life of a Project Manager

Describing a day in the life of a project manager at Mentor and Men is not easy. No day looks the same. As a project manager you focus one moment on making strategic decisions for your customer. The other moment you lead the design of an action plan for a blocking database issue.

As a senior project manager at Mentor and Men I realized a variety of projects for a variety of customers and project objectives and with every project it’s a different world. Company culture, involvement of senior management of the client, the national or international character, the way in which business is done operationally, tactically and strategically, the relationship with the implementation partner, the change management story. It makes my projects look different and run differently. And that is precisely the added value of my role as project manager at Mentor and Men.

This is no different for my current customer, an international cloud service provider where I lead an ERP implementation. I give direction to make the right choices. I anticipate issues and risks with appropriate priority and lift the customer on my accumulated insights and expertise.

Also within Mentor and Men I take on roles and responsibilities. I coach colleagues to foster their personal development: skill building such as dealing with the political side of projects, or change, how to motivate people for change, or how to advise the client on the impact of implementations on the organizational structure?

In addition, I also lead a strategic project within Mentor and Men with the aim of further sharpening the Mentor and Men mission. We analyze and discuss new added value we can offer our clients. We are currently making the translation into a new service portfolio. Together with the partners and my colleagues, we are exploring the boundaries of Mentor and Men. A fantastic intellectual challenge.

In the evening? I shake the day off on the dance floor, my metamorphosis from Project Manager to dance instructor. Tomorrow undoubtedly another exciting day.

Also fascinated by life @ Mentor and Men?

Do not hesitate to contact me.

Ps: If you want to know more on how my days look like in concrete, then please read on.

As said, no two days are the same, but a more or less fixed day strategy keeps my day clean and gives me a sense of control.

8am - I have a coffee and go over the planned activities of the day, make the details, and make time for some preparatory phone calls with key persons.

9 am - Daily consultation with the project sponsor, with fixed agenda items: project progress, appointment of blocking issues and possible quick-win solutions. Note of non-solved issues, status and responsible persons.

10am - Remote team meeting: very important to see the project team regularly. We keep the meeting as efficient as possible. Everyone has a few minutes to indicate what he / she has worked on during the previous week, where the focus is for the coming week and what limitations one sees to carry out these activities. Update of responsibilities and deadlines.

11:30 am - Meeting with the reporting specialist. We go through the standard of MS Dynamics 365 CE and determine the adjustments needed for the customer. Always fancy, these reports.

1pm - In the afternoon I start the process workshop with the users, my favorite activity, and probably also the one with the greatest added value. All persons involved in the process are present. We jointly determine the start and end point of the process ("growing together"). With the help of white boards, color markers and sticky notes we create a colorful process flow. Astonishing is always the moment when people expressed astonishment about these processes. It is here that I can make a difference as a Project Manager and consultant: where does the process get stuck or is it inefficient and what can we do about it?

3 pm - Business alignment meeting with Marketing & Sales: Reviewing all current projects, expressing concerns, but above all ensuring the involvement of the cross-cutting services.

4 pm - Prepare and send meeting notes.

In the coming hours I will try to put the concerns of the day in the right frame, let it sink in, draw up a plan, a final consultation with a stakeholder. And prepare for what is to come. Tomorrow is new day.

Regards, Martine