The Project Manager?

We were introduced to our first semester project during the first week and quickly after that we were asked to apply for the Project Manager's position. Some of us felt a bit confused about the applying and the fact that we were supposed to do it so quickly, "I just came here, I don't know what the Project Manager is supposed to do and what this project is going to be!". Some thought it was compolsory, some thought it was only for those who wanted it.

At first I wasn't so sure weather I wanted to be the Project Manager or not. It seemed like a huge responsibility and I wasn't sure if I wanted to experience that immediately at the beginning of my studies. I have lots of experience in leadership from my association background, but some how I thought maybe I should give this opportunity to someone else this time..

I applied for the position like most of my class mates and to my surprise (or not..?) got an invitation to the interview with 4 other applicants. I was pretty nervous about the interview although I was sure at that point that I seriously wanted the position. There I was in front of 3 teachers and 1 tutor answering their questions about my skills in leading a big group and dealing with social problems inside a team. I had a good feeling after the interview, at least I made them laugh!

Our teachers revealed their selection in front of our class on the following Monday. They said that the selection was very easy: they had all voted for the same person "and the person is, Emma Raivio!". My heart made and extra bounce when I heard my name! I was stunned, maybe even shocked. "Wow! Me, a Project Manager? And I've just started here!". I was flattered but I also knew it meant long days and a huge responsibility..

During that Monday we divided our group into teams. The teams were Marketing, Sponsorship, Decoration, Activies, Logistics, Alumni Event and Business Travel Forum and they all have a Team Leader. I think at this point it would be a good moment to tell what this whole project is about! (We were at that moment still a bit confused so I thought it would be more realistic to hide "the core" from this blog post too until this moment..).

The project is called "Matka 2014 Nordic Travel Fair". We international tourism students are supposed to set up HAAGA-HELIA's stand for the Matka Fair in Helsinki Convention Center. HAAGA-HELIA is taking part on the fair for 12th time and it takes place between 16th and 19th of January 2014. There is going to be a public stand available for everyone and a smaller stand at the Business Travel Forum, which is available only for "business people".

My duty as the Project Manager is to supervise teams' work and take care of the "overall" picture. I'm giving reports to our teachers and delivering their messages to the teams. I have a weekly meeting with the Team Leaders and a Check Point meeting with the whole group every other week (or as often as needed). I'm also a member of the Business Travel Forum team because I'm representing HAAGA-HELIA mainly on that stand and I'm supposet to give a speech at the forum too.

I've enjoyed being the Project Manager and I feel like I've done a good job so far. I've received nothing but positive feed back on my working from our teachers and from my class mates. My stress level hasn't risen very high yet (thanks to our active and efficient teams!) but I know the forth coming weeks are going to be more and more stressful when the "actual" working begins.. Sometimes I've been so consentrated on the project that some of my other courses (like maths and Swedish) have been left behind and that has caused unfinished assignments. I hope I manage to fix my own schedules before the stress level rises higher..