Question & Answer: Give an example of a case in which project management could be important in your personal…..

One’s personal life, like in the manufacturing and service industry has many tasks. Some of these tasks may be dependent on others. These interdependancies could be represented by a dependancy graph, and project management techniques could be applied to track and optimize the order of execution of tasks, as well as to make productive use of one’s time. Consider this case – An individual is working as a contractor, and is engaged to be married. In order to fund his wedding, he needs to save money. He could do that by making more money as a contractor. In order to be more productive as a contractor, he must upgrade his personal computer and internet connection. He is unfit, and frequentnly needs to spend money on medicines and doctor visits. He is also paying above market rates for his mortgage.

This individual could use project management techniques to improve his life. He first needs to draw a diagram or graph identifying cause and effect relationships. If he starts visiting the gym, his medical bills shoud fall. If medical bills fall, he will be able to upgrade his computer and his internet connection. His improved fitness will also improve his productivity. If he earns more money, then he will become more credit worthy. If he becomes more credit worthy, he will be able to get his mortage rate down. Thus he will save more. Thus, he will be able to get married, and improve his personal life. Drawing a dependancy graph helped him to identify the areas of improvement (his health), and thus make appropriate investments to improve it. In simple cases, jotting down the points on a peace of paper, and drawing relationships between them could work. Some people, who like to organize their life to the last detail, could use project management techniques like Kanban. Still others may quantify rewards, risk and return for various tasks, and may use project management tools like Excel or MS Project. The downside of using project management extensively in one’s personal life is that project management could end up consuming more time than the improvements resulting through project management.

Note: More detailed and lengthy answers can be written, but I was asked to restrict to two paragraphs.