International Project Management Day 2021

International Project Management Day is observed by Project Managers across the globe each year, on the first Thursday in November. At Welcom, we are proud to have a team of Project Managers supporting delivery to our clients. We asked the team exactly why they chose to embark on a career in Project Management, and what they most enjoy.

When I grow up, I want to be a Project Manager! Said no child, ever.

So, why do people become Project Managers? While there are a small number of the 16.5 million Project Managers worldwide that did choose to pursue an education in project management after school, the vast majority of people have “fallen into it”. Whether that be through being involved in a project in their early careers, or identifying that their unique skill set would be of use in this area, many individuals embark on project management a few years (or decades) into their careers.

Project Management covers such a broad range of job specifications, across a multitude of industries. Here, at Welcom, we draw on a pool of skills, experience and knowledge in our project team, from client-facing project management, delivering SaaS, to IT project management. Having such a broad knowledge and experience base in our team means we are constantly able to adapt to new situations, collaborating with each other and drawing on a pool of knowledge to deliver the best possible outcome for our clients.

We are proud to have just a few of the 16.5 million PMs at Welcom, and here, we ask them why they chose Project Management as a career.

 “Project Manager is not the type of role which is on your radar as you grow up. In my teens, I realised I had an aptitude for coding, so my first roles were as an IT Developer. I then sought roles where I had more responsibility as I found these satisfying, and evolved through a number of Team Leader type roles. I realised that I got the most job satisfaction for roles where I was directly accountable to clients and was able to coordinate varied deliveries. At that point, I could see that the Project Manager role would provide me with the opportunity to work with a variety of different roles and individuals, the satisfaction of delivering projects and services, and accountability for delivering these projects and services to clients. A great balance of overseeing a piece of work at a medium to a high level while still diving into detail where needed. And always working with a varied and great set of people. This felt like the perfect role for me, where all the elements of a role which motivate me came together.”

 “I wanted to be a PM initially to deliver projects that had a tangible deliverable. Working on major items for Warner Brothers and Disney. The best one was the dark knight rises launch, as we made a tumbler bike and some enormous posters that went on buildings.

I like being a PM as most days are different, managing relationships with clients is what I enjoy the most now.”

 “I fell into Project Management about 10 years into my career. I had the experience of implementing and managing small changes, but it’s only when one of my roles involved managing renovations of a country house that I truly got the bug. From there I retrained as a PM, focusing in the IT arena and fully embraced the variety that the role came with. From clients in the MoD (some sites even requiring an armed escort around campus) to large corporate firms, I enjoy adapting to the different working practices that come with different clients in different sectors. My skillset has developed over the years and I’m now proud to say that I wear many hats, picking up any additional work where I can to help assist the team to completion. The thing I enjoy most about project management is the constant need to problem solve and the satisfaction that comes with seeing recommendations for the resolution adopted by the business and clients alike. I also particularly enjoy seeing people brought into the project team develop and grow over time as they learn new skills that they wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to explore in their day to day activities.”