Role: Programme Manager
Company: TM2
Track Record: Lisa has been in the IT industry for over17 years. After completing a Computing Science degree from the University of Ulster she then started working as a developer, developing in programming languages such as C++, Java and Oracle.
After working in a number of IT companies throughout Northern Ireland, Lisa naturally progressed from a developer to a team leader, then project manager and finally to her current position as Programme Manager at TM2.
6.45am:
My alarm goes off and I get up and get myself ready normally going through what I have to do that day in the shower! I then get the kids up at around 7.15am (I have 2 daughters aged 5 and 7) and get them ready for school. I get the girls their breakfast and drive them to school.
9.15am:
Arrive in work. My day normally starts with a daily stand-up meeting with my development and testing teams. At this meeting everyone has a few minutes to explain what they are working on and we discuss any technical issues that they team might be having. This keeps me fully informed of progress and helps me to set the priorities for the day.
Our aim is to make the TM2 product the best in its field; this involves ensuring we are using the most appropriate technologies, coming up with the best solutions for our client’s needs and using industry best practice to do so. All the while we need to keep an eye firmly on what are competitors are doing with their products.
The team get on very well – they are all young (aged 25 – 30), dynamic and love technology – some would say we’re geeks, and I don’t mind saying that because it’s something we’re proud to admit. Most of the team are male so I am outnumbered by quite a considerable number. There is a noticeable lack of female developers in general in our industry; I would love to see more girls taking IT up as a career.
11.00am:
By this time I’m probably on my 4th cup of tea! Once the priorities for the day have been set for the team I may have a management meeting with the directors. This happens once a week whereupon I update them on the status of the projects; alert them of any issues that may need their intervention; forecast resourcing requirements for upcoming projects and look at how we continue to move our company strategy forward.
1pm:
Lunch is normally home-made and eaten at my desk. I take some time out to catch up with the news on BBC and if the weather is nice I might go out for a quick walk to stretch the legs. We are so busy during the day it’s nice to use lunchtime as a chance to catch up with some of my work friends.
2pm:
No two days are the same at TM2. In the afternoons I could be doing anything from visiting clients or taking part in conference calls and web demonstrations with them; writing proposals for new projects; design meetings for new product or bespoke project functions; or dealing with issues that may arise in development.
I am responsible for delivery of all TM2 projects – including development of the TM2 product suite and bespoke implementations for larger clients. Targeted at the rehabilitation sectors including physiotherapy, podiatry, osteopathy and chiropractic, TM2 helps to run the business element of a practice from generating electronic invoices and monthly reports to storing clinical records and booking online appointments.”
5.30pm:
Finish up for the day and leave work. I enjoy running and run with the North Down Athletics Club a couple of nights a week. I normally head straight there on a Monday and a Wednesday after work. Thankfully my Husband can collect the kids from our childminder on these nights.
On nights I’m not running I collect the kids from our childminder, get home and supervise their homeworks. Then make the kids their dinner and have a chat about what happened at school and the childminder’s that day.
7.30pm:
I put the kids to bed, they normally have school books to read and we do this at bedtime.
8.00pm:
I have dinner and a glass of wine with my Husband (which he has normally
cooked), and catch up on each other’s day. He is in IT as well so we normally have plenty to talk about! Sometimes if it’s a busy period in work I will catch up on some emails in the evening – drawback of having a Smartphone is that it’s hard to resist looking at emails! We also watch some mindless TV for an hour to unwind.
10:00pm:
Get the lunches made for the next day, schoolbags packed and ensure there are clean uniforms ready.
10.30pm:
Thankfully to bed!