Bec Ryan, Graduate Project Manager , Sydney
A day in the life:
I would say there is no typical day as a project manager, your tasks can vary day to day dependent on projects, deliverables, and priorities. Firstly, as a Graduate Project Manager in the Project Construction Team in Buildings & Places Sydney – I must explain that it is extremely flexible. I go into the office at least twice a week, other days I spend at home, and sometimes at a café. Below I share a day in the AECOM Sydney office.
6:30 am
Before work I try to fit in a gym workout – either HIIT or Pilates. Next, I spend around 20 minutes trying to pick an outfit.
8:00 am
On my tram journey to work, I manage my email inbox. I suspect that is the bane of most people’s lives. I like to start the week with a review of my diary. I write a to do list with priorities I need to deliver for the week. Most of my emails are about project schedules/proposals/budget. Majority of my work is in the Defence sector which are very exciting, complex, and rewarding projects.
9:00 am – 12:30 pm
For the next few hours, I will check in with my team members to see how they are progressing with their drawings. Sometimes there are roadblocks in which they delegate tasks to me that I might need to check with another discipline or the client. Project Management requires great organization, communication skills, and the ability to prioritise tasks. My job is to make the engineers lives easier and to ensure smooth successful delivery.
12:30 pm – 1:30pm
Lunchtime! Best part of the day. My team is very social, and we love having a catchup over lunch. It’s always good to learn about colleagues’ projects and other industries including Health, Education, and Commercial.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
After lunch, I often have project progress meetings with the client and our project director. We discuss items such as design issues, safety, responses to RFI’s, site visits, and program. I normally take some notes to relay back to our project engineers.
3:00 pm
Coffee time. Again.
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
In the afternoon I normally spend time updating registers including RFIs, site inspection items, and design reports.
There’s nothing like the feeling of successfully having a part in delivering a project that’s going to make people’s lives better, and that’s a great motivation to get through the next 40 years of full-time work!
6:00pm
Cook dinner, watch news, TV, couch, sleep!