What has your experience as a project manager taught you?
Jirka: I definitely work more systematically, thoroughly, and overall I organize my personal life better. Thanks to my experience in project management, I can also approach many things with perspective and simply see them through to completion.
Peťa J.: I see the greatest benefit in working with the Kentico content management system, and to a lesser extent in gaining a better understanding of HTML, JS, CSS, databases, or C#. Through work, one also gains insights into UX, SEO, testing, web design, and programming and coding possibilities.
Peťa Š.: Besides what Jirka and Peťa have already mentioned, I have learned to formulate the brief, which is crucial for the success of the entire project. Challenging moments teach me daily not to get unnecessarily upset in my personal life and not to rush. It’s not worth it.
Luděk: That one should be adaptable, focus on important tasks, and not stress out. I also see that implementing new management methods is painful at first, but it makes sense because it helps significantly reduce the risks that a project may have.
What does your typical workday look like?
Jirka: I would divide a typical day into 4 parts – managing new projects, support for existing clients, creating milestone documents (offers, calculations, documentation), and administration.
Peťa J.: I will elaborate more. In the morning, I arrive, make tea, and read emails. I immediately address or respond to issues that can be resolved right away. These usually involve questions about content fulfillment, page formatting, or deadlines for implementation. I then log more complex tasks into our project management system and send them to the programmers. Throughout the day, I often call clients about the progress of website creation, attend meetings, and consult with graphic designers, developers, and coders about their solutions. I test outputs, write documentation, fill website content, train, and hand over completed solutions to clients.
Peťa Š.: I would summarize it by saying that right from the morning, I know what I want or need to do and accomplish. I write a daily to-do list and prioritize it. In the meantime, new emails, requests, and inquiries come in, which I promptly incorporate into the daily plan. If I have checked off the entire to-do list by the end of the workday, I consider it a success.
Luděk: Once I assign tasks to others, I focus on those that I need to handle myself. Usually, these involve content proofreading, administration, and especially a lot of testing. I am a detail-oriented person, but I am working on it :-)
What do you enjoy most about being a project manager?
Jirka: The fact that there is no routine and every day I deal with different requests, answer various questions, and collaborate with new people. I am responsible for the entire project's operation and help clients realize their ideas and expectations.
Peťa J.: I enjoy bringing my own, more experienced perspective to the solutions and advising clients on what is worth working on and what should not be forgotten. I also enjoy overseeing the proper and timely progress of development.
Peťa Š.: The creative part of the project is the best. I love brainstorming solutions for individual projects with my colleagues because each one is different and has different goals. I enjoy getting to know new clients and their products and services.
Luděk: When I learn something new that makes sense to me and personally advances me. Sometimes it is quite challenging to forge a path and meet deadlines when it's something no one knows, but with an experienced team, we always come up with something.
