have learned in school, throughout my working career,
and from other leaders I have previously worked with. I have had leaders whom I
would love to emulate and others whom have pretty much only taught me what not to
do.
One of the first things, I want to point out is that what I say is not nearly as
important as how I say it. In a conversation or verbal exchange, words are actually
shown to have the least effect. Tone of voice and non-verbal cues make up the bulk
of what is effective in a conversation Non-verbal cues include body language, unspoken
connections with the audience such as personal and/or professional similarities
and differences, and the emotion of the sender and receiver. A hum-drum message
delivered by a charismatic person that is filled with energy and enthusiasm will
be received as brilliant. On the other hand, an excellent message delivered by someone
who is not interested in their topic or does not believe in what they are saying,
will not be able to engage the interest of their audience. I need to be able to
speak from my heart with energy, confidence, good eye contact, and with a sense
of purpose.
Besides the importance of how I communicate, would stand my ability to listen? I
want those I am leading to know that their voice matters and I will take them seriously.
When they enter my presence, I will turn to hear their voice. It is so frustrating
to walk into a “superior’s” office and have them not even turn around during your
entire conversation. It gives you the impression that whatever they are filing or
looking up on the computer is way more important than anything you could possibly
have to say to them. Many people I know have had this happen to them in one circumstance
or another, including myself. I do not want people to fear that they will be ignored.
Sometimes things you have to say to those in authority over you are difficult. So,
even if they stammer or stumble over their words or what they have to say would
impress no one else, it will make an impression on me. I will listen.
Listening is not the same as hearing. Hearing is using the ears to acknowledge the
sound of something. Listening, means understanding the perspective of the speaker.
An important part of listening is being able to correctly repeat back what it is
you understood from what someone has told you. This is important because there are
so many obstacles between the sender and the receiver of a message that it is easy
for there to be miscommunication. Some of the things that stand in the way could
include, but are not limited to the following: interest, belief systems, appropriateness
of timing, sensitivity, competition, and role expectations.
I believe that leaders should respect others at all times. I have met people who
have the philosophy that they will not respect someone until given a reason to do
so. I think that is completely backwards. I believe that you should respect someone
until given a reason not to. In order for someone to retain respect from me, I have
to be able to trust them; they have to be honest with me. In expecting this of others,
I must exhibit the quality of honesty myself. I would do this by keeping my promises
and making sure that my debtors do not regret their trust. I would go without a
dollar before taking a dishonest one. In doing so, my associates will not question
my word.
Leaders should always be learning and implementing new things. I read a little story
a while ago about a little boy who fell out of bed. When his mother asked him what
happened, he told her, “I do not know. I guess I stayed too close to where I got
in.” It is easy to do the same with the rest of our lives. It is tempting to stay
where we got in and never move. Perhaps we are just not comfortable enough with
venturing into the unknown. However, we should not let this hold us back. One thing
that might be good to do from time to time is to select a time in the not-too-distant
past (a year or two ago) and ask yourself a few questions. How does my job situation
today compare with then? How about my communication? How do my constituents view
me as a leader? Can I tell I have grown? I do not want to make the mistake of the
little boy. I do not want to stay too close to where I got in. It is risky resting
on the edge. I want to always remain curious, asking questions, and growing as a
leader. I strive to look at “problems as “challenges.” Instead of clinching my fist
at new assignments, I want to face them with optimism and engage them with courage.
Leaders should seek to inspire and motivate others. I believe that words of encouragement
can mean so much more to people than we realize at the time. I heard once that “Sowing
seeds of confidence is like sowing beans, you do not know why it works; you just
know it does.” We have all had those days that have been going just terribly until
someone says something nice or encouraging to us. Those comments can make all the
difference. Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian writer, told of a time he was walking
down the street and passed a beggar. Tolstoy reached into his pocket to give the
beggar some money, but his pocket was empty. Tolstoy turned to the man and said,
“I am sorry, my brother, but I have nothing to give.” The beggar brightened and
said, “You have given me more than I asked for – you have called me brother.” The
moral of this story is that to the loved, a word of affection is a morsel, but to
the love-starved, a word of affection can be a feast? This can be likened in the
work place to show us that to the confident, a word of encouragement is but a morsel,
but to the weak and insecure, a word of encouragement can be a feast.
As a leader, you have to trust yourself and your own instincts. It can be difficult
with so many people you need to impress and so much competition out there to even
hear yourself think sometimes. With so many distractions in the work place such
as office drama, the copy and/or fax machine jamming every five minutes, phones
ringing, etc. it is sometimes hard to remember what your objective was in the first
place. When I get overwhelmed and start to lose sight of what I am doing, I try
to remember the following analogy. “When you are searching for land in a storm,
you do not aim at another boat. You do not sit and stare at the waves. You set your
sights on an object unaffected by the wind – a light on the shore – and go straight
toward it.” This helps me to remember that I am in control and I just need to trust
myself.
Accepting responsibility for yourself and your actions is another aspect of leadership
I would like to always practice. This would of course also apply to those I am in
authority over. Playing the “blame game,” gets old really fast. It is priceless
to work with a team of individuals who are individually responsible for themselves
and their contributions. Finger-pointing is simply something I will not tolerate
on any level. If all the team members accept responsibility for themselves, there
will never be a need to blame someone else for something. They will have accepted
the responsibility already for themselves.
I am a person who enjoys feedback. Whether it is positive or negative hopefully
it is constructive. I find it is imperative to my personal growth to know where
I stand. If there is something I am doing wrong or could do better, I would like
to know. I can analyze myself until I am blue in the face, but I will never completely
be able to see myself as others see me. I prefer the word feedback to the word criticism
because criticism sounds like you are asking for something negative. Feedback on
the other hand is welcoming all opinions equally. I have appreciated the feedback
I have received from my previous employers and felt that it has helped me become
a better person.
I know there are things I have mentioned that I have not yet perfected. However,
it is comforting to know that none of us are stuck with “today’s personality.” We
are not condemned to carry the same weaknesses forever. We are all “tweak able,”
so to speak. Even if you have been a follower every day of your life, you need not
be one for the rest of your life. So what if you have been a procrastinator in the
past? You do not have to die one. I wonder where some people ever got the idea that
they can never change. Where did statements like, “it is just my nature to put things
off until the last minute,” or “I will always be a follower, I am just that way,”
come from? I do not believe we make similar statements about our bodies. “It is
just my nature to have a broken leg. I cannot do anything about it.” If something
is amiss with our bodies, we seek help. We should also seek aid for our sour attitudes,
selfishness, and other such areas of our lives.
In conclusion, I believe it is important to enjoy what it is that you do. You can
tell when someone detests their job. I have had a few jobs that I have absolutely
hated and it is very difficult to display the enthusiasm needed for a job well done.
As a leader, you need to show those around you that you have a passion for excellence.
If you are not excited to be working on whatever it is you are working on, it will
make motivating those around you an incredibly tough task. Leading by example is
a profound concept indeed. Always live life to its fullest, you only have one.
Back To Top
