At the Data School, we are 11 weeks into the program of learning how to be a consultant and data analyst. As part of the curriculum, we also have client projects besides training. There are eight projects in total (some internal, some external) and each of us has to be a project manager twice.
But first what is a client project at the Data School? Client projects are short projects (lasting a week) where Data Schoolers are collaborating with a client to tackle a particular business problem using data analytics tools.
As a project manager (PM), you are responsible for moderating the meetings with the client and making sure the team is on track to reach the desired results. There are three meetings during the week: the kick-off on Monday where we meet the client and familiarize ourselves with the task at hand, the check-in meeting on Wednesday where we present the interim results to the client and sometimes ask further questions about the task, and the final presentation meeting, where we show our results to the client. At the end of the project, you have to write a reflective log (more or less in the same form as this blog article) and send the client the final results, presentation, and documentation when necessary.
What worked well for me so far: first of all I’d like to thank my cohort (DSDE4) for their work and involvement at all times. I believe we have good team chemistry and work well together. Second, the nature of the project can usually lessen the burden of being a PM. In my first project as a PM, Paul (our colleague) was very nice and the task was fun to work on. Another good thing that I found useful is feedback. After the final presentation, we have the feedback round with our head coach and project mentor. This is when we learn what we did good and what we can improve.
Challenges: sometimes it can be difficult to take on all the responsibilities and attend training sessions at the same time. Switching your brain to pay attention to the training course and not think about other types of charts that might look good on your dashboard is very tricky. Communication is very important, especially when meetings take place online. If you don’t ask enough questions during the kick-off meeting, the scope of the project may not be clear and you might not have enough time to finish the project. The second project as a PM was more challenging for me because of the structure of the dataset. Complicated datasets can take out the fun and creativity of the project.
Learnings: A project is never done, there are always new ideas and ways to improve the dashboard but it’s important to know when to bring the project to the end and be satisfied with the results. Rehearsing before presenting to the client could be useful but sometimes time constraints can prevent this.
In conclusion, I believe that client projects provide real value to the Data School program, as we can gain hands-on experience and valuable skills. Being a PM can be easy at times and some projects can be challenging, but this will prepare you for your next client placements.