I didn’t even know that Project Management (for creative professions) was a career option, during my education & early career. But by 2023, I’d been doing it for >3 years, and it’s been a great journey so far! ✨️
Many people here know that I worked at the brand strategy & design studio Thought Over Design, but sometimes guess that I’m part of the design team. When I share that I’m a Senior Project Manager there, there are naturally a lot of questions that follow! So I’m doing this short series, answering some of these curiosities.
I know that more and more studios/design-led orgs are now opening up roles for Project Management so I hope that this series inspires some younger minds, who may be a good fit, to consider the field too! So I’m always open to more questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them.
For the more experienced people following this, please do chime in to add more because no single set of answers can ever be truly exhaustive.
I got some very interesting questions & comments on the introductory video itself:
I am learning design currently and I have been interested in project management for a while now. What would you suggest is the best way to get into project management? Is it necessary to already be in the field or is it easy to transition from a completely unrelated field? Thank you for doing this series. It’s gonna be incredibly helpful!
@madnesswithin
Just what I needed. Hi Nishita! My question is why did you change the decision to transition from A designer to a project manager? Designers usually become Designer Manager or Senior Designers and come into managerial roles.
@garimakatiya
How does a designer find opportunities in project management? How does one do that transition? How did you use creativity in management? Thank you for this series. Grateful!
@rushaan_acharya
And thus, I started this short series of videos to answer the curiosities people sent my way over comments & DMs.
Episode 1: Creativity is unpredictable. So can the creative process really be managed?
Episode 2: What are the responsibilities of a Project Manager in a Design Studio?
Part 3: What skills can I work on, to become a better Project Manager for a creative team?
Episode 4: Why did I transition from being a being a designer to now being a project manager?
Episode 5: As a project manager, do you get to design? Do you miss being a designer?
Episode 6: What’s the key difference between managing creative teams vs other industries?
Part 7: Myths about managing the creative process
Episode 8: How do you keep track of the work assigned to others & multiple other tasks?
Part 9: Project Management for Creative Freelancers
And finally…
Episode 10: Is it easy to transition to Project Management from an unrelated field?
What other questions do you have?
Drop me a DM on Instagram & I’d be happy to answer! 🙂
Incase you’d like a longer discussion, check out my available slots for 1:1 calls on Topmate.
nishita mohta 