Studio Brief 1 - The 57 Creative Discussions Event, Project Manager

For the last few months I have been helping organise our networking event at Hanbury Hall in London, along with Imogen. We were both the project managers for the event, a role and experience that has taught me lots, not just about managing and organising, but about other people and also myself.

Our role was varied and fluid. Because only a handful of other students got involved with the preparation and work for the event, we ended up doing more than project managers maybe should do. For example, because nobody stepped up to help make the publication, it was left to us to do, whereas we perhaps should have been more strict and delegated it out to others. There were a few other instances like this, but with that said, there were a few others that really pulled their weight and helped up out a lot. It really taught me that you cant always be democratic when managing people, and there comes a point where you have to be more strict whilst remaining fair, because it seems like as a general rule people are more willing to take a backseat and avoid the work than help out. It never seems like everybody pulls their fair weight. When they assume that somebody else will take care of it, they prefer to turn the other way.

I have also learnt that I am not as organised as I hoped I would be. There were a few situation where I was late, or I forgot to do something I was meant to, and in these cases things were left to Imogen to sort out. This was not fair of me and I realise that if I was to take on another role such as this one, I would need to be extra diligent to ensure I am fulfilling my role and not making other people make up any shortfalls.

Clarity of communication is another aspect of project managing that I have learnt the value of. You cannot assume that people know what you are talking about or that it is as clear to them as it is to you. I learnt that spelling things out to people is not about patronisation, it is about being clear and transparent in what you need doing and what is expected.

Along with endless notebook lists, scribbles, notes and diary dates, we used an online Gantt chart to help plot out our deadlines and to get a clear overview of what needed completing and how much time we had left. In the end we didn't actually use it a lot, but I can see the value of such programs to help keep everything organised in one place in a clear, concise layout. If I was to do another event or similar project, especially if it was a bigger one, then I would definitely use a similar program properly. 

In the end it was a very successful event, with only minor hiccups! I would have liked to have prepared a little more and foreseen more issues in the run up, but I think overall it went very smoothly and everybody seemed to enjoy it on the day. I would probably like to do another role such as this in the future, just maybe not for a while yet.