What does your job entail?
As a transversal PMO, I would say my job consists of 5 main responsibilities. First, my goal is to assess all the processes of all projects in our agency, and based on that, provide the PMO Community with the ‘best practices’ library of processes. To get there, I have to find out what is working well in each project, what can be improved, what is the same for each project and what is different.
Secondly, I am doing a quality check for all the deliverables of our SIS project. I proofread and improve all documents that should be sent to the client. For this, I can take advantage of my academic background as a translator. Thirdly, I am part of the ‘feel good’ team in our agency. Our job is to improve the onboarding process and wellbeing at work. We for example did something on World Compliment Day, and we organized a cultural lunch at the office. Fourthly, I support our HR team by working on the preparation of the freelance contracts in our agency. Finally, when one of our PMOs is out of office, it is my job to replace them. Therefore, it is important for me to be aware of what is going on in all projects.
In our agency, we work on big projects that have an impact on society, like i-Police, SIS, and sBMS. Even though I am not in direct contact with the citizens, I still feel that my work has an impact on them because my job makes our employees’ jobs easier, improves their wellbeing and therefore also their results.
What are the most important qualities for a PMO?
It is important to be open-minded, easygoing, and not shy, because you sometimes have to advise people who are superior to you on different topics. You need to help where needed, be rigorous, and well organized. Even though it is not necessary to have all the technical skills, I would say that it is important to quickly understand the technical jargon and processes.
Fun fact
If Sana could switch jobs for one day with someone else at Sopra Steria, she would like to do the job of Michel, our CEO. “I am working now on a lower level in the company and my job has nothing to do with the “real” business, or discussions about the financial strategy, so I would like to see how this works on the highest level. But I would only like to do it for 1 day, because it must be a very stressful job”.
What can you say about Sopra Steria’s culture?
At Sopra Steria, it is all about love. I really feel that people love what they do here, and are passionate about their job, trying to improve every day. There is a friendly and open-minded atmosphere, and everyone is always trying to help each other out and find a way to achieve our goals. There is for sure time to have fun at Sopra Steria, and because of this, I am even more motivated to do a good job. I can chitchat with my boss, and my direct colleagues became my friends. It is a good mix between working hard and having fun. We have a lot of freedom in our job, and I am very happy about this. I can work on my own, come up with my own ideas and create my own plans. The job just needs to be done in the end, but the way to get there is not micromanaged at all. However, I can always count our team lead’s support!
Every employee at Sopra Steria is assigned to a Proximity Manager who helps you with your personal and professional development. You have a lot of training opportunities, and it is also possible to follow trainings that are not directly linked to your job. For example, I found out that I am interested in Testing, so I had conversations about that with a Test manager, and now I know that I want to learn even more about this topic. When I started at Sopra Steria, I didn’t even know that being a Tester was a job as such, and now, who knows, maybe one day, I might even become one.
Fun fact
If Sopra Steria was an animal, Sana thinks it would be a horse, because it is a friendly and gentle animal, but it can also go fast when at a gallop. Just as Sopra Steria, where we have quite moments, but also challenging moments when it feels like you are in a race, and you have to go even faster to keep up.