The Ethos of the project manager

As a project manager, you are the captain of the ship. Or, an even better analogy, the maestro, but without the baton. Nor the excessive waving. Nor the tuxedo. Nor the messy hair.

Anyway, like the maestro, your role is to make sure every musician plays their part smoothly, at the right time, and in harmony with others. To avoid any confusion, we mean designers and developers, not actually musicians, all right?

Back to the captain analogy, which now seems more appropriate: your role is to steer a project from departure to arrival, navigating smoothly through the scope, milestones, deadlines, goals, budgets, expectations management, and the inevitable turmoiled sea of change and challenges that emerges along the way, such Loch Ness Monster!

Editor's comment: Beware of the following paragraph. A project manager wrote it, and it may sound quite self-indulgent.

We go as far as to say that project managers are the most important part of any project. Don't agree? Let's put it this way: it won't matter if designers and developers deliver unbelievably brilliant work (which they do more often than not) because if the project manager fails at planning, communicating, and managing expectations, milestones, and budget, the project will not be successful and clients will have a miserable perception of our collaboration.

The truth is your work as a project manager is our primary driver of word-of-mouth referrals. And you know how important it is to our business.

Your responsibilities

On any given project, your work as a project manager starts with the Project kick-off, but it doesn't end there, so let's break it down.

You need to define and coordinate the internal team so that each project is developed and delivered as if Significa were a 3-star Michelin restaurant – this means on time and within budget while maintaining our high-quality standards and keeping the client over the moon. Easy peasy!

Own it

You need to own projects as if they were your babies (or cats if you're a cat person.)

You have to keep Monitoring Progress with the baby camera, changing nappies after each Delivery, and overseeing Quality Assurance to ensure their clothes are folded appropriately.

Maybe we've taken the analogy too far, but the point is: your project is your baby. Nurture it, and you'll get a very well-rounded result. Neglect it, and you'll get a crackhead.

Keep projects on track

By keeping projects on track, we mean on budget and on time. It sounds easier said than done, and quite often, the said turmoiled sea of change and unexpected moments will slap you right in the face.

Keeping things under control means succeeding at other aspects we list on this page. Being organised and capable of anticipating problems leads the way, but ensuring the team isn't blocked, and the client is being kept updated follows closely.

Keeping projects on track will ensure the project is going well and the client is happy. We love happy clients as much as we love dad jokes (we have a Slack channel dedicated to it, #dad-jokes, believe it or not).

Furthermore, timely projects are crucial to sustaining a healthy and steady cadence of projects across the company, which has the biggest impact on our revenue.

Be organised and thorough

As you'd expect, being organised is the bread and butter of any project manager.

What would you do when you're getting guests at home? You'd clean the whole thing, tidy your living room, make your bed, vacuum the floor, sweep the dust, do the dishes, and shove all the cleaning gear, like your mops and your brooms and your dust cloths, in the cupboard. Now, if you didn't know when the guests would arrive, as a precaution, you'd try to keep things tidy at all times just in case someone pops by uninvited. Project managers should do the same: keep everything neat and things where they are supposed to be, always.

This will make your life much easier. Make sure to create tasks and document things right after iterations and product syncs. Don't let things get lost or forgotten. At the same time, ensure you are as thorough and clear as possible with your writing. Remember, it must be intelligible for everybody, even for those who may have no context at all. Each piece of information should be self-explanatory and reachable even in your absence.

In other words, if everything is in its place, tidily organised, and clear as crystalline water, you won't be bothered with needless, time-wasting questions such as “How do I change an image on Storyblok?" or “Where do I find the Design System?"

Record everything

After every meeting, every relevant chat, or every discussion with the client or the team, make sure you document it in its appropriate place: either by creating a task on Linear, changing a sprint plan, updating documentation on Notion, or whatever you see fit.

Getting every change request, feedback, or roadmap alteration on record means it won't be lost in your memory, your Slack feed, or in the vacuum of a long-gone conference call.

Remember, if needed, Slack conversations can be copied and pasted, and meetings can be recorded with everyone's consent.

Set client expectations

Most of the project manager's role is managing client expectations.

First things first, make sure you follow Project kick-off thoroughly. Setting the expectations for the collaboration with us right away and making it clear will go a long way.

Second, make sure, regardless of how hard it may be, that you always remain truthful to reality and transparent with everyone, including clients, as stated in our Mission and values. The truth may hurt a bit today, but it will hurt much more if concealed until it's too late. We value honesty, and we expect clients to value it in return.

Third, and perhaps more esoterically, managing clients is more of a sixth-sense ability to read the room and between the lines to find the underlying issues so you can resolve them before they become insurmountable. Digging in to understand the client's perception of the project as a whole rather than simply counting the number of tickets moving into the “Done” column goes an even longer way.

As a rule of thumb, over-communicate instead of under. We and the client are on the same team, so ping them. Don't be afraid of asking stupid questions.
Oh, and also, take a look at Communication; it can come in handy.

Stand up for your team

Even though we encourage every team member to assess any ongoing issues directly with the client, we don't want any unnecessary pressure put on them. Pressure is very counter-productive and will hinder their performance and ability to deliver within the expectations.

If you see that happening, you should intervene and steer the conversation in a more productive direction, like any decent captain would do when in the sight of an iceberg. Pun unintended. Poor Jack!

Schedule a call if necessary, but don't let conversations spiral out of control between team members and clients. Keep everyone focused.

Anticipate problems

Anticipating problems is like being the weatherperson, watching the horizon for what's cooking. However, it's not about having a pessimistic view, thinking every cloud will turn into a storm, but rather about being prepared, knowing that sometimes, yes, those clouds will bring rain. And when rain comes, you should have your umbrella ready to pop open.

In a more professional context, this means thinking ahead, having the ability to identify obstacles before they arise, and having solutions in advance. It involves a mixture of critical thinking, experience, and sometimes a bit of intuition to foresee the twists and turns in the path ahead.

Ensure you're wary of evidence that implies bumps on the road and act upon them by steering, planning in advance, and addressing them with the client and the team.

Anticipating problems, making adjustments on the fly, and continuing to deliver projects on time are the differences between a good project manager and a great one!

Now, if you own it, if you are organized, keep things on track, plan it right, and keep it up to date, and if you manage the client's expectations accurately, every problem will be anticipated naturally. Job done; off you go!

Don't be a blocker. Be the facilitator

As a project manager, your job is to ensure the team always has what they need to deliver.

Your goal is to reduce (or eliminate) anything blocking your team from succeeding. Unfortunately, as the bridge between the client and the team, it's easy to become the blocker standing in the way of progress.

Your team members may be waiting for you to provide additional documentation, create new tasks in Linear, or get feedback from the client.

Again, here comes the same preaching: if you're anticipating problems, owning the project, being organised, keeping things on track, planning it right and keeping it up to date, and if you're managing the client's expectations accurately, you'll never be a blocker, but a facilitator instead!