A Day in the Life of a Project Coordinator [Reni]

Greetings and salutations, dear DevriX blog readers!

We’ve already met you with our recruiter, and one of our back-end developers, and today it’s time we introduced you to one of our project coordinators.

Does your organization use the services of a project coordinator?

A project coordinator is someone who handles administrative tasks, and oversees both internal and external processes. This includes ensuring that team members are handling projects and tasks according to requirements.

Today, we meet one of our project coordinators here at DevriX – Irena Ivanova. In the interview, we’ll be covering the aspects of her daily work, why she likes astrology and history so much, and a lot more.

A Day in the Life of a Project Coordinator

Hello, Reni, thank you for accepting my invitation for this interview. To begin with, I would like to ask you to share a bit about yourself?
As people who work here, already know, more or less, I love doing a lot of things, and I have done a lot of things before I came to DevriX. I’ve dealt with sales, mainly working with clients, I love travelling, and checking my horoscope. In general, I like to discover things about myself with a select few that have common interests.

Sounds interesting. I can’t resist asking, since you mentioned the horoscope – could you elaborate more on your fascination with the zodiac, and astrology? Do you believe that our life paths are written somewhere in the stars, and it’s predetermined in a way?
I wouldn’t say predetermined, because everything can change at any given moment. When talking about zodiac signs, I imagine that there are characteristics common to people of each sign, and due to this fact, I can guess how people will react under given circumstances. In general, this also gives me an idea of how they might act, even from the first time I meet that person. I’m good at assessing what their behavior would be, and how I might feel in the company of said person.

For me, zodiac signs are important because I get along with certain signs over others.  Moreover, I like observing how different signs react to certain situations, so I can see whether or not they meet the generalizations. It is also interesting to see if my theories are right or not.

Again, sounds fascinating. You are a Sagittarius, would you say you’ve found similarities with other Sagittariuses? Common traits, behavior?
I would say yes, definitely, putting to one side whether they are men or women. Generally, when I mention a person who is a Sagittarius, I’m more or less aware of what I should be concerned about, and what not to be. As a whole, Sagittariuses are a sign that’s liked by everyone, so there’s nothing to worry about. (smiling)

So Sagittarius are nice people then? Okay, I can agree with that. Now, I would like to ask what’s it like at DevriX? You’ve been with the company for over 4 months now, any thoughts and/or first impressions?
Well, knowing that there are a lot of Sagittariuses in the company (laughing), makes me feel better. In the beginning, since I’m such a type of person, there was an awkward period of getting to know my colleagues. Luckily, that didn’t last long. Now I am very comfortable, and free with absolutely everyone in the company.

I’m happy to hear that. Tell us a bit more about your daily routine – how does a day in the life of a project coordinator look like?
It’s hard for me to outline a specific routine, because I very quickly understood that in my position, you never know how things are going to develop. Usually, when I come to work in the morning, I check my priorities for the day. I take a look at the tasks of the people who are working on given projects, what the daily work volume will be, and from thereon I start checking Asana tasks – what questions our clients have, are there any new tasks they’ve added, and so on.

Then, I follow up on all the tasks internally – their progress, deadlines, and find the decisions which need to be taken within a short time frame (during that week, for example). More or less, that’s it. You need to oversee absolutely everything, not only regarding your own projects, but for the projects of others, and most importantly resource management.

So, would you say that in your position as a project coordinator, it’s more important to be able to look at the bigger picture than to pay too much attention to details?
Actually, it’s essential to do both, because you need to look at the bigger picture, but the details are super indispensable, as well, especially when you’re working with several people on a given project, and with several projects, respectively. You have to be able to spot everything to the last detail, and to prioritize, based on the bigger picture. Both aspects are interconnected.

Given the fact that your job is quite dynamic, and requires, as you said, daily communication with both clients, and colleagues, to what extent is that tiresome, and to what extent does it energize you?
Yes, it is quite tiresome, especially when there are cases that require a swift solution, sometimes in different projects simultaneously. However, multitasking, quick thinking and swiftly resolving tasks, is stressful, and at a certain point, when you decide it’s time to take a breath of fresh air, you realize there’s only one hour left until the end of the workday. This gives you a sense of satisfaction, and accomplishment. You feel that the day was productive.

You’re not bored, I understand.
No, not at all. (laughing)

Awesome. Following this line of thought, what are your personal, long-term goals in the company? What do you want to learn, are there any particular fields you wish to develop?
Regardless of what I’m doing, I always like to be one step ahead. Therefore, I would like to significantly grow and develop my role within the company. One of the best things about DevriX is that, especially in my role, you get to see all the aspects of the job, and you can choose where you want to develop yourself, and if you want to grow.

When I started working here, I had some experience with design, so that’s one thing I would like to further develop. And sales. That’s what I see as a very potential possibility at the current moment, because it’s something that brings me pleasure, and I think I’m able to do it.

One of our core values is to never stop learning. What are the most interesting things you’ve learned recently, and what have you learned during your time with the company so far?
I’ve actually learned quite a lot, regarding ways of internal communication, speaking with clients, and when talking about B2B communication – something I didn’t have as a background, so it’s fascinating for me to learn about different approaches and behaviors to follow.

Also, I learned that you can be yourself in such communications. The company, itself, allows you to be flexible, and to add your own personal touches, instead of following strict norms. Of course, I learned a lot regarding the technical side, too – stuff I had no idea about, and a lot of new words that I started using in my daily communication.

Sounds good. I’ve heard you studied history – could you tell us more about that? In particular, do you have a favorite historical era or event?
I really like history. Honestly, I finished my bachelor’s degree in history not because I wanted to work a job related to history, but because I wanted to “upgrade” my general knowledge, and to satisfy my own curiosity. I specialized in European Medieval history, and my interest was focused on the appropriation and weaponizations of the Crusader armies. (laughing) Yeah, it’s something unusual, but if I have to be honest, my most favorite historical period is the Imperial Russian era.

Wow! Why?
The events back then were very dynamic. I like it when things are very high-class, the sequence of events, the relationships that Imperial Russia had here, in the Balkans, which is very close to us, and generally that’s when Russia comes to the global stage. The progress that Russia had, as an impact on the entire world, is very interesting to follow.

As someone who’s very into history, would you say that mankind has learned its lessons from history, or do we simply repeat it?
I would say no, we haven’t because a lot of things, including those that are happening today, on a local and global stage, are things that have been dragging on for a long time. I think mankind will never learn its lessons from history, since it’s not in the interest of one particular, global, society to significantly change things.

That’s the best thing about history. You just see how the same situation repeats itself throughout the ages, albeit a bit differently, but it’s more or less the same. It gives lots of food for thought – that’s the great thing about history, especially when you’re a historian.

I also know that another hobby of yours is studying languages. How many languages have you learned so far, and what’s the next one you want to learn?
English, that’s obvious. Spanish is my favorite language, I’m fluent in Romanian. I’ve tried studying Georgian, however I stopped at the alphabet – I simply didn’t have enough opportunities to practice it. I also understand some Italian, that’s another language I would be able to learn, if I decide I want to.

I’ve always wanted to learn a Nordic language, like Icelandic, for example, but I’m going to need to be quite seriously motivated for that. For the moment, I’d rather finish learning these “easy” languages first

Awesome! Thank you very much for this interview. Would you like to add anything?
I have the feeling that, here at DevriX, I’ve found a serious job field to showcase my abilities, and this really motivates me to come to work every day.

Nice! In that case, see you again tomorrow!

In case you’ve had a terrible “history” of developing and maintaining your own website, we are here to help! Talk to us!

What Is It Like to Work With Reni?

“Fantastic. She’s a good friend and a reliable colleague. Of course, she is a little weird, but all the best people are.”

“Both our team and our clients are really happy to work with Reni. She’s a high-class lady, hard-working, and dedicated. We’re extremely happy to have her.”

“I immediately understood I can trust Reni to get the work done – no matter how challenging it is. She is an interesting person, and someone you can always rely on. We are all delighted to be able to work with her.”