What adjectives best describe you?

Old enough to see many projects, still young to be ready for new engagements.

What’s the best project management advice you’ve received?

During a project trouble times where everybody was on stress somebody said:

'Cheer Up this is just software. No one is going to die!'

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned during the pandemic?

To my surprise, the biggest discovery was that many project-oriented companies reported they delivered a better year than one before the pandemic. There are reasons for this. We are more efficient working from home. But there is a price to this as well, however not financial.

What’s the biggest challenge in your current project?

Tight schedule and complexity. That combo never helps.

Why does the world need project managers?

The whole world whenever possible is switching to project-oriented activities. Starting from painting the apartment up to undergoing Mars’s mission prep. Project is more efficient and goal-oriented than non-project approach – whatever non-project approach would be 😊.

What advice do you have for new project managers?

Listen to others. Build a relationship with all around – sponsors, team members, customers…
And If you can, pick up a person you observe – your hidden mentor, he does not even have to know this - observe how he runs topics. Learn from this.

What is a must-have skill for project managers?

There are many skills needed for PM. Today’s Project Manager has to be Leonardo DaVinci of the modern world. But if I have to pick one – it is communication skills.

What’s the best part of your job?

Projects are never a boring job. You can always learn new things, new people, new industries, new methods.

How do you relieve stress?

The best strategy is avoidance. Also, long mileage on projects helps.

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

"A Story of Canada in Ten Maps" by Adam Shoalts. It is a fascinating story about human bravery and adventure in form of rather big  PROJECTS.

Which famous person would you want on your project team?

It is a tough one. There are so many great people to work with. If I have to point one let me point at George Lucas. I am sure you know why, but he is a great program manager as well.

…   and I would have no problem having a real Rock Star from the '80s in a team as well, I am sure it would improve team spirit!

 

About the Interviwee:

Marek Rudnicki

With over 25 years of experience in new technology companies specialized in professional service and consulting business solutions. Working for different industries like banking, insurance, telecom, e-commerce, manufacturing with a vast track of the delivery of data analytics solutions.  The key experience is consulting and project delivery - from presale into program management and project portfolio management and practice/portfolio governance. Most of the career working within a multinational environment, managing team and in a very distributed model organization.