3.5: Reflection and Debrief Questions
- Page ID
- 49222
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Reflection and Debrief Questions
Milestone 2 – Chapter 2
Title: Project Scope, Architecture, Approach, Deliverables, and Structure
Purpose of This Reflection
This milestone challenged you to go beyond planning on paper. You were tasked with designing the system of delivery that will define how your project operates—what will be done, how it will be structured, who is involved, and when key outcomes will be delivered.
This reflection is not about “what you wrote.” It’s about:
- How you thought
- Why you made the decisions you did
- What this taught you about planning, leadership, and structure
- How this experience compares to your expectations and assumptions
Use these prompts to deepen your understanding of what it means to lead a project through structure—before execution even begins.
Section-by-Section Reflections
Section 1 – Project Scope
- How did you translate the high-level vision from the Charter into a detailed breakdown of work? What was your process for expanding scope by phase?
- What decisions did you make about what to exclude—and why were those exclusions important? Did you face any uncertainty when declaring what was out of scope?
- What assumptions or dependencies did you surface that could significantly affect the success of this project? How did you choose to communicate those in writing?
- Looking back, is there anything you would redefine or structure differently now that the full milestone is complete?
Section 2 – Architecture Overview
- How did you begin conceptualizing the system or solution? Did you start with user needs, workflow logic, components, or something else?
- What part of the architecture was most difficult to write in clear, non-technical language? How did you work through that challenge?
- What helped you decide which components to include at this stage of planning (vs. what to leave for later design)?
- How would you explain your architecture to a non-technical stakeholder, like a department director or executive sponsor?
Section 3 – Project Approach
- How did you evaluate the available delivery models? Did you start with what you were familiar with—or with what the project required?
- What risks, constraints, or organizational dynamics shaped your choice of approach?
- How did you know whether to structure the work in phases, sprints, modules, or pilots?
- What tradeoffs did you identify between flexibility and control in your delivery model?
- How confident are you in the fallback strategy you proposed? What would you change or prepare for if you had to actually lead this project?
Section 4 – Project Deliverables
- What criteria did you use to decide what counts as a major deliverable? Were there deliverables that seemed “too small” to include—or “too large” to define clearly?
- Did you discover any misalignments between your deliverables and your scope or approach? How did you resolve them?
- How did you organize your deliverables in a way that would be useful for scheduling and stakeholder communication?
- If a stakeholder asked, “What will I get and when?”—how would your deliverables list answer that question?
Section 5 – Project Organizational Structure
- How did you determine which roles were necessary for this project? Did you start from a template, or build your team design based on project needs?
- How did you make decisions about reporting lines and approval authority? What was most challenging about mapping governance?
- How did you account for communication between internal and external roles—or between client and vendor teams?
- What lessons did you learn about project governance and the importance of escalation paths?
Cross-Cutting (Milestone-Wide) Reflections
- Which section was most difficult to write—and why? What skills did it require that you hadn’t used before?
- Which section do you feel most confident about—and what contributed to your clarity?
- How did work on one section change or influence your thinking in another?
- If you had to revise your scope, structure, or delivery model after writing the full milestone, what would you update—and why?
Professional Development Reflections
- What did this milestone teach you about the difference between planning work and designing how work gets done?
- How did this milestone stretch your ability to think structurally rather than just task-by-task?
- What parts of this planning package would be most useful to a stakeholder, and why?
- If this were a real consulting engagement, how would you prepare to present this milestone in a kickoff or governance meeting?
Optional Team Debrief Prompts (For Class or Team Review)
- Where did your team align easily—and where did you experience disagreement? How did you resolve it?
- Did any member bring a perspective that changed the team’s direction or framing?
- What team habits or processes helped you stay organized and on track during this milestone?
- If you had to start this milestone over, how would your team work differently next time?