Dear Aunty Entity,
I’m currently working as a programmer. How do I become a project manager? I’m sure I can do it because everyone tells me what a good manager I am and all the project managers seem to do around here is swan around drinking coffee and having long lunches. How can I make the switch?
Signed, Code Freak

Dear Mr Freak,
A promoter told me once, back in my heady club days of the early 90s and after a couple of weeks of hanging round the DJ booth, that I’d be perfect as a nightclub gogo dancer. I thought I was sex on legs for weeks until I found out the club they wanted to hire me for was an over 60s drag act at a sportsbar in the suburbs….

There’s this myth perpetuated in some development garages (oh yes, you know who you are – you can bet your GAP fleecy jumpers), who think that a PM’s only required skill is to be able to talk to people. Yes this might be true especially if they also happen to be extremely good looking. However, in most cases a project manager’s life is essentially about making sure every team member has the tools to do their job and can function effectively. This means that a project manager needs to understand the role of each member, what their skills sets are and how best to use them to deliver a project. They also need to be able to keep the team working together in an effective manner. Not all that easy when you consider an online project may include a designer, an HTML developer, database developer, copywriter and programmer… then there is the hosting nightmare and we haven’t even gotten to the client’s quirky little nuances yet…..
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Dear Aunty Entity,
My clients think I’m very expensive and query every invoice I send them but I’m still only earning enough money to pay the rent and have very little left over for anything else. How can I charge a fair rate for my services?
Signed, Dire Straights esq

Dear Mr Straights,
I’ll freely admit that back in the days when you could charge the equivalent of the GDP of Tanzania, the chairman’s first born and a small mountain of Bolivian marching powder for a 10 page brochure website, the average freelancer was a lot more well clad and fed.

These days, the bottom line is on service, the product and on top of all that, the client has the nerve to ask for return on investment‚ or ROI in the exulted circles – bangs per buck for the rest of us. It helps to know what other people are charging for the same services. Some people post rates on their websites, others offer a quoting service. You might want to phone around a few agencies and get a quote.
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Dear Aunty Entity,
I have a client who keeps moving the deadline to a week earlier. This has happened two times in the last month and there were mistakes in the end products that we didn’t have time to fix. Now I have an unhappy client who is accusing us of being unprofessional. I’ve tried everything – even expensive lunches don’t work. Help!
Signed, Confused.com

Dear Confused,
It’s a fact of life that rushed deadlines compromise quality of work and ultimately the client’s business. If you haven’t already, draw up a project plan to be agreed by the client before the project begins. Project plans list tasks to be completed by the project team and the client. If you make it clear that some tasks need to be completed or approved before the next can begin this should go some way towards giving you a break and educating him about the project life cycle. It should also be made clear before the project begins that bringing the date forward/removing tasks from the project plan will impact on the project.
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The PM guru, Aunty Entity

In just about every team meeting, along with the creatives, the developers and the client, there is usually someone with the title: project manager. For the uninitiated this could range from the multiple-pierced, student office temp to a Prada-clad scare-meister who is rumoured to sleep upside down in a coffin. For those of us who are in the know (ie: have been making tea and booking cabs for a while), project managers are generally the ones who get it all delivered in the end.

But what do Project Managers do?

Have you ever surfed those job ad listings for freelance project managers wondering if you qualify or what those ‘key requirements’ actually mean? Below are some expansions on those must-have items:

Before you start: PM = Project Manager. In some circles, it also stands for Prime Minister or Pre-menstrual tension – go figure.

Organisational skills: A PM is supposed to essentially be more organised than the people you work with. The range can extend from: uses the trash can as a filing system to having every email/phone message ever received from anyone including their mother, printed, time-stamped and filed accordingly. First impressions count so getting to the interview on the correct date is a good start. Knowing why you are there is also a bonus.

Technical skills: Usually a requirement for the digital arena. However, it should be noted that in some organisations, being able to tie your own shoelaces to get to work is considered a technical skill.
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