Everything
looks so much easier on TV. Celebrities can learn to be ballroom dancers i
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| Chip and Joanna Gaines |
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| Our first day in our new home! |
Armed with fresh paint, some rollers, and a brush; we
were eager to start as soon as we got home. Furniture was pushed to the center
of the room, a tarp was put down to protect the carpet and we started painting.
Growing up, any painting in my house was always done by my aunt who was a
perfectionist, so I was really excited to finally be able to paint all myself
in my own house. Hours past and a few several arguments later about dripping
paint, we had finished the room.
The next morning we came into the room to see the fruits
of our labor and were sadly disappointed. Although we both liked the color,
there were bubbles in the paint, bumps on the wall, dripping paint down onto
the white trim and jagged lines against the ceiling. Trying to stay optimistic
I suggested we move onto the next room and use it as a learning experience for
how to be more careful.
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| Stock image of painter |
While we completed the task of painting the room, it was not
done in any methodical or thought out manner. To my dismay, my mother-in-law
came up the following day and was disgusted in how we had painted the office.
She then led us in a 3 hour session on how to properly paint a room. Starting
with scraping and sanding the walls, patching any holes, and taping off all of
the baseboards and ceilings. As much as I don’t want to admit it, the second
room we painted with her guidance looks incredible. Yet the office next door
continued to be a reminder of our poor decision making. Even as I type this
entry the marks and splotches on the wall catch my eye and I am reminded of our
failed project.
The enthusiasm for the project was present. Both my
husband and I were enthusiastic and energized to start making over our new
home. Where we lacked was an understanding of the process. By not involving a
subject matter expert, we went into the situation blind and ill-informed. In
order to avoid this frustration, we should have watched a tutorial on best
practices for painting or consulted the knowledge of my mother-in-law or aunt,
whose experience would have been valuable. The task analysis for our project
was completely missing with only our end goal in mind. Thinking about the
project in a logical and sequential manner may have led to better success in
our painting project. Rather than following the steps of project management, we
jumped right to performing the task (Portny et al., 2008). Instead, we should
have conceived the idea to determine if the benefits were worth the costs
considering our inexperience, then establish a plan and delegate
responsibilities and expectations for
In addition to their perfect life in a perfect house with
their perfect children, Chip and Joanna have the experience and knowledge to be
able to complete home renovations in a timely and efficient manner. As we work
on painting a room correctly, every project is another opportunity to learn
something new and expand our homeowner repertoire. Since the office disaster,
we have started approaching projects in a more methodical and practical manner.
I blame a serious case of scope creep as we complete projects around our house
(Laureate Education). Every time I think I’m just taking out the garbage, I end
up landscaping the front yard. Our enthusiasm keeps us going, but the process
helps ensure excellence at the conclusion of the project.
Resources
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (n.d.). Project management concerns: ‘Scope creep’ [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://class.waldenu.edu
Portny,
S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., &
Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management:
Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteYour example is a very relatable one. Just to be non-academic for a moment, I have been in your shoes many times over, where I just want the result quickly in a home improvement situation and I try to find work arounds or short cuts, but always end up taking more time or money to try and fix things in my home. I am sure you have heard this many times by now, but home improvement is never done, there is always something new to do and it takes time ( coming from home owner on his third house).
I like the idea of home improvement projects through the lens of project management. The experience that you had reminds me of the section in the book that relates to why plans and projects fail. In the section entitled Anticipating Common Mistakes its mentioned that;
“When projects are on short time schedules, some project managers think that jumping in and starting the work will save time. However, this is rarely the case because the project manager hasn’t yet defined what activities need to be done. In the end, the project often takes even more time to complete because the team must redo work that was inappropriately executed” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, pg. 105).
The other aspect of the painting project is responding to reality. In this case the real project was more complex than the tv simulation of it. Sometime we in our normal lives have reality or the reality elements (time and money, different commitments) that may inhibit our project completion for a particular deadline. These could be other projects or responsibilities in a work situation, or just life commitments in a non-work situation. Going back to the painting example, currently in my home, I have two or three painting projects that are half done, due to commitments; they have been left in this position for very long time. The projects have not been abandoned, but there was no time plan put in place for them to get finished, so this has led to them not being completed. These projects could have been helped with a proper planning and execution from some project management skills.
It seemed that you learned from your painting project mistakes and corrected them for the next and future projects.
“Project managers often learn by doing. Even when project managers do their best to assess feasibility and develop detailed plans, many find out that they can’t achieve what they thought could be done. In these cases, project managers need to go back to the earlier phases of their projects and rethink them in light of the new information learned”( (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, pg. 106).
All in all, a quick fix for your office could be a razor blade to cut off the dripping paint and bubbles, some sand paper to smooth it down, and some good artwork to hide the mistakes on the wall. :)
References:
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.