spc role Flashcards
How do you prioritize tasks?
- I stay organized so I know what exactly is coming down the pipeline and can then make informed decisions and stay flexible.
- Create project plans to see the big picture (key deliverables, tasks, timelines and people)
- Create weekly and daily lists to also see up-close what is in the immediate future.
- Think about what impacts the rest of the team (at CESR, use Trello) and other factors e.g., when materials are arriving for a study.
- Regularly keep in communication with team members and stakeholders so I have an idea of their priorities as well which I can factor in.
Example: two large studies with analysis and writing periods overlapping.
- Action: mapped out both plans so knew what was on the horizon.
- Action: Thought about what changes would actually benefit each project. Shifted one task to embed analysis within the field work stage - this benefited the project as a whole because it reduced the amount of analysis at the end.
- Action: discussed this with the rest of the team to check it worked with their schedules and explained the merits of doing so.
Result: this meant that the project writing periods were staggered enough so the final outputs could be of quality.
What project management tools have I used?
As a project specialist at CESR I used:
- Trello (Kanban style) - to keep in the loop among team members on the status of projects and who was responsible for what.
- Sharepoint - store and share documentation and spreadsheets per project
- Workday - financial management; creating procurement forms; tracking invoices; view and assess expenditures.
- Kuali Coeus - research admin platform where much of the grant management was held and overseen by the University.
Researcher at Cordis Bright
- Sharepoint - share and create documentation and spreadsheets
- Microsoft suite: particularly Excel for creating Gantt charts, budgets, etc. and Word to create our written outputs.
What is my experience with Power BI?
- I have not used Power BI in a work setting, but after hearing from Sheila it is used at the Gates Foundation I looked into it.
- My understanding is that it is a data visualization platform used primarily for business intelligence purposes.
- I feel confident in my ability to hit the ground running with Power BI as I have transferrable experience in data analysis and data visualization which will help me to use the platform and be able to pull meaning from the reports and dashboards created.
- For example, I…
- Analyse quantitative data e.g., project monitoring data, analyzing trends in social care sector via financial reports of companies in the sector.
- Regularly triangulate evidence and analyze data pull insights from them and provide recommendations to clients.
- Also produce data visualizations within our outputs.
- This is something I’m personally very interested in, visual communication and how to harness it to get across our findings more clearly. So much so I held a presentation across the company on principles of data visualization and will soon be looking into best approaches for visual displays and get a better idea on what is successful within similar industries.
Tell me about yourself
- I got my undergraduate degree in PH at the University of Washington.
- I wanted to make positive impacts on people’s lives
- I wanted to have the tools to make PH programs function best for those they serve. - Housing Navigator at LA Family Housing
- Got to grips quickly in handling high stress environments and jobs
- Further instilled my interests in program effectiveness - To develop the tools to do so I went into research to develop my research skills. I became a Project Specialist at CESR.
- This is where I gained a lot of great project management experience and discovered that I really enjoyed it.
- UAS was my baby. I managed all the projects utilizing the UAS.
- This could look like supporting the proposal process, meeting with clients to outline plans moving forward, tracking deliverables and sending project updates, etc. - Again though I wanted to really hone skills in making projects as effective as they can be so I got my masters in PH from LSHTM
- I predominantly focused on evaluation e.g., process, impact, economic evaluation. - Largely what I do now as a Researcher at Cordis Bright
- provide technical expertise typically on evaluations where I conduct qual and quant research to better understand what works works well/not so well in public service programmes.
- To then inform clients who are often funders or those delivering public services to better shape their strategy going forward so their services are most effective for those they serve.
- As a part of this I also project manage a number of research projects I am a part of. - Now I am here applying for the SPC role because
1) I have always wanted to work for the Gates Fdn because I think they do some amazing GH work and
2) I feel the SPC role is where I could add to the work the best with my background in project management and evaluation/research skills to hopefully help shape investments to be as effective as possible in their delivery and also pull insights to shape future NTD strategy.
Why the Gates Foundation?
- I value their approach, which aligns with the approach I envisioned being a part of when entering into PH:
- Take a holistic approach - which is often necessary for complex problems e.g., within NTD team, investing in surveillance, vector control, developing new vaccines and treatments, etc.
- Do not work in silos - partners with experts around the world and drives collaboration
- Evidence-based - As a company also appreciate their transparency and ethics e.g., transparency in detailing their position within the public and private sectors and displaying where funding goes in an accessible format.
- I have also heard from colleagues that while the work is rigorous and their’s a high expectation to deliver in your role, you are also surrounded and supported by great people and have the opportunity to bring in new ideas, which is what I really love about PM related roles, having that opportunity for creative-problem solving. - I think my knowledge and skillsets align with the foundation’s work and approach
- Educational background in PH gives me context for the approaches and work conducted at Gates
- Project management skills
- evaluation and research skills to unpick what’s working/not working in a program and support grantees or those delivering projects we are invested in
Can you describe your experience with grant management, including the types of grants you have managed?
- Types of grants managed - governmental (US and UK government depts and institutions); non-profits (Save the Children, Solace Women’s Aid), and foundations (YEF, lottery fund); sub-awards from other universities.
- For examples - supporting the management of a federal grant from the Federal Reserve for a project on US household financial spending patterns. This involved:
- Proposal writing
- Coordinating with University Grants Management and Financial Teams. Particularly tracking invoices and monitoring expenditures for operations and admin, making sure we’re complying with the grant’s terms and conditions.
- Monitored project progress (level of recruitment and engagement, delivery costs, arising problems and resolutions)
- Performance reports as well as updates with clients and project partners.
- At the end of projects, exploring across the team what worked well/didn’t work well and making any necessary changes and improvements to our processes. - Be able to support and provide guidance to grantees because I have been in their shoes.
Can you describe your experience managing and coordinating projects?
- I have experience managing projects previously as a Project Specialist at CESR and currently as a Researcher at Cordis Bright.
- as a Project Specialist managed 30+ projects at a time, with varying degrees of complexity.
- as a Researcher manage mainly evaluations. - I’ve found the key to managing and coordinating projects lies in:
- being very organized and continually updating and assessing project progress.
- communicating regularly with team members and stakeholders, and to make sure you are on the same page as clients and stakeholders, especially what it is clients want. - I often keep organized by:
- creating project plans outlining key deliverables and deadlines, individual tasks, and who is responsible for what. For example, in my current role I create Gantt charts per project.
- I also have spreadsheets laying out weekly and daily tasks and deliverables.
- I find having both big picture, down to day-to-day breakdowns of a project the most useful in getting a handle over the project so that when something unexpected occurs I have a clear picture on where I am at and where I am going with a project to pivot and adjust. - I find establishing good communication at the beginning of a project the most effective so I really value those first client-facing meetings.
- I make sure as a part of a project plan to set up a clear and consistent check-in plan built into the project.
- In meetings I typically like to have a clear agenda and send a follow-up summary in writing (best if it’s mapped onto the overarching project plan)
- This also helps in making sure we are on the same page about deliverables and final outputs.
- Make sure there is an open communication channel (set this precedent early on during our first communications)
- Adapt communication style if needed.
For example -
Government clients - often have a specific plan in mind and need a clear and justified reason for changing that; non-profit clients - open to brainstorm and change the plan.
For example -
Situation: organising fieldwork to evaluate a hyper-localised programme funded by the mayor of London’s office to reduce serious youth violence. Our contact, the consortium partner lead for one of the programme sites, was not responding to our emails from one of my colleagues.
Task: schedule and conduct interviews with young people, consortium partners and other stakeholders.
Action: changed the language to be more direct. Limited the number of asks, instead focusing on the 1 - 2 in front of us.
Result: started to get more regular contact and form a relationship where then the partner was able to reach out to us on a more ad-hoc basis and felt more like a team.
Do you have any budgeting experience?
- As a project specialist I…
- tracked operational costs (e.g., materials, admin and operations staff time)
- made procurement orders and tracked invoices
- coordinated with university grants management and financial teams to make sure we are following their terms and conditions and procedures. - As a Researcher…
- create initial costings
- track project spending (e.g., time actually taken to complete tasks)
- report these to clients (shared documents or via email)
Can you provide an example of when you’ve had to navigate cultural differences while working on a project?
- worked as a Project Specliast on projects and teams with culturally diverse staff.
- Currently work as a Researcher as 1 of 2 non-British staff members. It has meant adapting my communication style. Especially being less direct e.g., asking someone’s ideas before presenting your own, always framing a positive before feedback, etc.
What methods do you use to build trust, credibility, and rapport with team members from diverse backgrounds and disciplines?
Methods I use:
- build in time to get to know team members and use that time to actively listen and collaborate on work we are doing together.
- Follow through on their ideas to establish credibility. Also having a diverse team is so important for new ideas and delivering better results.
- Also, be myself and treat folks no matter their background as you would any colleague, with respect and empathy.
Example: working with individuals with LE on projects.
- situation: interviewing beneficiaries alongside individuals with lived experience of multiple disadvantage.
- task: have beneficiaries and LE experts feel comfortable in the interview process and hone in on beneficiaries experience of taking part in the proogram.
- action:
1) set up time before interviews to get to know LE experts and establish how we would like to approach the interview collectively e.g., who covers what, etc.
2) for in-person fieldwork, travel between interviews and have lunch together to establish we are a team.
3) have time post-interviews to go over what worked well/could be improved. Also ask for feedback, I value their experience and knowledge to shape my practice going forward.
Example: working with research assistant as first-generation college student.
- task: support assistant in doing their best work
- actions:
1) create open communication channels, and multiple avenues to communicate, if group meetings weren’t the best at relaying ideas.
2) give them responsibilities and freedom to create their own processes
3) recognize their work and relay that to upper management to say I see you
What is your experience learning new things (with results)
Example: I was completely new to study recruitment and retention, let alone for a 9,000+ study panel.
Task: grow the study panel and retain members already a part of the panel. Central to the success of all projects.
Action:
1) observe others, ask questions, pick up tips and tricks
2) documented and routinized core parts of the recruitment and retention cycle.
3) This allowed me to see clearer what was working and what could be improved
4) mapped out ways and ideas we can potentially recruit and retain more panel members. For example, calls, letters, contact through the study panel application.
5) Tracked when panel members were most often dropping out of the panel and why
6) experimented different approaches
7) identified through that when it was best to reach out and found people were often dropping out due to difficulties engaging with the online platform.
8) changed the retainment cycle routine to include reminder letters and phone contact when panel members were most likely to drop out. Also created an incentive survey.
9) Created a more robust service support delivered by myself and admin staff across the center. Trained on the application and communication with staff, kept them updated on the projects that were currently live and FAQ which might need to be addressed, etc.
Result: grew and retained the panel to over 10,000+ and was able to manage the number of questions and panel requests to zero per week.
Describe a time when you had to communicate effectively with internal and external partner?
YEF: focused on youth violence reduction and prevention with set outcome measurement tools they like to use.
Action:
1. being clear in some of the reasons why a change might be necessary and being open to negotiating.
2. clarifying afterwards and leaving time for other adjustments to be made if needed.
3. backing reasoning with evidence.
4. Illustrating how our suggestions will actually benefit the findings and overall outcomes they also are wanting aka to see if this programe is measurable and could look at reducing youth violence.
Why NTDs?
- Overlooked area that really negatively impacts people’s lives
- I have an interest in zoonotic diseases so it fits within this realm. The complexities on eliminating such diseases and the pros and cons in potential responses
- Interest in resolving complex issues and this is surely one of those areas. I can utilize my evaluation skills
When did you achieve something you’re proud of?
Can you give an example of a situation when you had to adapt to an unexpected change?
- clients wanted to change up the outline and structure of a pretty heft project report.
- steps I took
- reassured team members
- met with PD to walk through what we thought would be best and creating justifications for those.
- Met with the clients to walk through some of our thinking and provide our expertise. - Result: did not have to change quite as much as we’d expected.
- Kept project to deadline.
