Our team collectively has vast knowledge of strategic planning, public sector decisions, innovative technologies, data science and agile working methodologies. Get to know Technical Project Manager, Amy Collins.
What are your ‘must haves’ to start the working day?
I’m a big tea drinker, so that’s a must. I’m lucky to start the day with a walk through a local park to drop the children off at school which really helps set my brain up for the day.
I also love a good bit of stationery, especially a really good pen and notepad to write my daily to do list. I’m currently very much enjoying square notebooks.
What’s your proudest work achievement to date?
I’ve had a wonderfully varied work history in industries including financial services, retail, marketing software, working at Microsoft so there have been many good moments but there are two in particular that stand out where we turned the project around from almost a point of no return to the client saying “we absolutely love this!” – that’s an amazing feeling.
A client quote which sums up what I love about project management was “This is going to change the way we work with our partners”. Often what we do is about helping make others’ lives easier. Also, as nerdy as it sounds, I’m quite proud of the spreadsheets that I’ve created that enable others to have their easiest working life!
What do you love most about what you do?
I find the best part is when you get towards project handover, when I see the end users realise that this is going to work, this project is going to make their working life better. After all the politics and difficulties during the project, smoothly sailing in the end phase is a very good feeling.
Knowing that I’m a cog in the machine that results in other companies being able to focus on their core function rather than process issues is wonderful.
What does your typical working day look like?
After the school run, I make a cup of tea, then identify my top priorities for the day, look at planned meetings and make sure I’m prepped for them. If it’s a good day, I will have started the top priority list the day before so I can start my day with a burst of momentum!
My husband also works from home, so we aim to make coffee mid-morning depending on our meeting schedules, when we’re both so busy it’s nice to actually see each other for five minutes.
When you hit a wall workwise, what do you do to help overcome the hurdle?
Before I was a project manager I was a developer so I have the mindset of, if something isn’t working, how can you look at it a different way? The trick is the change gear in your brain. I love a bit of Wordfall Daily or Wordle for getting through the hurdle! I enjoy learning and sometimes I’ll dip into Duolingo – I’m trying to keep German up, as I had a year working as a java developer in Germany when I was at uni.
Another trusty trick is having a Rubix cube in my hand to change gear. If I’m trying to absorb info I will crochet at the same time as the repetitive movements really help me focus and embed the information into my brain – it’s all about hacking my mind!
I’m quite good at practicing calm when a quick change of gear is needed. In my spare time I work backstage for our local amdram society which is a lot of fun but does train you in dealing with disasters calmly and quickly!
