A week back, my cohort DS33 started our first client project alongside our training. These projects each one of us to take on the role of leading the team to complete a project. I've decided to document my each day and provide tips on how to overcome obstacles.

How did the week go?

Monday: Started off with our first call from our client, going through what they would like, gathering an insight and further understanding into what exactly the client wants us to explore. Then assigned everyone into the department, then had a small discussion of what each department should focus on and to make sure everything is cohesive. We then continued doing some data discovery to understand the data, and each department came up with a bunch of different questions to ask our client. The day ended with another client call and we got some clarification on what was required.

Tuesday: Picked up from where we left off, creating simple charts and tables that help to support our findings and that actually answers whether to sell the company or not? Continued to do some more data discovery and during our 3rd meeting with Andy we continued to ask lots of questions about the data about what particular things meant and how to go about finding particular questions.

Thursday: We continued working on the project and each department discussed their ideas with each other just to make sure the presentation was cohesive and to help each other build on ideas. The day ended with another client call and got some further information and clarification on areas we were uncertain about.

Friday: Each department continued to add more information to their section, checking that the graphs had labels, titles, making sure that numbers or outliers had an explanation/context to it. We only had the time to go through one run through of the presentation and didn’t get a chance to rehearse in the event space. At the beginning of the presentation I had technical issues connecting to the owl and that took a while to set up-lesson learnt! As the presentation was clear, we understood the assignment and everyone answered the question ‘to sell or not to sell’ very clearly. By the end of the presentation it was clear that the client understood what areas they needed to focus on , which was good to see.

Here's some tips:

• You're responsible for directing the team to achieve a common goal
• Remind the team of the brief and project scope throughout the week
• Assign different task to your team member, make sure someone does something they aren't used to
• Organize and conduct regular meetings
• Monitor progress to see if there's any issues

During project weeks it can be difficult to manage your time effectively, but use this as an opportunity to discover your management style, learn about what went well, areas that can be improved on and help you improve for the future.