Want to make things happen? Ask a Delivery Manager at TPXimpact

In the ever evolving landscape that is digital transformation, the role of Delivery Managers in improving public and commercial services is as inspirational as it is crucial. Delivery Managers are the heart of many teams at TPXimpact, creating the conditions for multidisciplinary teams to work together effectively. What this means, in reality, is ensuring that team members have clarity on their priorities and responsibilities on a project, from start to finish. 

Whether it's building a website that gives residents better access to healthcare, or creating a system that enables the central government to work more efficiently, Delivery Managers make things happen. 

Gemma Currie has been a Delivery Manager at TPXimpact for nearly two years. Here she shares her thoughts on how her role is vital in ensuring the delivery of our most complicated and high profile projects, what it’s like to work at TPXimpact, and why a typical day as a Delivery Manager is anything but.

What’s involved in Delivery Management?

Delivery Management means a lot of things to different people. For me, a Delivery Manager is someone who creates the right conditions for project teams to work in so that they can deliver as effectively, quickly and efficiently as possible to the highest quality. It’s similar to a project manager in that we are fulfilling typical project management tasks as well, like budgeting, reporting and resourcing. But I think there's also a lot more to it than that — it's more of a pastoral role where you really have to care about your teams, their wellbeing and how they're feeling.

Making things happen

At the start of a project, we'll have a big kickoff meeting with exercises that help us get to know each other and understand what our roles and responsibilities are. There are also lots of conversations with clients throughout a typical day; stakeholder management is very important because clients like to be kept in the loop with our delivery and it's also useful for us to receive constant feedback from them. Sometimes there are difficult conversations that you need to have, so if there's conflict in a team then you've got to be the person who manages this and decides what to do. 

And then, at the end of a project, it's your job to make sure that a project is neatly wrapped up and all the deliverables are handed over to the client. It also involves leading exercises where we learn from each project. These retrospectives are one of my favourite parts of the process. I really like learning about what people have enjoyed — and also not enjoyed — in a project and how we can make it better next time. 

More than one way to deliver 

There’s probably a bit of a misconception about the personality type that makes for a good Delivery Manager. Some people might think that Delivery Managers need to be extroverted. But I would say that, in our team, we've got a huge range of personalities, so I don't think there is a one size fits all for the role. 

At the end of the day, if you're well organised, you've got a good set of tools and you care about the wellbeing of people that you work with on projects, then you can succeed at the job. 

What to do when you’re stuck

Not being afraid to ask for help is what I do when I'm stuck. So that might mean going to a colleague and saying, “I've got this scenario, what would you do?”, or heading to the dedicated Delivery Management team channel on Slack. 

If I have more of a design query or a content-related query, there’s always someone across the company that can point you in the right direction. Also I might take an hour out, do something unrelated to work and then come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes, and see if I can figure out the problem.

A positive and productive culture 

TPXimpact is a company that's really open and transparent. People are honest with each other and give each other positive feedback — I think that's really good for culture. Everyone here wants to do good work and to help people. That's why people come here, because we’re actually invested in changing people’s lives.

Another thing that makes TPXimpact a positive place to work is that we're good fun and we’re able and encouraged to participate in events, which reinforces that inclusive culture. There was a really nice turnout for our recent Big Summer Festival and Pride Month event, for example. 

There's also an event coming up soon for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there’s been a great amount of involvement, suggestions and contributions from team members across the company. It's fantastic to know that people will put in time, effort and resources towards celebrating and making these things happen. 

What TPXimpact has taught me 

I've learned so much and picked up several useful skills since I started at TPXimpact. When I first started, I went from working on mostly software projects to working on everything from organisational design projects to data and AI. And on those projects, whenever there was someone with more expertise or a different skill set to me, I would just listen, take notes and apply what was relevant to my projects. At TPXimpact, you're pretty much forced to change and adapt. Really, it's not something that you have a choice on, and that’s definitely a good thing!

TPXimpact in three words…

If I had to describe TPXimpact in three words, I would say: growing, valuable and exciting! TPXimpact is a place where you’re guaranteed to learn and grow, in whichever team you’re in. We’re all working as hard as possible for the clients and for the company. I think that's just the best way to succeed.

Come and work with us 

We’re hiring! Whatever your background, experiences and passions, we want to hear from you! We really care about who’s on our team, because we know that having different voices around the table makes for better conversation. So if you like the sound of us and want to know more about working here, have a look at our careers pages to find out more.