No Umbrellas

Flash Interview with Project Manager Raquel Pereira 

c — Do you like umbrellas, or do you rather use other ways of protecting yourself from bad weather? Why?

rp — I don’t like umbrellas. Those who know me, know that I’m a car person, so on rainy days the option is always to park the car in sheltered places that allow me to avoid the rain. There’s a simple reason: because I’m a very self-indulgent person and because I like to look flawless at all times, (my hair can’t look like a “lions”).

c — Do you believe in things that can bring luck or misfortune to projects? Why?

rp — Not at all. I’m not a superstitious person. I prefer to believe that things can simply go right or wrong. I believe that positive thoughts attract luck and negative thoughts contribute failure.

c — In a project, what might be compared to the feeling of going shopping but with your feet soaked by the rain?

rp — In a general sense, the feeling that I’ve failed, for example, because I’ve made a wrong decision, or because I haven’t done all I could to avoid a problem, or for not being able to keep the team fighting for the same goal…

c — For you, it is easier to make a weather forecast or to nail the previsions of a project plan? Why?

rp —  The last year and a half will pretty much determine my answer to this question. With regards to my current project, it was definitely easier to make weather predictions than to close a plan… I used to say “Attention, this plan will be self-destructed in less than 24 hours”…

Usually I find it easier to layout a plan , I don’t spend much time forecasting the weather.

c — When your toasts fall on the floor, does the buttery side always hit the floor? Please comment with your current project in mind.

rp — I would say no… but being lucky depends a lot on the project and how prepared we are to deliver. Looking at my current project: from the client’s side we had to deal with a totally new area and with people geographically very disperse. On our side, we used many new solutions… And, furthermore, we had to deal with a lot of competitors on the field. All conditions were set so that the project could go wrong. The truth is that we managed to gain the Client’s trust and deliver more results than those initially foreseen.

c — As a project manager what is the most difficult thing to anticipate? Why?

rp — “The people (behaviours)”, especially if you don’t know them, if you don’t have any references from previous experiences. People are not machines and, as such, despite them being excellent professionals or not, they have their days, ones better than others, they might be brilliant, they might fail… from the client’s side the same is true, you never know what to expect namely if it’s a new client.

c — Does time goes by always at the same speed? How does that happen in projects?

rp — No, of course not. Speed is different according to the project phase, each phase has its own challenge and rhythm. In my case, I feel that it goes by in the most hallucinating speed when we are forced to change the plan. Or when critical problems become more visible.

Time goes by very slowly when we are waiting to be awarded new proposals.

Art inspired by heavy rain hitting a window