During the training program, everyone gets a chance to be Project Manager and this week was my turn. Being project manager gives you an opportunity to learn/improve your leadership style, interact with clients and be the focus point for conversations, and to lead a team from kick off to delivery.
Going into this week, there were a couple of things I was conscious of. I wanted to make sure that members of my team could try out things they don't normally do to give them a chance to improve skills. I was also conscious of the time we had to finish the project and how to balance this with the afore mentioned want.
My plan of attack
- A daily morning discussion on plans for the day and evening discussion to debrief
- Record the minutes of the meeting and share with everyone
- Keep in regular contact with the client to ensure we are staying on track with the requirements
- Practice the presentation prior to the deadline to allow for smooth delivery.
- Stay removed enough
What actually went down
- I did do the daily recaps and target setting sessions. They were really helpful for ensuring I and other members of my team knew where we were in terms of the task set, but more importantly, what each other was doing so work wasn't being duplicated.
- I was also successful in putting minutes together. This proved very useful as it meant our coaches were able to see what we were up to and weigh in on things.
- I didn't keep in contact with my client as much as I would have liked to but we did have just enough to know we were going in the right direction so I guess it was okay.
- Presentation practice was done and it was incredibly helpful because a lot of the feedback we were given in the practice helped prepare us for questions that came in the real presentation. Practice 100% makes improvement and I am totally here for it. Never underestimate the importance of practice y'all!!!!
- I got a little involved with the nitty gritty of things in the end but that was because we were seriously running out of time which I think is fair enough.
- I tried to stay in contact with everyone on an individual level as well to make sure they were handling things okay and provide help where I could. The group meetings were only and the start and end of the day so this was really helpful for me to know what was happening at a more granular level. I did worry though that it would come across as me micromanaging so that was an interesting one to try and navigate.
- I tried to give tasks out that I new would challenge people which, like I said above, was a main target for me. I think it worked. I definitely know a lot of new things were learnt through this project. I'm super happy with that decision.
Feedback
As always, feedback was given. I, and the Data School, believe feedback is an incredibly important part of learning and progression. A lot of my feedback was positive which is kind of a good thing I guess. I don't know if that's just due to British politeness though. I'm always looking for constructive criticism because that's the best way to improve so.......
All in all, it was an interesting project. I got to work with SQL and I feel even more confident about it. (Check out my last blog to understand more 😉)
Project management may totally be for me but let's wait and seeee!!!!
That's it from me
