As a Project Producer, Laura is the link between our clients and the project team. She makes sure everything is going as planned and that her team knows what to do. Every couple of weeks, she doubles as Sangre’s in-house yoga instructor, but manages to keep her zen-like spirit even outside her classes while juggling multiple projects. How does she do it?
Tell me about what do you do at Sangre?
I work as a Project Producer, so together with a UX Lead we form a team that’s responsible for the overall collaboration with our named clients. As a Producer, I handle most of the communication with our clients and I’m responsible for making sure the projects are on schedule and stay in budget. On daily basis I make sure everyone in my team is doing the right things and that the projects are going as planned.
In addition to my work as a Producer I also participate in the UX design in projects, create content and take part in Sangre’s internal business development and marketing.
What is your favourite part about your work?
I like that it’s versatile. Our clients are from very varying industries, so I get to learn about new industries and work in different types of projects all the time. I also like the nature of project-based work. There’s a certain excitement when a new project starts while it’s really rewarding to finish one.
In general, I like the fact that at Sangre, I've been able to shape my job description based on my own interests. For example, in some of our projects I’ve done a lot of content creation, which I really like, as well as UX and service design together with our lead designers.
How about the most challenging aspects of your work?
There’s always a lot happening at the same time and as a Project Producer I have to be able to stay on top of all of my projects. I have around ten active clients at a time. Not all of them have projects running simultaneously of course, but there’s always something going on in most of them and my job is to make sure all of their needs are taken care of.
That’s sounds like a lot. How do you keep up with all of that?
It’s really important to continuously communicate with the team. We have brief stand-up meetings daily where we go through everyone’s work, which is a very important tool for me. I think that with experience, I’ve also developed some sort of extra sensors that pick up all the things that are going on around me!
Describe your typical workday.
Usually my day starts with a daily stand-up meeting with everyone. Then we have separate daily scrums with the the project teams if we have development sprints going on. After that, depending on the day there can be meetings with clients or design sessions with the team. At some point I hopefully have some time to do some independent work. A majority of my time goes into collaborating with the project teams and different types of meetings and communication.
What qualities do you think a good Project Producer should have?
A Project Producer has to be a good communicator. A lot of the daily work is about communication with the team and the client, and sometimes with external partners. You should also really like doing team work since most of the work is done in teams. It’s important to be able to work well under pressure and stay focused on the thing at hand. When there’s a lot of other things happening at the same time it’s easy to lose focus of the big picture.
What intrigues you at the moment?
Everything related to wellbeing is close to my heart. I recently spent a month in Bali on a yoga instructor training which has enabled me to also share the benefits of yoga to the people around me. Now I teach yoga to my colleagues at the office and to my family and friends. I'm also reading quite a lot about wellbeing and philosophy. People tell me I'm the office hippie.
"Focus on doing things that inspire you, whether it was at work or on your free time. If you like what you do, you’ll always find time and energy for those things."
What do you like to do for fun?
I like to skateboard, photograph, surf, travel and of course do yoga. This summer, I went on an skateboarding tour to Copenhagen with 30 other girl skateboarders. Last year we did a skate tour as well and it was made into a documentary skate film. I photographed both tours and last year we had a photo exhibition in Helsinki. It was the first time having my photographs exhibited. We have some interesting stuff planned for later this year too.
Your work can be pretty hectic, and you do a lot on your free time as well, but you always manage to stay calm. What’s your secret?
Well, anybody who knows me knows that I'm a pretty calm person to begin with, but I think it’s important to take time for yourself and take care of yourself first. That gives you the energy to manage everything else. I like to do completely different things on my free time than what I do at work. It helps me to recover from the day and take my mind completely off work. It also gives me fresh new perspectives and ideas, which is especially helpful for creative work like UX design or content creation.
Even though I do a lot on my free time, I try not to put too much pressure on my hobbies. That way they don’t create extra stress on top of everything else. I think in general, the key is to focus on doing things that inspire you, whether it's at work or on your free time. If you really like what you do, you’ll always find time and energy for those things.
If you're interested in working with Laura or want to know more about what it's like to work with us, check out our Careers page. Connect with Laura on LinkedIn if you want to learn more about her work or want to have a chat with her.
Photo: Charlotte Thomas
