how I run a project
The same five steps every time, whether it’s a skincare launch, a website or a research programme. Order matters, so they’re numbered.
Get to what the client actually wants, not only what they said. Write it down so everyone reads the same thing.
Turn it into a plan with owners, dependencies and dates. Say early what won’t fit, and why.
Task it out to developers, designers, R&D, whoever it takes. Short check-ins, blockers cleared the same day.
Review against the brief before the client sees it. Approvals and sign-offs on record, not in someone’s head.
Ship it, measure it, write down what we learned so the next one is faster.
across time zones
Most of my clients and partners have been somewhere else. Working remotely with people in the USA and UK is my normal, not a stretch.
- Primary contact for clients, partners and participants on every programme above. Written updates, calls, escalations: mine.
- Available for US and UK working hours. Based in India, remote.
- Six countries of stakeholders so far: USA, UK, Denmark, France, New Zealand, India.
- English, written properly. Briefs, status reports, executive updates. Also once ranked 15th in India at a spelling bee, which I refuse to stop mentioning.
the scientist in the room
Project managers are not supposed to understand the technical stuff. I do. DRDO, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft team, and three years leading a physics lab at Oxford.
- I read the documentation. R&D reports, clinical data, engineering specs. Then I write the plain-language version.
- Engineers don’t have to simplify for me. Which means fewer meetings and fewer things lost in the middle.
- Rigour is a habit. Controlled protocols, precise records, approvals you can find later. Labs taught me that before any client did.