Beyond the Deadline

Sometimes, the work means managing calendars and meetings; other days, it’s problem-solving or strategic planning. Project managers wear many hats — they’re thought partners, relationship managers, and even data gurus.  

An unofficial interdepartmental liaison and “data center of excellence,” Kepler associate director Matthew Oliver says his day-to-day includes communicating with teams about how to help push their progress forward, bringing requests from one internal org to another, and designing and workshopping technical solutions. 

Meanwhile, Upstatement’s co-founder of core functions Kimiko Tanaka Vecchione, who is building out a new group to offer clients longer-term support, describes her days as “a mix of business development, operational planning, process improvement, and client and project management.”

While having a process can be helpful, rigidity is a no-no. Sid Lee project manager Audrey Ouellette’s team uses a waterfall methodology (think: one task finishes before another begins) but works in agile practices (centered on flexibility) where needed, especially on web development projects with iterative cycles. 

At IDEO, project management is often the responsibility of project leads (PLs). “PL-ing is equal parts project managing, relationship managing, people managing, and creative directing,” says senior design lead Shannon Vossler, who notes that while training ensures PLs share the same vernacular and foundation, “There’s no specific or mandatory methodology. IDEOers are encouraged to bring their own experiences, flair, and leadership styles to the table.”

Being able to clearly and empathetically connect with people is one of the greatest PM strengths — and one of their biggest challenges. Teams may have different priorities or miss nuances in the work they each do. One way Oliver helps foster common understanding is by placing value on “meeting notes and shared nomenclature/taxonomy.” 

Ouellette likes to ensure that “structured planning aligns with creative flexibility.” She focuses on what problem teams are trying to solve and leverages the right tools and frameworks to keep projects efficient while allowing room for adaptability where it makes sense.

Still, at the end of the day, people have different work styles, preferences, and personalities, which are bound to conflict. Figuring out how to navigate these tensions can be tricky, but Vossler, who thinks, “differences are part of what makes our work better,” is dedicated to “creating environments where all personalities — big, small, loud, quiet and otherwise — can be their true authentic selves and enjoy working together.”

The job is about much more than just making sure deadlines are met. SYLVAIN’s shift to “engagement management” (a combination of account and project management) means the role is more client-facing there. “This is a better fit for our business, creates more growth opportunities, and builds a more consistent and high-touch client experience,” says director of engagement Dorothy Smith. As engagement team members grow, their responsibilities shift from day-to-day PM work to strategic client relationship building, oversight, and organic growth. This change also supports SYLVAIN’s “triad model,” which calls for close collaboration between engagement, design, and strategy teams. 

SYPartners also focuses on having these disciplines work in concert. There, PMs create a system that connects all parts of a program and then develop long-term strategy, accounting for multiple scenarios and hypotheticals. While each PM moves differently, “a core skill is the ability to think systematically, toggling between zooming in on the details and zooming out to see the bigger picture,” says SYPartners senior project manager Ameera Naz Saeed.

Many companies across the collective stay organized with Google products like Docs and Sheets. At SYLVAIN, Google Drive houses timeline templates, project trackers, kick-off materials, and more. Smith says this is critical as she finds that “project management software makes adoption and use across the organization quite difficult, and is often not flexible enough for our wide variety of services.” 

Oliver finds Google Drawings, which he uses to illustrate data processing workflows, particularly useful. “It’s been essential to aligning whole departments on common ideas, and keeping meetings and project scopes well defined and clear,” he says. 

IDEO is very open to letting teams use the tools that work for them. Program management lead Biz Wells and program director Melissa Lobato are fans of Notion, which they use as a project management tool and an archive. Highly visual collaboration tools like Figma and Miro are particularly popular at IDEO and help teams plan, brainstorm, and prototype quickly.

Slack is also a key resource. Ouellette finds that Slack Lists and Canvases help her in her day-to-day work at Sid Lee, while Vossler says, “If America runs on Dunkin, IDEO runs on Slack.” The organization has project, local, and craft channels — and even a PL-specific channel. 

Still, Vossler admits she likes going old school: scribbling on Post-its and notepads (“My favorite has my ‘magical get sh*t done list’ printed in rainbow colors at the top,” she says).

As client relationships grow into long-term engagements, the way work is managed needs to scale and transform as well. Wells and Lobato are unique IDEO-ers in that they have roles dedicated to project management due to their work on a decade-plus client relationship that requires long-term planning.

When Lobato started working with this client, they were at a turning point. She recalls the IDEO team asking questions like, “How can we be support systems as they’re trying to make these big leaps? What do we need to do in terms of scaling our team, systems, and tools?” The relationship is now three continuously expanding large-scale programs, and as a program director, Lobato not only helps the IDEO relationship team understand its strategy and goals but also ensures “we’re laddering up each of our distinct programs to the larger client vision.”

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Ultimately, those with project management expertise blend strategy, communication, and flexibility to turn big ideas into fantastic results. Though their methods, tools, and philosophies may vary, “We each bring different superpowers,” Saeed says, “whether it’s grit, organization, ingenuity, or empathy — that help shape how we manage projects and support our teams.”