The hat of a project manager sits on top of many heads: even if those human heads have radically different jobs and roles—and even if those jobs don’t have ‘project’ or ‘manager’ in the title. We’re going to reveal the hats, a brim at a time by interviewing experts in and out of our sector. This is the first of our refreshed Coax Q&A series.

Project management is about creating a container in which teams can operate well and get work done that moves us towards a clear outcome or impact

Tell us about your current role. What kinds of things do you do every day? What does your job usually entail (for those of us who might not know much about it)?

I am the Director of Programs and Services for a provincial Organization called The Federation of Community Social Services of BC. We’re a non-profit member organization. Our members are community social service organizations from across British Columbia providing services like family resource programs, mental health support, sexual abuse counselling and support, foster caregiver support, community living services, food banks, senior’s services, or services for kids living government care.

So my position involves managing various projects and initiatives that have to do with serving our members. This entails working with a small but mighty team (communications, research, event planning, leadership development, member engagement, advocacy) in order to direct and coordinate these efforts which are all about supporting and empowering our member organizations. I also have to work closely with our Executive Director, our member organizations across the province of BC, other umbrella organizations, and the provincial government.

How much are you managing projects and people? What kind of projects? Give us an example.

I am Managing Projects and people ALL the time. We have a lot of initiatives on the go and most of our projects have unique administrative, communication, and research requirements. Each also requires us to engage with our members so that they can help inform the work we do on their behalf.

Balancing priorities, making sure each project has a clear purpose and strong rationale, and creating (or improvising) processes for making sure all the different pieces and people can work together in a coordinated way are all a big part of my role. Our organization has grown quite a bit over the last few years and the need to manage projects has become a bigger part of my position than it used to be. (I have been with The Federation for 8 years).

What’s your approach to managing projects and people? What works when you need to move things forward?

My approach is focused on people and intention. I see project management as being very dependant on the team (a) having a clear idea of what they are working towards and (b) having the skills and resources needed to get there. That said, I am less focused on timelines than I probably should be.

To me, project management is about creating a container in which teams can operate well and get work done that moves us towards a clear outcome or impact. The way information is communicated affects not only the work but also how the team works together. I feel like I am constantly learning, or re-learning, how important communication is.

How has your background, education, or past experiences informed the way you manage projects?

My formal education is in Child and Youth Care and Social Work. And I think this, as much as anything, informs how I work with the people on my team and how I go about trying to support a team that has to work together across different disciplines and with different work styles.

It also prepared me for the complexity inherent in trying to make change happen—in the social sector or any sector. There are always a bunch of different agendas and pressures that need to be considered and balanced and I think my background has prepared me to be comfortable and composed when faced with the messiness of complicated and high-stakes human interaction. In some ways, I’m actually able to prepare for the inevitable conflicts and misunderstanding in my approach to managing projects.

I think my background (and working in this sector) also helps me identify and understand how different parts of a system interact with one another which, I think, is an important part of managing projects—recognizing different perspectives and approaches and the ways they influence one another. This helps compensate for other skills I may lack. For instance, I do not think of myself as a “good planner” per se. Many past projects and experiences have involved jumping in with little time to plan and, instead, making it up as I go along. Luckily, “making it up as I go along” seems to be something I am good at but I would certainly like to get better at working in a more calm and thoughtful manner!

When it comes to managing projects, what do you which you were better at? What do you wish you knew more about?

I wish I was better at actually writing up project plans with clear timelines and expectations. I think having a clear, agreed-upon plan would help with some common communications issues. I also wish I was more skilled at hosting planning meetings. Part of that may reflect a lack of confidence in myself but I really think that it’s crucial for everyone on the team to get started on the right foot. I could probably do a better job of ensuring that everyone is on the same page from day one—involved in a way that considers their role and abilities in relation to the other team members right from the start.

I would also like to be more organized, especially at the start of projects so that I can rely a little less on the goodwill of my team when we don’t get off to a clean start. I tend to fly by the seat of my pants and I am aware that this can impact others on my team. I’m trying to learn how to minimize that impact.

What’s your best tip or an approach to projects that works for you? Why do you think it works? What’s one pitfall you’ve learned how to avoid?

Find some way of sharing or connecting information that (a) works for everyone and (b) isn’t a person on the team. For us, we have simply started using Trello to manage some of our bigger projects so that I don’t have to be the connection point relaying needs, goals, timelines, and information among everyone else. That has been something I have been anxious about addressing in terms of how our team functions and also in terms of risk management and succession planning in a very small organization. So far, it’s helped us become more organized (especially for a partially-remote team) but it’s also highlighted the areas—communication, planning—where we still need to do some work.

I have become more and more comfortable (thanks to great mentors on my team) with taking the time to talk about our intentions and purpose at the beginning of a new project so that we all understand why we are doing something as much what we are doing and how we are doing it. Sometimes in our sector, we see a neat “thing” or idea somewhere else and rush to replicate it in our work without taking the time to unpack why: What would be our purpose in doing that? And is that more important than the other things we are or could be doing? I have been lucky to work with many thoughtful people who inherently approach their work in this way which has made me more comfortable in doing so myself.

What’s one thing the average person doesn’t know about the kind of work you do?

From my experience, the average person rarely thinks about social services at all! Most of the population don’t really understand the impact of our sector. But the truth is that almost everyone benefits from social services—even if you or the people you care about never come into contact with a social service agency.

Unfortunately, we usually only hear about social services when something goes wrong—when a senior’s home closes or when food bank shelves are empty or when women fleeing abuse have nowhere to go. But the truth is that there are thousands of caring and hardworking people providing services and support to children, youth, and families across the country 24/7. These organizations are often massively complex and, compared to the average business, do their work with fewer resources and for significantly less pay.

So if you know someone who works in the social services, throw a little love their way! Or better yet, lend your support to a community organization or social justice cause that means something to you.