At the Data School, our journey to becoming proficient data consultants/ Tableau & Alteryx experts goes beyond classroom learning. Throughout our 4 months training, we have hands-on experience and real-world challenges. One of the most exciting aspects of our training program are client projects (some internal some external). 8 projects, each led by a different project manager within our cohort. These projects serve as a testament to our growth, honing our consulting skills and expanding our technical expertise, particularly in tools like Tableau, Alteryx, and more. Additionally, when we work with external clients, these projects become a showcase of the capabilities possessed by the Data Schoolers.
For this blog, I am going to point out what I have done as a project manager (PM)
Usually these projects last 1 week (although we only have 2/3 days of project time). It divides more or less into:
- First Interaction - Kickoff call with the client, go through the brief, make all the questions that we have and understand the requirements;
- Create User Stories, look at the data and prep if needed, and Sketches - After 1/2h of meeting with the client, as a group, based on the requirements, we create user stories, assign people to do certain tasks, such as data prep and sketch dashboards;
- Second Interaction - Show the sketches to the client to receive feedback on it, and make any extra questions to clarify any doubts;
- Start Building Visualizations ;
- Third Interaction - Show progress to the client ;
- Finalize Dashboards;
- Rehearsal for presentation;
- Presentation;
My week as a project manager - What Have I done?
For my week as a project manager, we had an external client.
- Understanding the Project Context - Due to the team not having much time before the kickoff call, I made sure to create a comprehensive summary of the extensive project brief. This document aimed at helping the team understand the project's scope.
- Delegating - After meeting the client, I asked one individual to have a look at the data and create the data model while the rest of us created the user stories. After the user stories being done, I split people into groups to create the sketches. While appropriate delegation is crucial for the project running smoothly, I also provided guidance and support as needed.
In the meantime, I kept a line of conversation with the client to ask any extra questions. As the datasets did not have much data, we gave ideas of which extra data we could mock up to offer better insights and analysis and therefore getting more from this experience. - Create Dashboard Design and Color Palettes - Do this as soon as I can so I can receive client feedback on the second interaction and give the team the right colors to work with
- Manage Client Expectations - During our second interaction, we showed the sketches to the client to get feedback. As some of our team members generated multiple ideas, managing the client's expectations became paramount. I ensured that we fully understood the client's preferences, in case we could not create all the sketches' ideas, especially due to time constrains.
- Keep an agile approach - We adopted an agile approach, which encouraged iterative development. This approach enabled us to adapt swiftly to work progress and respond effectively to any challenges that arose.
- Catch Up Sessions - At the end of each day of project or half way through the day, understand the team's stand point, what they have done and what they have left to do.
- Remind the team to document everything - Comprehensive documentation of calculations / worksheets is key. When we handover the project to the client and someone takes over our work, they can thoroughly understand the steps we took.
- Get feedback on my role as a project manager - Half way through the project, I proactively gathered feedback from the team regarding my approach as a project manager. This feedback would allow me to adjust the way I conduct myself, ensuring the team is happy with my conduct.
- Ensuring the team is taking regular breaks - The project's success is contingent on the well-being of our team members. To prevent burnout, I actively encouraged and enforced regular breaks (although not always able to enforce these breaks as some people preferred to keep working).
- Rehearsal and Feedback - Before our final presentation, we conducted a rehearsal and invited other people from the company to provide feedback. This practice helped us identify and address potential issues or glitches, ensuring a smooth and confident presentation to the client.
- Bring all the dashboards together into a single workbook
- Staying Calm Under Pressure - I understand that projects rarely go entirely as planned, and challenges are bound to arise. As a project manager, I made it a point to keep my cool and handle unexpected situations calmly.
Overall, being PM was a great experience. I think most of my time as a Project Manager went smoothly. However, in the last day I should have made decisions more effectively. E.G. I combined the dashboards together into a single workbook too late, which led to some functionalities start breaking. As this would take some time to repair, I should have taken the approach of presenting the dashboards in separate workbooks and let the client know that I would handover the finalized dashboard in the correct format.