George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
While reflecting on project management and life outside of my career, I realized that the structured processes associated with our profession have bled into other non-career-based activities in my daily life, specifically my hobbies.
So, I thought it would be interesting to learn from others if they have experienced this realization.
For me, it’s genealogical research. I love a good mystery and helping others break through those brick walls and/or find their biological parents. Although not all mysteries are solvable, I find myself using project management methodologies to reach the objective.
I'd suggest that many PM principles, especially the people-related ones, are applicable to almost any type of interpersonal activity.
If we are talking about specific PM processes, tools or practices, then scope decomposition, budgeting, risk identification/assessment/response, scheduling and work management all come to mind as ones I use regularly outside of work on personal or professional projects.
For the hard PM skills, only when a project is involved that requires them. Most soft skills are technically leadership skills that we're borrowing, and have greater application, for me, than the hard skills, outside of work. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
George, I use PM Principles all the time on a personal level. They are just built into what we do on a daily basis be it in our finances and budgeting, scheduling, even trip planning. Saving Changes...
George, I'd go with risk management and decision-making in my case. I often view our life as a "big" project, so why not apply those principles anyway? Saving Changes...
Well, this is an interesting thread. Personally, I use it extensively in my daily life. Since my invovlement in project management, my productivity has boosted and I am able to achieve my goals and priorities activities in a much better way. I am able to achieve my personal goals with much ease.
Moreover, being an active recreational scuba diver, I use project management principles in every dive. As a diver, we need to know the type of cylinder we are using, the gas mix, air consumption rate, the kind of dive we are going to do and so on. The PM knowledge has helped me in planning every dive. Saving Changes...
George, I use Project Management in my personal life creating budgets, scope plans about my goals, schedules, risk analysis, and conflict resolution.
For example, planning my recent vacations to Argentina and other nearby countries with Project Management criteria has produced the best results. I defined the places to visit and things to do, created an accurate budget, and stated a daily schedule of tasks and travel times. I ensured all had complied with a checklist. The result was an amazing trip, taking advantage of time and doing the best activities. Saving Changes...
"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
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