The best project administrator I can be?

February 3, 2009 1:14 PM

I've just been offered a new job as a project administrator. What should I expect? How do I be the best project administrator I can be?

I'm a female, 28 (administrative job - big surprise, right?) While the project I'll be working on is an IT project, my new company focuses on the business analysis end of things. Nevertheless, I've been in humdrum office administration for a long time and I'm thrilled to be making this transition (into IT, into something more challenging) however miniscule (IT is my long-term goal).

A few questions:

How do I knock the socks off my new employers?

Being an introvert, how 'social' might this job be?

And project administrators: what do you enjoy / dislike about your job?

All comments will be greatly appreciated.

posted by kitcat to Work & Money (1 answer total)

Best answer: I have not held your specific title but I have managed a lot of projects that have included working with engineers, designers, fellow marketeers, outside ad agencies, vendors, etc. i.e. herding a whole bunch of cats. Here are a few things I've found vital to success:

1. Communication. Meet early with the whole team to define your goal(s) and set a clear timeline. Let the team talk about their roles/expectations and really understand who does what. You are going to rely on the team members to do their part. Make sure the timing and goals are in sync with Management's expectations.

2. The timeline. You should understand what parts are in your control and what areas are outside your control. Build in some "give" to adapt to unexpected changes. Put a good deal of detail in the timeline and revisit often. If it is a fairly massive project, use project management software and, if possible, have one person who keeps the master schedule.

3. More communication. Regular meetings with defined agenda--often a 10 min standup meeting is sufficient to keep on track--my experience is the longer the meetings the less actual work gets done. Come away from each meeting with a clear set of action items each with a name beside it of the person responsible for completion and a date for completion. This is vital! It sounds basic, but here in my current bureaucratic job, this step is rarely done (except by the engineers--bless 'em) and the lack of accountability means that jobs go undone forever.

4. More communication. If you start getting off track, make sure you communicate to your higher ups immediately. Nothing is worse than your boss getting blindsided by a problem with your project that she isn't aware of. Alway present the problem with a solution at hand or at least a plan to get to a solution. This will make you a hero faster than anything, believe it or not.

In terms of the "social" part of things--I find as an introvert myself that when I'm focusing on the goal and it is not personal, I can be way more "social" i.e. have way more contact with folks than I would choose to in a social context. I would not choose to be at E3 for fun. But I have worked a booth there with no problem. I've created and happily attended work-related parties for 100s of people when that would be the last thing I want to do for fun, etc.

I am also a very visual person. I can "see" in my head a finished product from someone's verbal description. So I find it very helpful to take some time on my own and really picture the end result that I want. If I'm planning an event, I take myself through the event from start to finish. If I'm working on building a product or software, I visualize how it will look, feel, what it will do, etc. It helps me to "see" holes in my plan.

But lots of people do not have this ability. It took me a while to learn that my quick verbal sketch or pencil sketch meant nothing to my boss or the engineer I was working with. So you have to listen to your team, understand how they process information and present things in the most accessible way to them. Using computers to model things has helped with this immensely--whether it is a .pdf of a proposed ad or a CAD/CAM image of the proposed 3-D item.

I have to go back to my project now....good luck!
posted by agatha_magatha at 3:21 PM on February 3, 2009 [2 favorites]