Today I got some great news. This PortMA greenhorn is taking on a couple of programs of his own!
Now I don’t want to make it sound like I’m in over my head. In my first 3 months here I’ve been learning quick, the math and science of the analytics being far easier to comprehend than the politics and client/agency dynamics. Regardless I’m getting very comfortable in my Junior Analyst role and it’s on to the next step, project management.
Managing projects presents a whole new set of challenges and hurdles that I’m eagerly preparing to address.
For starters, it will now be up to me to know the exact timelines of my projects as well as foresee any issues that might come up. No longer am I just crunching the numbers and handing things off to someone else to clean up and be responsible for.
Preparation is Key
To kick off my programs I am preparing hours of documentation outlining the reporting procedures and project calendars. I know how incredibly helpful these documents will be down the road when I’m knee deep in reporting, but let me tell you, writing them is a feat!
Trying to outline future reports before a program has started is analogous to writing the table of contents for your doctoral thesis your freshman year of college. Sure many programs are similar so I do have some idea what will be happening 3, 6, or 10 months from now but everything can change in a single client call.
These program outlines are obviously quite fluid as well, we want to make sure we are able to report on anything significant that comes up. However, the more detail I can put into them now, the less confusion I’ll run into down the road.
Flexibility will be my watchword, as things in experiential marketing can be as unpredictable as this New England weather!
I must say though, as I sit here with a ball of anxiety and excitement in my stomach, delaying the inevitable by blogging I do realize I’ve got a lot to be grateful for. I have a great team that will be guiding me through the entirety of these programs (shouts to Jenni and Mackenzie!), ensuring that failure is not an option, even if I can’t quite predict the future!
Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/animenut/6046397516/