Tell us how did you start your journey in management?
I pursued my career as a project manager gradually. Realizing that I wanted to work in the design industry, I took a job as a content manager in a small studio in my final year at university. Moving from one agency to another, I worked on many projects and tried different fields. My first significant management experience was working at the design studio called. Its owner invited me to be his chief operations officer. My job was to build workflows from scratch, assemble a team, create templates for all documents, etc. With this work, I gained valuable experience: Nikita was my mentor and taught me the basics of managerial work. I learned all the stages of work on the projects, mastered the principles of communication with customers and understood how the internal processes of a small web design studio should be arranged.
What was your first major project?
My first large-scale project was working with Beeline (ed. note: a Russian telecommunications company). I was assigned to work on it when I came to Art. Lebedev Studio (ed. note: a Russian design studio). At that time, Beeline ordered the studio to relaunch its b2b and b2c websites, Artemy Lebedev's team created the design website. I came to work on projects to support and develop Beeline's ecosystem. Previously, I worked in a small design agency, and this project was a whole new level for me. I first worked with a large corporation, but on the performer's side, and I was excited to learn their internal processes and help match business units and their requirements to make the product look holistic and balance all businesses. The next step in my career was that I wanted to work at a corporation, and that was how I got into the Information Technology Department.
What is the most challenging project of your career?
The most challenging and, at the same time, the most exciting project was the development of floor navigation in the Moscow subway. After 1.5 years with Beeline, I wanted something more applied and creative. I am the kind of person who gets bored when, after hard and creative work, I need to be engaged in operations and support. So even though the graphic design department worked on the project, I got the studio director to give it to me. We faced an ambitious and demanding task, and the team worked under constant pressure: we had to quickly create signs for 49 stations to help people navigate the passages between them. We worked around the clock: we were engaged in creative work and design development during the day, and at night, when the subway was for passengers, we rode around the stations and thought about how we could place the signs. The next morning, we agreed on the latest results at the Department of Transportation and got back to creative work again. We worked this way for 4 months. Despite the high level of stress, I can safely call this project one of the most important in my career. When working on it, I gained the unique experience of managing a team consisting of industry "stars". The design was developed by Ludwig Bystronovsky, Yegor Zhgun, Mark Rodionov, Kostya Konovalov and others. Being involved in a project with professionals of such a level was invaluable, but in terms of management, they required a completely different approach. I needed to carefully guide their creative process and remind them of deadlines while minimizing interference in the work.
What other major projects have you worked on?
At a certain stage of my work, I started to be involved in projects that were made for the city.
At some point, I was offered to manage one of the projects of the Information Technology Department, the redesign of the mos.ru website. At that time, the website was outdated and inconvenient to navigate, so our job was to fix it. It was one of the most inspiring projects in my experience: we wanted to create the "best website in the world". The task was great: to assemble an in-house team, arrange internal processes, establish external communication with customers, create a development strategy and build processes so that we work according to them. That is, I did everything to increase the efficiency of the team and the development of the project.
In 2019, me and the marketing team came up with a project in which, on the basis of Moscow polyclinics, patients could undergo early diagnosis of oncological diseases for free and quickly. After the project was approved and other departments engaged in organizational activities, our task was to make a large-scale PR campaign, which included outdoor advertising, digital advertising and other various marketing tools. The result of the program is enormous: doctors conducted more than 78 thousand examinations for 40 thousand Muscovites. More than a thousand cases at an early stage of the disease were identified among patients who, with early diagnosis, had a chance of salvation. It's very nice to be part of a project that has helped save so many lives.
What should a project manager who works on large projects with great responsibility be able to do?
The most important rule when working on projects with high stress is to stay calm. The mental state of the project manager directly affects the level of tension in the team, so the manager cannot afford to lose control over their emotions. Even when you are under deadline pressure and circumstances change at the speed of light, employees should feel confident when looking at a manager. The project manager's task is to provide the team with an environment where it feels comfortable and is able to do its job. Another thing that matters a lot when you are working long and hard on a large-scale project is to broadcast an inspiring idea, for example, "We are developing the best website in the world". In a crisis environment, a common goal helps the team to unite and remember what they are working so hard for. It is also important to understand that the manager should always "play for the team". The project manager takes upon themselves any customer's dissatisfaction and pressure, not letting it spread further. If the team has not finished the task or made a mistake, the manager solves all issues with the customer, while managing the conflict.
