Mark Prentice
The ability to thrive under pressure and being enthusiastic are also important to succeed in the role.
What qualities are required for your job – personal and professional?
Communication is key for Project Management. As you are the main point of contact for your projects, being able to communicate with both the customer and internal teams efficiently and effectively is extremely important. Being able to adapt the message you are communicating to specific people also makes life a lot easier! Organisation and time management skills are also vital, as you face many timelines that must be met to ensure you deliver what is expected. You need to have a strong character to deal with any setbacks and communicate key messages to all departments, as you may be reliant on them meeting their timelines for you to meet yours. There are also occasions when you have to deliver difficult messages to your clients, and again a strong, confident and open personality can really help in this regard. The ability to thrive under pressure and being enthusiastic are also important to succeed in the role.
What does a typical day in your job involve?
In my role, there really is no typical day! However, a day would normally consist of coming into the office between 7:30am and 8am, and catching up with email correspondence from the previous day. Tasks really do vary from this point, and often include: conference calls/meetings with clients, liaising with other departments within Almac, troubleshooting issues for end users, maintaining documentation, dealing with project scope & budgets, and ensuring that any deliverables for my projects are met in a timely fashion. Attending and delivering training is also a common occurrence, as the clinical trial industry is fast paced and always changing!
How do you balance your career with your personal life?
I try to balance my job with my home life by organising and prioritising tasks both within and outside of work, and setting specific goals or tasks to be completed on both a daily and weekly basis. Ensuring these tasks are completed allows me to leave work with a sense of achievement, and also enables me to switch off at home knowing that nothing has been left unfinished. I am fortunate to have flexible working hours, which means I can organise my work around any family appointments and events where feasible. Also trying not to think or speak about work after I leave the office helps me to switch from work mode to family mode, so I try my best not to bore my wife with the details of my working day!