The Time I Talked About Project Management

There's always, always something more to life. Why waste yours by limiting yourself to what you already know? This has always been something I've believed in, and after realizing people could be happier and be more positive if they felt good about themselves, I made it one of my goals to help others realize their potentials and be able to take initiative.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: "Your life is your legacy. Design it." If you can't control what happens in your life, at least be able to control your response and how you'll see it.

Because of this, it was a huge pleasure to have been able to conduct a mini seminar/talk for Ateneo de Naga's youth leaders for their LeaderShape Program last February 26, 2017 (sorry I only got to blog about it now!).

With the Atenean leaders. Photo © LeaderShape Organizers

While I haven't been managing projects for years, I've been given tasks (and still being given) that require skills about Project Management, from dealing with people, to scoping, to getting a knack for what a client wants from you when they approach, and more.

It was an intimate group, perfect for the topic and focusing on each student-leaders' struggles with managing their teams, organizations, and projects in general. After discussing the Triple Constraints, hiring people, and all the technical things, we proceeded to talk about body language in Project Management.

As much as knowledge is the key to pulling through a project, so is body language when closing deals and keeping a good relationship between you and the client. Since Theory is not an effective educator in itself, I employed the help of Activity to make sure they get the whole picture.

Before I had them split into pairs and take on the roles of client and project manager, I asked them to give me a demo of how they would approach clients in a meeting, and it was super fun, haha. Afterwards, I talked about proper body language and how to assert authority over clients who would otherwise belittle the other.

All in all, the 3-hour session was super fun for me, and hopefully for my attendees as well. I would gladly do something like this if I was ever tapped to do it again.

Finally, we struck their LeaderShape symbol, signifying that the workshop was done. It was such a wonderful experience for me, and an attendee even approached me when I went back to Ateneo the following day, telling me she appreciated the talk and that she learned a lot from it. Felt kilig immediately after, because the fact that I was able to affect at least one... it's amazing.

We're all for self-improvement, and loving it. I'm also holding a Blogging 101 Workshop on May 20, in line with my mission. Register here: http://tinyurl.com/bloggingbyolivia :)