We caught up with Alan Havens-Gunns, Pretty Technical’s Project Manager, to learn more about his role managing bespoke projects. From his favourite hobbies to his approach to understanding client needs and ensuring project success, Alan shares insights into his work and what it takes to deliver tailored solutions.
Tell us about yourself. What are your interests outside of work?
I consider myself quite a geeky guy, so if I’m not working though the latest game on my list or playing board games with friends, I’ll likely be reading a new book that’s caught my attention (I recently finished Stephen King’s The Mist). When the weather is warmer, you’ll also likely find me in the garden, harvesting/digging something up, or planning my next project. Gardening is a great way for me to get some fresh air and disconnect, championing that key work-life balance.
What does a typical day in your role as PT’s Project Manager look like?
No two days at PT are ever the same, but I like to structure and pre-plan as much as possible. I’ll usually start by catching up with messages from our overseas colleagues and emails during my morning tea, and then prioritise key tasks around my existing workload. From there, I will catch up with the various teams at our daily standups, to ensure everyone is clear on their daily objectives, and they have everything they need to succeed. The remainder of the day will then be spent forward-planning resourcing availability for upcoming projects, working to mitigate any resourcing choke-points, getting involved with testing across the key products and projects, and being on hand to assist the team with any blockers they might have.
What is your process for understanding a client’s unique requirements for a bespoke project?
For me, it’s absolutely crucial to understand the client’s key requirements during the concept and design stages of a project. This often involves hosting multiple discovery workshops to explore the client’s context, ambitions, and unique needs, gradually involving developers to ensure a practical and evolving design that can adapt as the project progresses. Every project is unique, even when working with a strong existing product, so gaining a clear understanding of the client’s short- and long-term goals is essential. Defining what ‘good’ looks like—whether that’s seamless functionality, innovative features, or an improved user experience—is key, alongside establishing measurable outcomes such as performance benchmarks, timelines, or specific delivery milestones. This collaborative approach ensures the final product not only meets but exceeds expectations, delivering maximum value for the client
How do you handle testing for bespoke projects, especially if the end product is highly customised?
When it comes to bespoke projects, one of the key things I consider is what is considered a “critical success factor”. Having a clear understanding of your customer’s launch-ready expectations, coupled with a comprehensive testing plan, provides a solid foundation to manage any testing journey; from iterative internal testing in dev during sprint cycles, to demos and UAT with the customer post-development, maintaining that collaborative client feedback loop to ensure any issues are are managed and resolved proactively and efficiently.
What’s a key lesson you’ve learned in your career as a Project Manager?
Two key things stand out for me here. First is adaptability. You can’t rely on a rigid process to ensure that a project is successful; you need to be constantly open to change, and adapt the process to meet the needs of the stakeholders, and the project’s key deliverables. The second is stakeholder management, both internal and external. Software delivery projects heavily rely on an empowered, confident, autonomous dev team, and it’s important that they are clear on not just their specific tasks, but the bigger picture and the impact they are having on the business as a whole. That’s why I strive to operate as a “servant leader” in project teams, acting to remove any blockers the rest of the team might be facing, keeping morale up, and ensuring we keep on target as much as possible.
If you’d like to work with Alan and our team why not take a look at our Careers page and send an email to [email protected]. If you’d like to find out more about Pretty Technical products and services please use our Contact Form.
