It’s hard to argue that the project manager is a core position in any development company. These specialists link clients and agencies, control the projects’ progress, throw themselves upon the grenades to finish the work on time.
Recently, I had a conversion with Tanya Dmitrieva, a project manager at Mobecls, and asked her: “what is like to be a project manager?”. Today I want to share with you some insights on this topic.
Hi, guys, I’m Tanya, a project manager at Mobecls.
So you’re the bridge between clients and the company. Simply put, you have to interpret customers’ thoughts and needs directly to the developers. Is it right in general?
Yep. Being a project manager means being a sort of connector of customers’ needs to put them in the requirements for the developers. We need to be sure we’re doing the right things that customers want, not something else. My work is full of communication with the customers and our team.
What a responsible position!
I want to mention that a project manager is the one to blame or thank after a successful project or when it’s failed.
Do you have a favorite project?
I wouldn’t put it this way as all the projects are my babies and I love all the clients. However, I can share you with some insights on our latest project. This project is for one of our clients from the United States who sell spare parts for Ferrari and Maserati. We were migrating this store from Magento 1 to Magento 2.
Seems to be a rather luxury store.
They are selling not the cars but parts for these cars, delivering them from Italy to the United States. The store sells parts for almost all models starting from antique to the latest ones. The website is exciting as it has a lot of custom functionality for choosing parts.
What about the size of the catalog? I don’t think it’s top-secret.
More than 10.000 products.
So the main goal was Magento 2 migration. Am I right?
Yep, Magento 1 finishes its support, so a lot of merchants have to migrate to Magento 2 or choose another platform. That’s why this store addressed Mobecls.
What were the main challenges during the migration?
The store is rich with custom functionality for filtering and searching parts. We had to make it compatible with Magento 2 as it was developed exclusively for Magento 1. That was the major part of our work, to make the same customizations work on Magento 2. We took the logic they used and implemented it to Magento 2. I’m not sure if it’s clear. To clarify, I should say that Magento 1 and Magento 2 are absolutely different platforms. The only common thing they have is the name “Magento”.
How do you usually start working on such projects?
Usually, I get a request from our sales department. Then, we receive the customer’s requirement (what new website should have and look like). After that, we audit the Magento 1 website, custom functionality, and integrations. When we gather data, we discuss the audit results with a client and decide what elements/functions to migrate to a new website. We also make a kind of timetable for communication with a customer because we strive to make this process comfortable for both parties (Mobecls and clients). The time and media should be suitable and acceptable for all. Every project has a board where clients can track how things are going. During the last project, we were using Trello.
What means of communication do you usually use?
It depends on the customers. Usually, we’re discussing it before starting a project. We communicate via Skype, Zoom, emails, and any messenger a client prefers. We also use Skype or Zoom for demo presentations.
What’s the most difficult thing in communicating with store owners?
Well, It’s a tricky question. I don’t think that there are some difficulties if you plan it in a proper way. The main thing is to get all the requirements clearly and not to miss a single detail. If a manager gets everything correctly, there’s no problem.
Do your clients enjoy working with you?
They never tell me that they don’t. Maybe they complain about me to someone else from our company. However, I don’t think it’s possible as we’re working smoothly and do everything well.
Thank you, Tanya. It was nice to talk to you.
Thank you, bye!
