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Overcoming Setbacks and Achieving Project Management Success with Skye Dodd

• Walt Sparling • Season 1 • Episode 55

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In This Episode:

How do you turn an unexpected career setback into a launchpad for success? This week on PM Mastery, I am excited to welcome back Skye Dodd, who shares her inspiring journey from social work to project management. After a bold move from Florida to Atlanta, Skye faced a sudden layoff but was able to turn the challenge into a golden opportunity, securing two job offers within two weeks. Listen as she recounts how she filled her technical skills gap, took her career to new heights, and even grew her side business helping others break into project management.

But that's not all—this episode also discusses some of the new skills Skye is learning from the world of SaaS and fleet management. Discover the dual responsibilities of managing projects and building scalable processes in a firm that is looking to dramatically increase in size in a short period. We dig into the evolving roles in project management, the critical balance between administrative tasks and strategic thinking, and the potential role of AI in easing the workload. Skye also shares her ongoing coaching efforts, plans for professional development, and exciting future initiatives aimed at supporting the project management community. Whether you're a seasoned PM or just starting out, this episode is filled with actionable tips and inspiring stories you won't want to miss!

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Intro/Outro:

Welcome to the PM Mastery Podcast. This podcast is all about helping you master your project management skills by sharing tips, tricks, tools and training to get you to the next level, while sharing the stories of other project managers on their journey in project management. And now here's your host, walt Sparling.

Walt Sparling:

Welcome everyone to the current edition of PM Mastery, and today I have back with me Skye Dodd. Welcome back, skye.

Skye Dodd:

Hey, thanks for having me back.

Walt Sparling:

So we have, I'd say, worked together three times on different things. We interviewed you in October of 23, where you transitioned right after that to a new job. Then we worked on a LinkedIn Live somewhere in six to eight months ago I couldn't find the date real quick but we talked about PMs that have done freelance work or are doing freelance and coaching or resume reviews or, like you know, kayla, full-time PMing. That was a really good one. On LinkedIn Live, I'll put some links to the previous episode and to that one in the show notes when we're done. So this is something that we basically do a follow-up at some point and I know you've been super busy, so we're jumped ahead a little bit. Normally this would be in October of this year, but we're getting ahead and just kind of checking in with you and see what's going on in your world.

Skye Dodd:

I know you've been busy so tell us a little bit about what you've been up to. Yeah, and you shoot. Maybe we'll have to do another one in October of this year too, with with all this stuff I've got brewing, um. But yeah, when you interviewed me last um, independently, so prior to that that uh group session that we did on LinkedIn Live I had just been offered a position as a project manager. So that was me transitioning fully from social work to education into project management.

Skye Dodd:

At that point I sold my house, moved from Florida to Atlanta for that job it was fully in person and about six months later I was laid off. The company did a restructure and so you know that was a little disheartening. But two weeks after my layoff I, you know, right after the layoff I posted on LinkedIn that I was open to work and my network really came through and literally two weeks later I was offered two competing positions, both for project manager roles, and I accepted one, and I've been at that company for almost three months now. So it's been a whirlwind, but really, really great, awesome.

Walt Sparling:

It sounds like that move initial move was an opportunity to get you into the right spot for the next one. Yeah, it sounds like that move initial move was an opportunity to get you into the right spot for the next one.

Skye Dodd:

Yeah, and that's exactly how my husband and I were looking at it. Right, I was offered this position and it's funny because he actually was deathly ill with COVID when I had this offer and I had to tell them in like 48 hours. So I remember going to him and being like so I know you have 102 fever, but you know we might have to sell our house and move. Is you know, can I make this decision? He's like I don't care, you know.

Skye Dodd:

So I made the decision and you know we packed up and moved here and one of the reasons why I took this opportunity was it was a huge move but some of the skills I had conducted sort of my own skills gap analysis and you know I didn't have a ton of technical skills but I wanted to be in a technical PM role and this company knew that and they took a risk with me. They brought me in, trained me up and it was filling in every gap that I needed to fill to really propel my career, evident by my other two opportunities that I was offered. So it was exactly what I needed when I needed it.

Walt Sparling:

Perfect Love to hear that Now, even though you transitioned to the one, I remember you were getting pretty busy socially with offering to help people with their resume and some other project management related stuff. In fact, when we did I'm just getting over COVID when you did the LinkedIn live, you had talked a little bit about some of the things that you were doing on the side and it was a very interesting conversation talking about compensation and the different you know skill sets and all that. So do you still do that kind of side work?

Skye Dodd:

I do, yeah, so I don't have myself an LLC. I do have a small business that I have, or at least a website that kind of promotes my business. But yeah, I'm doing. I think at that point it was very broad. I was offering a lot of services. Right, I transitioned careers and a couple of things I was focusing on were transitioning teachers, social workers, really just people coming from industries that if you see that job title and you are a hiring manager for a project manager, you probably wouldn't look twice at that person's resume. So that was really my sort of my target audience and I'm still doing that. But I've toned back the amount of services that I'm offering to really specialize in things like resume writing, networking and interviewing, because those three topics are skills and those three things are things that I've mastered, so continuing to upskill myself in those areas and really help other people in their transitions as well.

Walt Sparling:

Cool and the new role that you're doing. You are working with a technical firm and you're doing project management. Are you just managing projects? Are you part of a larger team? Tell us a little bit about what that job is like.

Skye Dodd:

Yeah, that's a good question. So my title is implementation project manager. My role itself is, well, the company itself. It's a SaaS company specifically within the fleet industry, so our software is dependent on hardware. So whenever we get, a contract is dependent on hardware. So whenever we get a contract, that contract is distributed amongst the implementation PM team to manage the implementation of the hardware and the software. So that's what I'm doing. I'm managing those contracts as they're handed to me from my leadership.

Skye Dodd:

But what really attracted me? Let me start here. When I was about to get laid off, I kind of had an idea they were restructuring the company and so I kind of did some like let me look inside and figure out really what I want and what my vision of my next role is going to be. I never would have thought in a million years let me work for the fleet industry. But I did know that I wanted to work on sort of like a startup mindset company. We are kind of in chaos but we really want to grow. And then I also knew I wanted to be part of something that was meaningful and impactful as far as the projects, and so the company itself has been around for 20 years but they're really looking to grow double the size by the end of this year and again double the size of that in 2025.

Skye Dodd:

So lots of opportunity. And one thing that they're really passionate about is safety culture getting these drivers of these fleet trucks back home safely to their families, and reducing idle time and reducing, like you know, oil and gas that that burn in the fleets and that sort of thing. So, overall, that mission and vision really resonated with me. So I mentioned all of that, because one of your question is you know, are you part of like a bigger? You know something bigger? One thing that I'm doing, because the company is growing so rapidly, is working on really building project infrastructure, so scalable processes that can really scale with the company. So, yes, managing projects and also working on lots, lots of other things to help the organization grow as well.

Walt Sparling:

Cool, all right, yeah, and are they keeping you busy with that?

Skye Dodd:

You think, with all the talking I just did, yeah, yeah, I mean I'm managing some really big projects that are really, really awesome, but they're very complicated, right. So lots of like engagement efforts with different level stakeholders and really making sure we're utilizing the right resources. And I think because the company has sort of started off being a little startup-esque in that it doesn't have very clearly defined processes and very clearly defined project infrastructure. A lot of it is trial and error and so you know we're trying out some things and then we're iterating and I don't know. The whole company culture is really awesome. Everyone's really into the growth mindset, so busy, but yeah.

Walt Sparling:

If you don't have a lot of those tools well-defined, you've got to get them defined, and when you're talking about a double or quadruple in size, that is it's going to be fun. I mean, the big thing is you can look back and go, wow, this is part of something really big.

Skye Dodd:

Yeah, exactly yeah. The other company that had made me an offer had been around for 120 years and they, you know, while that stability sounded great, it's they have 300,000 employees and it would have been a lot harder to come in and make a big impact. So I'm really excited by this opportunity. I'd love to hear I don't know, have you had the opportunity to build project infrastructure? If you have any tips for me.

Walt Sparling:

Well, I'm kind of a process guy, so I'm not what you would call a I don't know a creator. I'm creative, but I tend to go in and look at stuff that's there and then figure out how to optimize it or make it better. I don't typically start from scratch, but that is exciting. The thing with it is you have to have somewhat of a baseline of what you need to accomplish, to know what tools and what processes to put in place. And the longer you've done project management, and especially in whatever industry you're in, you'll know that and you need to kind of brainstorm out what those are and I go okay, how can we, how can we do what? Are we going to use software? Are we going to use Excel? Are we going to use Microsoft Project or working with the team?

Walt Sparling:

But I think from earlier conversation you said that even the rest of the team was pretty young. Unless some of those maybe not been with the firm long but had some good experience. It would be hard also to reach out to them and go what are the struggles you've had? Let's try to figure those out so we can build a solid infrastructure. I think you've got quite the challenge there.

Skye Dodd:

Yeah, I mean challenge or opportunity, however you want to phrase it.

Walt Sparling:

Yes, I think it's both in your case because of what the company wants to do and your basically newness to the company, and they're obviously putting a lot of trust and faith in you, so that's a positive. Yeah, I'll think about that. If I can think of anything specific, I'll reach out to you, but, yeah, I can think of all kinds of different things that you need to kind of look at. So this is exciting and this is a lot of work. But I did notice recently you're not as active on LinkedIn, but you have been, and I saw you just shared something recently which was an article that you had recently published, and I was hoping you could tell us a little bit about that as well, and I'll share the link that's in the show notes.

Skye Dodd:

Yeah, yeah, definitely share that link. I had a blast writing it. So yeah, as far as sort of my content creation on LinkedIn, I think that's died down a little bit just due to the nature of the work that I'm doing, and I think you had said this phrase earlier. But we all have those seasons where you know that content creation just can't be the number one priority. But I was afforded the opportunity to write an article for the Institute of Project Management. So it's not PMI, but it's a sort of a version of PMI in out of Dublin, ireland.

Skye Dodd:

So the topic of the article was project managers are we really just administrative assistants? And it kind of talks about you know what is this issue? What are we doing that? What job duties do we have that are administrative, how much? And then kind of evolves into why is this a problem? You know why are problem, why is it a problem that we're spending 40% of our week 50%, 60% on administrative duties? And the reason really is those, while administrative duties are important, they're really no value add and we should be utilizing our time to engage with customers and really drive meaningful project activities. So yeah, check out the article. It talks a lot about if you are feeling like admin assistant or a glorified admin. It gives a lot of tips and tools on how to start training your team and how to start evolving some of your practices around AI and automation.

Walt Sparling:

Yep, ai is good and sometimes you need to not only like your team would be like maybe training your managers a little bit. A lot of places where I've seen where you end up being very administrative is there is like an expectation from management or leadership and they think either the PM should do everything or the PM is not doing enough and they need to do more. What I've noticed is firms that get it. They have a team of it's not just you out on an island. You might have an assistant. You have a larger project, you have a project coordinator. Project coordinators, an assistant, you have a larger project, you have a project coordinator. Project coordinators are very diverse in how they're used. Where I came from last, project coordinators did like final checks and balances and they put in the budget that we gave them and they would issue the final PO after we did all the other work to get it.

Walt Sparling:

In the new one, one where I work, I get a proposal, give it to the PC and I'm done. They take it from there, which is awesome because that is an administrative stuff. The hard work's done, did the scoping found, the firms got the competitive pricing. Here's who we're going with. I don't need to be tied up for hours dealing with getting a PO signed and all that. I get the administrative stuff and that can be so time consuming. And AI I just did a an interview with Ozias and um. We talked a lot about AI and how it can be used to help your job, make your job easier, and I'm actually working with him and a couple other individuals on an upcoming live where we're going to talk about AI and project management and how you can utilize it more, so I'm looking forward to that no-transcript educating from there to make any sort of change.

Skye Dodd:

So I'll have a listen to that podcast that you did with Ozio last week too, because I want to hear a little more about that.

Walt Sparling:

Yeah, and I think having too many administrative tasks on a PM is you're wasting a valuable resource. You know their skill sets go beyond being able to type and enter information in a spreadsheet or a web page. It's like the critical thinking and communication and scoping and troubleshooting risk development. That's where they earn their money. They shouldn't be doing administrative tasks. That's why you get other people to do those.

Skye Dodd:

Exactly. Yeah, I think a lot of. I don't know I'm making a really vast assumption. A lot of companies right now are doing reductions in workforce and you know various other things, so sometimes it's not necessarily feasible to bring in one or two project coordinators or what have you, but I'm lucky that I'm in this position at this company that has this goal to double and quadruple in size over the next year and a half. So looking forward to seeing, with this idea that I have in mind and really building some project infrastructure, what we can do with adding on, possibly adding on different positions.

Walt Sparling:

Do you have in the current? I know it's new, but do you have project coordinators or a project coordinator?

Skye Dodd:

We do not now.

Walt Sparling:

I'll recommend.

Skye Dodd:

Yeah, so we get it.

Walt Sparling:

What'd you say? I'll definitely recommend that as an ad.

Skye Dodd:

Oh yeah, for sure, for sure, yeah same. We have a sales team and a project is directly handed to us from the sales team to do all of the scoping and planning and monitoring and controlling and all of that jazz.

Walt Sparling:

I love the sales guys, the sales guys.

Skye Dodd:

They're a fun team.

Walt Sparling:

All I love the sales guys. The sales guys they're a fun team, all right. So you're still doing your side stuff with helping out people with their resumes. You're coaching a little bit. You're writing articles, or at least one, maybe more. It sounds like you really enjoyed writing that and you're working really hard at this new job. Anything else?

Skye Dodd:

I mean, isn't that enough? Walt?

Walt Sparling:

I think it is. I just wanted to make sure you weren't hiding something else back there that you were doing.

Skye Dodd:

No, I'm kidding, yes, more articles to come. I have thought about I'll definitely make some posts on this A real gap that I see. There's two things that I'm working on outside of my job that I'm putting a lot of thought into. One is evolving my coaching right. So I have a lot of clients I'll call them but a lot of people that I support in their transition. And then what happens when they transition? How do we develop them? What's their professional development plan?

Skye Dodd:

So I am thinking about one thing I'm doing at my current company is creating a professional development plan and then working on training, an evolution of training for people not just transitioning but really to get them to that senior and more director and exec levels. So that's thing number one. And thing number two is that kind of twists in a little bit here and I'll have to be a little bit mysterious because we don't have a lot of details but I am working with Julia Odie on sort of a community around project support. So anyone that wants to talk about anything. It'll be a really great hub for resources, lots of diversity in people and topics and support availability. So more to come on that, but we're looking at probably launching that, so you guys will start seeing a little bit of information on that, but we're looking to launch probably January of 25.

Walt Sparling:

Cool, Looking forward to it. Yeah, I appreciate you coming back on and it's good to hear about all the exciting new things you're doing, and I think we'll probably do like you suggested earlier. Maybe usually we do a year out from your initial interview, but we're still a few months out from that. Maybe we'll check back in in October of this year and see what your full year transition has been like, because it sounds like you've already made some dramatic shifts just in the time frame that we have already yeah, that sounds great.

Skye Dodd:

I would be glad to hop on whenever you want me back.

Walt Sparling:

All right. Thank you everyone and we'll see you on the next episode of PM Mastery.

Intro/Outro:

Thanks for listening to the PM Mastery podcast at wwwpm-masterycom. Be sure to subscribe in your podcast player. Until next time, keep working on your craft.