Key takeaways
- Most people fall into project management by accident; working at a small agency exposes you to every part of the business.
- Successful PMs are hyper-organised, personable, able to communicate to many audiences, resourceful and calm under pressure.
- Getting Things Done and learning from mistakes were what let Sam cope with the jump from two projects to fourteen.
- PM skills are highly transferable: coordinating people, understanding priorities and a sense of urgency carry into engineering management and COO roles.
- Keep learning, get involved outside your lane, avoid tribal thinking, and check big decisions against a written list of what you want from life.
About this episode
It’s a fact: many project managers fell into their roles. Some more quickly than others, but the fact is: there are qualities that make a great PM and even better managers. In this episode, Sam Barnes, engineering manager at Marks and Spencer, shares his own winding path into PM and talks about where his experience led him. It’s a personal tale with unexpected twists and turns--one that you may relate to whether you’re an accidental PM, trained PM, or part-time PM. Along with his story, Sam also shares:
- Qualities to embrace in your career as a PM
- Growing out of PM, and what other areas you might explore
- How PM skills are transferable to other roles
- Advice for carving out your own career path