Now that the academic requirements of the project have been fulfilled, we thought we would reflect on what has been accomplished throughout the term.

What did we contribute to the community we served?
Our CBEL group helped kickstart the upgrading of Options’ Guildford playground site with a piece of equipment that children are sure to love. The playground will serve as a safe source of exploration and enjoyment for the local children, and we’re proud to have been a part of that process. The time our group has saved Options by acquiring and building the musical chimes is time that their employees have been spending helping their community in a variety of different ways.

What did we learn about project context, planning and implementation?
Though our group has only been working together for a little over three months, we have learned a tremendous amount in that time. The first realization that our group made is that it is important to think in terms of what the client actually needs, not what you would like to do. As an example, the initial description of the CBEL project we accepted was to provide a full site upgrade plan for the Guildford playground site. However, upon first contact with Katherine at Options we all quickly realized that while we could indeed do a site plan, actually building a piece of equipment for the site would serve their goals much better.

In regards to project planning, our group quickly learned to encourage strong and regular communication between all parties involved in the project. Whether it is between group members, clients or suppliers, frequent updates and emails allows everyone to stay up-to-date with expectations and progress. In particular, having all members of our CBEL group informed of what the other members were doing allowed for everyone to be accommodating to any changes in plans.

The project implementation phase was especially an excellent lesson for our CBEL group. While it was not immediately obvious to us, it eventually became apparent that implementation requires an extensive list of small logistical tasks that quickly add up. By having a strong logistics plan where all materials and tasks are identified, no matter how seemingly small, it becomes possible to implement the project without the constant delays caused by overlooked equipment or material.