The first few days

I started a new job last week, which will be to Project Manager the move of three data centres to two new locations.  I am quite excited about the new role, as always, and am looking forward to building new relationships and the hard work that will follow in the coming weeks.

I thought I would write an article on my thoughts when I first enter a new contract.  Part of being a contractor means that every year or so, I get to move to a new company and experience new people, cultures and working environments.  All these new experiences are on top of learning the processes and procedures that different industries and corporations have put in place.

I was very lucky that by 10:30 on my first day, that I have IT access and building access, complete with my new photo ID card.  I do not think I have been on another client site in many years that has provided everything I need within such a short period of time.

My first task was to meet the team that I will be consulting with and understand our role and to ensure that the scope was covered in general.  We all need to be working towards the same goal, so we met one week prior to going to the client site.  In the Project Management team, we have three people, plus an Account Manager.  My role will be as the Project Manager, ensuring that the project runs smoothly and we interact with the Vendor and the client.

Understanding scope with the client is the next important stage.  This was completed on the first day on site.  I understand the scope and will write this down to confirm the “Project Charter” to all stakeholders.  The client uses an Agile project management methodology, but I have no experience with this, so for now, I am keeping with the methodology that I know (PMP and Prince2), which both insist on the Project Charter.

The next steps are to ensure that the communications strategy is written and shared with the stakeholders.  This will include the methods and tools we use, as well as the frequency of each requirement.

I’ll update this blog over the coming days to explain the progress.