After three weeks of client projects (and all of them being internal), it came to my turn being the project manager and it was also our first external client so it was an exciting moment to finally be able to work with people that are not from TIL :).
The project itself starts with a Monday kickoff call - sometimes in the morning, but also, it can sometimes be in afternoon, depending where the client is based. In our scenario, it was in the morning. The call consists of getting most of the important information that we need for this project, i.e. what are the requirements, what other information is necessary. This is also where we can ask questions about things we might not understand or that we need extra clarifications on. As well as, this call is where we can set up calls or how we should communicate if we have any other questions throughout the week. Then, the team gets to work and throughout the week, with training and maybe other things, we prepare whatever the client has asked for.
Sometimes, the client might want to have a call before the kick off call, but that would usually be on a Friday before and would only be between the client, a contact and a project manager. For our project, that was not needed. However, I received the requirements on Wednesday before which gave me a lot more time to get myself familiar with what the project might entail.
Being a project manager, you have to help out where needed and try to remove all of the hurdles for your team along the way by communicating between the client and the team.
As previous clients were internal, I did not know nor realise what to expect this week and certainly that provided a challenge itself. However, at the end of the week, after the project presentation, I have realised how much I have learned this week and what things I would do differently, if I would have to be a project manager again.
Here are some things that are important to consider:
- You have to know your responsibilities. Things might and can get overwhelming if you are trying to do too much. Whilst you are meant to help your team out, make sure to keep time in your schedule for your own work, which would be creating a presentation, creating a dashboard template and other things.
- Remember that planning is very important. Keeping a schedule should also be important so that way, we could eliminate any issues that might arise at any point throughout the week.
- Learning about the data should be the first thing that is done after the kick off call. This is because, whilst exploring the data, a lot of questions might arise and they will need answering right at the beginning before any work is done.
- Communicating with each other is important. If something goes wrong or you need help at any time, it is important that you let someone know, whether it is the project manager or just anyone who's free in the office to answer any queries you might have.
At the end of the day, try to stay calm and not panic when things go wrong, fake it till you make it might be a way to go.
These projects are there to prepare you for when you go out to the placements or any other real life situations, so make sure you learn as much as you can and do remember that everyone is different. Things might go wrong but you all support each other so it will all be okay in the end. Also, just remember to take care of yourself too!