PM Chat x Angela Tam
Angela Tam / from Kelowna, BC
Lead Project Manager in Product Operations at QHR Tech
You are the Project Manager at QHR Tech. What is your specific role there?
I'm currently the Lead Project Manager in Product Operations at QHR Tech with a recent promotion. I report to the PMO Manager and have a team of several Project Managers, Associate Project Managers, and Project Coordinators. My group manages projects in the Technology (IT, Technology Operations) and Product Development departments as well as run Sprints for functional Technology teams (i.e. Security, Architects, Cloud, ...). I am also part of the Project Management Office (PMO) leadership team, which consists of the PMO Manager and Lead Project Managers. Together, we create and improve processes, templates, and structures in our newly reorganized PMO.Basically, my job is talking to/Slacking/emailing people across the company and organizing resources and information.
Do you find your PM involvement more on the technical side or more on project operations?
My role is more on project operations as we have a lot of technical counterparts that specialize in their respective fields within QHR. Of course, understanding the technical side is extremely valuable in our role, but our focus is on operations.
What do you enjoy most about project management?
So many things! I'm a natural organizer, so it brings me immense satisfaction to see chaos be sorted as logically as possible. Every project is unique, so the variety of work has kept my day-to-day interesting, while having a solid foundation of Project Management processes to lean on. I consider myself a lifelong learner and since each project has several full-time technical staff involved (i.e. development, security, architecture, ...), there is no shortage of learning opportunities. To answer the question, however, the area I enjoy most about project management is the mentoring aspect. I feel most fulfilled seeing the team grow, both personally and in their careers.
As a PM, how did your work environment change post-COVID? Did you work in-office before and then switch to remote?
I was lucky to already be in a hybrid work environment that involved both in-office and remote work before COVID, so it was an easy switch to full remote with my office already set up at home and processes in place for out-of-office work.
What are some key PM hacks for success when working remotely?
Having different spaces for work and home life is key for me. I understand not everyone has an entire room to dedicate to office space, but having physical separation between work and home life has always been very important to me. I don't use my office outside of working and I try not to mix life chores while working, but often sneak in the occasion laundry load. My partner also makes fun of me for having 'work sweatpants' and 'relaxing sweatpants', but they really do help me get into different head spaces!
What changes did you see in how you need to support your team once everyone switched to remote?
We've always been a cross-Canada company with 600+ employees spanning the coasts, so we were prepared with a lot of processes already in place. Of course, we had the bulk of our team in our head office in Kelowna, so there were quite a few changes to departments that were office-heavy, but my department was set up for a smooth transition. We did add more social activities, like a weekly 'Happy Hour' and Jackbox.tv games, to help with team comradery.
What were some of the challenges you saw with team culture and overall team health after the pandemic started?
It was very isolating to live alone during the pandemic as my partner was working out of town at the time with a heavy away schedule. My personal health took a dive not having anyone to interact with in-person as well as out-of-work activities shut down. I found that a lot more effort was needed to maintain team culture and health. We dealt with burnout as work ramped up during the pandemic and work/home life blurred with people having access to 'the office' at all times. Our company hosted knowledge shares on the topics of mental health and growing a remote team culture as well as included more counsellor accessibility/benefits.
“I am excited for the future of the PM role. This career path is heavy on soft skills and therefore more difficult to automate / be replaced by machines. ”
What skills does someone who is looking to pursue a career as a PM need to have?
What I look for in project managers are :
Communication skills - does this person have amazing face-to-face, written, and video communication skills?
Leadership - is this person someone that others will respect and follow?
Organization - are they naturally oriented to plan, sort, and keep work tidy?
Adaptability - is this person able to pivot to a new direction at a moment's notice?
Being comfortable with being uncomfortable - will they drown in technical details or will they be able to distill information into simpler concepts and move forward?
Lifelong learner - does this person have a passion for learning new things in a constantly evolving space?
What are some of the honest realities about being a Project Manager that someone should be aware of before they pursue PM as a career?
Some realities I've faced being project manager include :
Heavy stress and workload
Juggling (too) many priorities
Having difficult conversations
Dealing with strong personalities
Not being able to control the work output and at times, the outcome
Being a generalist vs. specialist (i.e. never being the technical expert)
Being stuck in an office and a screen-heavy job
Documentation - I find note-taking and documenting such a chore
How do you see the PM role evolving in the next few years?
I am excited for the future of the PM role. This career path is heavy on soft skills and therefore more difficult to automate / be replaced by machines. In the next few years, I see the role being more valued (especially with the shortage of PMs I'm seeing in the GVA), having more learning paths to the role (whether formal courses in universities/colleges or having specialty technical training like Louder Than Ten), and more specialized PM roles in various industries. It's a great place to be!
