5 minutes with… Sarah Dowling
Sarah is currently Head of Delivery Operations at the BBC. Sarah has worked in Delivery for over 20 years, in a range of different organisations - digital agencies, small startups and large organisations including The Football Association and Just Eat. In her role at the BBC, Sarah supports portfolio level delivery for the BBC’s digital products, which includes quarterly planning and reporting, programme management and procurement. Sarah is currently leading a programme to roll out Jira Align to 100+ teams. Sarah lives in London with her husband, son and cat and enjoys singing and playing the trumpet in her spare time.
This article was originally posted on LinkedIn in November 2023 and Sarah has kindly given permission for the content to be added here.
Why did you choose a career in delivery or project management?
When I first started out, I didn’t know that a career in delivery existed. I went through a few career attempts - scientific research (I have a PhD in Biochemistry), factory management and publishing - before finding my calling. What I did know was that I was good at organising things and working with people to make things happen.
When I was working as a Commissioning Editor in publishing, I delivered my first online project. I could really see the potential of digital content, but it was early days in the publishing industry for digital products. A chance encounter with a friend of a friend led to a discussion where he suggested I should change direction into digital delivery, and that’s what I did.
What advice would you give someone starting out in the industry?
I would say two things are really important. They may sound obvious, but it’s amazing how often these are missed.
Firstly, be reliable. If you commit to doing something, either deliver what you promised, or manage expectations if you can’t.
I’ve been really lucky to work with some fantastic people and those I could delegate to most effectively were the ones who I knew I could rely on. Secondly, always make sure you know why you are doing something, what is the end goal for the customer or the business.
The value you are delivering should be the lens you look through for all decisions you make. That will help you prioritise the right things - those that are important, not just urgent.
Have you ever worked on a particularly difficult project? Why was it rubbish/tough/hard?
Haven’t we all! The toughest project for me was one that was a vanity project [definition: something that is done with the aim of getting praise, fame, or approval rather than for serious or good reasons]. The project wasn’t attempting to meet users’ needs or bring commercial benefits. That meant that all decisions were made in order to meet the sponsor’s requests, even though we knew many decisions didn’t meet the market needs. The project did launch in the end, after many stressful months for the whole team. It was rebuilt soon after.
What do you think are the most important skills for a delivery or project manager to have?
Ability to listen. There’s always a good reason that someone is doing something, and if you understand their motivation you are more able to work together to resolve issues or improve ways of working.
Being able to see both the big picture and the detail. Seeing the big picture helps frame your decision making, and understand the impact of decisions. Understanding the detail can help you think in someone else’s shoes, and understand the options you have in front of you.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing delivery and project managers today?
Being able to show the value of delivery. It can be an under-appreciated skill.
What projects would you have loved to have been involved in?
I can’t think of a specific example, but the ones I enjoy most are the ones where the values the project achieves align closely with my own. Having said that, I think one of the joys of this role is that you can take your skills to all kinds of different sectors, and learning about a completely new industry, that you don’t initially know anything about, can be fascinating.
For example, when I went to the Football Association, not being a football fan, colleagues from my previous role gave me a “Football for Dummies” book to read! The important thing wasn’t knowing about football (there were lots of people who knew that), it was knowing how to deliver digital programmes effectively.
This post is from the ‘5 minutes with’ series of articles from people in the delivery management and project management space.