Get it Done and Have More fun!

Every business is a combination of ongoing operations and individual projects.

A project is defined as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.” Project Management Institute

If you are a “people person” Project Management might be a great career option, especially if you add in all sorts of facilitation as you will be running many different types of meetings with all sorts of different stakeholders. In all the STEM opportunities, there will always be a need for a Project Manager.

There are 2 main types of project management: Waterfall and Agile.

• The Waterfall approach involves a lot of up-front planning and focused execution. This approach is used more for scientific and detail-oriented projects (like a data center move).
• The Agile approach was originally created for software development and involves short iterative sprints and can change quickly if new features drive higher value for the customer.

In this session we will explore 4 different career opportunities within project management. The key to successful project management is twofold – building great products and building great teams. These all require more soft skills in conjunction with understanding the technical and functional requirements.

Waterfall Business Analyst – this role involves understanding what the customer wants and building the requirements document for the project.

Project Manager – the main job is planning, managing and optimizing people, time and money

Agile Product Owner – this role interfaces with the customer, the business and the development team(s).

Scrum Master – this role is responsible for managing the development team including front-end, back-end and QA. This can also mean protecting the team from outside demands and helping them get shippable software built and deployed.