Mr. Michael Keesee: A Look Into Project Management
Author: David Markopoulos | Living Education
These summaries are written to give our audience an idea of the special forum messages our students have access to as part of the Living Education-Charlotte program.
Mr. Michael Keesee is a Project Manager serving in the IT department at the Charlotte headquarters office. In a recent forum to the Living Education-Charlotte students, Mr. Keesee shared some of his background in the project management field, as well as important principles that you can use in your own life.
The Profession of Making Things Happen
Put simply, project management is the process of overseeing and managing projects. Mr. Keesee described project management as the profession of making things happen. This is a basic principle that can reorient a professional tool into a method for approaching things in our own lives.
We use project management on some level every day. Whenever you make a to-do list, create a system for yourself, or take on a task, you’re managing a project. Sometimes the ideas you or I have can be broad, nebulous, and hard to apply to reality – the skills project managers bring to the table helps turn visions into fruition.
Why Make a Project?
There are plenty of instances where you might undertake a project. Whether you’re in school, a career, or being given a particular responsibility in some other area, at some point you’ll likely find yourself being given a major project to accomplish.
Some important first steps would be:
- Find out who the experts are in what you’re trying to do and get their input.
- Meet together.
- Determine constraints such as time, money, and manpower.
- Narrow the scope of the project as needed. What might contribute to or hinder your success?
- Anticipate potential roadblocks.
- Create a timeline for the completion of the project.
- Build your team.
It’s important to build strong bonds of cohesiveness within your team, and to delegate when possible. Being able to share ideas and work well with people is an important trait of an effective project manager.
Family Weekend Games
Mr. Keesee shared anecdotes from many years of helping to organize winter Family Weekend games. When organizing a Church activity, it’s important to ask:
- How can we facilitate building bonds of brotherhood in the Church?
- How can we include everybody?
By applying the steps from the previous point and applying them to these specific questions, it’s easier to keep the big picture in mind, especially with Church activities. An effective Church activity should foster bonds of brotherhood and honor God. Mr. Keesee stated that although he hadn’t expected to help out in this capacity, he has grown to enjoy coming up with ideas for these games, and his experience in project management has helped simplify the process of organizing them.
Lessons From Project Management
Mr. Keesee’s past experience in software development has helped him adapt to his role in IT at headquarters, and like him, we all have opportunities in life to take responsibility for different projects. A project manager is someone who takes a vision and is able to make it happen by using the tools at their disposal, and especially by working well with people. The application of these principles is not merely for working professionals, but can be applied to all areas of life.
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David Markopoulos is a Living Education alumnus from the 2023-2025 school years. Originally hailing from Chicago, he currently works for the Living Education program.
