Looking back, looking forward
The PtJA project has now been up and running for a year. Project Manager Libby Clark takes some time out to reflect on her first year working on the project, what has been achieved and how much more is still to come.
As a project manager I am hot-wired to always have one eye on planning for the future, and with a project of this size and scope it is easy to become focused purely on what needs to happen next week, next month or next year. But I believe that looking back and reflecting is important too, both to see how far you have come and to learn how to improve for the future.
The 2 January 2015 certainly feels like a long time ago now! I was just a few days in to my new job as Project Manager for PtJA and on the train to Ascot where I would meet the team for the first time. Ahead of me were four days of intensive planning and team building, culminating in our launch event at the British Library in London.
As I travelled away from family and the festive celebrations and towards the realities of getting back to work I was excited but also, I have to be honest, a little apprehensive about meeting my new colleagues. I needn’t have been. Everyone was friendly and welcoming and what was clear from the very start was a passion and enthusiasm for the project that would drive us forward.
It has certainly been a busy year: performances at Bloomsbury Theatre in London, our first project conference, a one day trial festival in Madison, not to mention numerous smaller public events and lectures, research trips, conference presentations and performances. I have spent time ensuring that we established good systems, procedures and working practices and this, coupled with the excellent working relationships that have developed over the year, mean that we have made great strides towards cementing plans for our 2016 programme. As I type we are turning our attentions to 2017.
2015 was an exciting year but it was just the beginning and I look forward to everything that is still to come.
Libby Clark