The interview below was conducted between Karen Walker and I, a project manager who has successively implemented many projects, some of which have grossed budgets of up to $440 million. The interview was conducted via Facebook.
Which is the most recent undertaking you have worked on?
Well, I have managed the health care compliance and privacy (HCCP) project for the Johnson and Johnson Company, from April to December 2013.
The project's objective was to support the HCCP department ensuring confidentiality and Safe Harbor amenability for all J&J companies.
What were your major duties during the entire project?
I was mainly responsible for carrying out interviews to ascertain the extent of compliance by the company. I also carried out surveys of procedures and frameworks to ascertain their compliance with the stated objective. Only then would I enter the survey results and other documents to support the survey into SharePoint and other systems that support document tracking.
Other responsibilities included the creation of dossiers and documentation to verify the accreditation of Safe Harbor for various organizations.
On a scale of 1-10 rate project management as an occupation Nine.
I have studied business administration as a major in my college, and I am a business analyst by profession. The more projects I handle, the more I fall in love with project management. A project manager is simply who I am, my source of livelihood.
Having handled a huge amount of money, how do you, manage-up sponsors?
Well, any sponsor's main objective is first to obtain results of their funding, an equivalent of their monetary input or more and secondly, full accountability for every single penny spent. Should you achieve those, you win the sponsors trust and qualify yourself for other opportunities as well.
What is the most moral choice you have ever made in an undertaking?
I was once faced with a choice of bribing my way into a multimillion-dollar project, which I turned down due to my adherence to the law and my integrity as well. I have also been asked to doctor my survey findings and evade taxes, which I have all turned down.
I have also been forced to terminate the services of a highly skilled professional on grounds of sexual abuse.
What criteria would you say you are utilizing to locate your next employment?
I have an outstanding performance record of all my undertakings. Therefore, I need not do much; my record speaks for itself. I only post m availability on social platforms and seek glorious recommendations from companies I have worked with and for.
Would you cite any significant failures in your project management career?
Well, during the economic recession of 2008, a sponsor significantly cut down their budget, which stalled the project. It was a major blow as this action made the project take longer than its expected completion time.
How did you recover from this setback?
The first step was to seek for new donors, which was not an easy task, considering the economic situation of the country at that moment.
Then only did I do fresh budget where we slashed down expenses significantly and sort for means that the project would be able to generate its income.