5 minutes with… Elizaveta Koroleva
Liza is a Senior Project Manager in Cyber-Duck digital agency for more than 3 years. She is a high performance web-project manager who understands business and product requirements and can combine them in well-organised production processes. Strong at data and customer feedback analysis to create best user experiences. Strong knowledge in marketing and technology to find best solutions for the business. Liza is located in Cambridgeshire, UK.
This article was originally posted on LinkedIn in May 2023 and Liza has kindly given permission for the content to be added here.
Why did you choose a career in delivery or project management?
This was a very organic way to this role. I studied PR and started to work in marketing, then digital marketing which was impossible without managing web platforms. Working in small companies, I was responsible for all the aspects and realised I was good at organising the work and delivering the final results, so my next job was in pure project management. I was learning by experience and reading about different PM methodologies in parallel. What I read never was what I experienced though 🙂.
What advice would you give someone starting out in the industry?
Start doing PM (even on tiny small projects to start with) rather than doing a lot of courses (which is important, but for me actual experience is a key).
Always reflect on how you run projects, analyse efficiency, ask people for feedback, talk to other people in your profession.
Have you ever worked on a particularly difficult project? Why was it rubbish/tough/hard?
Difficult doesn’t mean rubbish. I like the challenge, but there should be some positives to the project so the team can still enjoy it.
For me the most difficult project is when I don’t speak the same language with the client, no matter how difficult (or easy) the actual work is. If you can explain to the client all the dependencies and complications, you will come up with a solution. But if you are on your own to battle with clients and then to push the team to the limits to deliver - that’s tough and not enjoyable.
What do you think are the most important skills for a delivery or project manager to have?
Time management and good communication skills go without saying, right?
Observation - to be able to connect all the dots when running big projects or a program,
Good memory - to remind the client / the team of previous decisions, quickly come up with answers, point people in the right direction etc,
Courage - to take tough decisions, to have challenging conversions with client / management
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing delivery and project managers today?
Estimations and scope management. Every project is unique and there are so many different and new technologies, people need to spend time learning or they may think they know how to implement, but in fact they don’t. Estimates are rarely accurate especially when talking about large projects. Changing requirements also don’t help and without proper scoping phase it’s never smooth.
What projects would you have loved to have been involved in?
Big complex projects with proper process, where time is dedicated to research, to scoping, to planning. Nothing is rushed, but at the same time the team knows their tasks, everyone is clear about the goals and deliverables and moves at a swift pace.
This post is part of a services called ‘5 minutes with’ series of articles from people in the delivery management and project management space.