Hello! I’m Joakim, I live in Malmö, Sweden with my wife and two kids. I’ve been a Group Lead and Project Manager/Product Owner at Devoteam Creative Tech since 2023.
For the past 15 years I’ve been working with software ranging from support to product ownership. I’ve mainly worked with web technologies, mobile apps, and APIs/SDKs and bring this experience with me to my projects at Devoteam.
What does a typical day look like for you as Project Manager at Devoteam?
I have a daily meeting with my team at 9.30, and after that it really depends on the day. Maybe I’ll have a behind-the-scenes chat with a client to make sure everything is operating smoothly, then we’ll have an official meeting where the client and the team can communicate. In these meetings my goal is to foster collaboration and make an active effort to perfect our efficiency.
Could you share some examples of real life projects that you’ve worked on?
Yes of course! So the whole time I’ve been here at Devoteam I’ve been on the same project with Gleerups. Luckily, they’ve been an excellent client in terms of their understanding of consulting and working with a partner.
Gleerups is a publisher that focuses on books for schools. We’ve been helping them build a platform that can translate books into a digital learning environment, with interactive exercises, readings, and more. At first (10 years ago) we helped them move everything to AWS but now it’s been more about developing their own platform and for that we’ve mainly been using Go and React. It’s been a long term engagement which has been pleasant and different from shorter-term projects, as the pace is different and consequently, the pressures differ too.
How do you collaborate with other teams or departments within Devoteam?
We’ve collaborated with the managed services team in Portugal, using their excellent AWS team for security and cost reviews.
What advice would you give to someone aspiring to become a project manager at Devoteam – or in general?
Don’t be fooled by the illusion that you are leading. Of course, you are the leader but the role itself is more about mediating and aligning expectations between team members, clients and other stakeholders, and less about giving orders or telling people what to do. They know what to do, you just have to help them communicate that out loud and follow up regularly.
What is the best thing about your job?
I would say… the opportunity to work with really, really smart people. They’re so much smarter than me – and believe me, I’m super smart. They have different experiences and are super sharp in their expertise. It’s really rewarding just to be close to them and have the luxury of seeing the world from their perspective.
Can you describe a (or your current) project that you’ve worked on as a project manager and the steps you’ve taken to complete it?
So I’ll try to address this from two perspectives:
In terms of daily project management
- Leading the meetings with clients and teams ensuring a cohesive and effective line of communication.
- Ask the “stupid” questions in an effort to prevent misunderstandings and ensure alignment between the team and the client.
- Managing the pace of the project. Sometimes this means making sure we are not falling behind, and other times it’s about slowing the pace – which is harder since it’s counterintuitive in a way – to make sure nothing will get lost in the pressures of keeping a faster pace.
- Foster a collaborative energy among team members and avoid having our experts solving all issues they face individually.
In terms of monthly planning
- Conduct prioritisation meetings with the client to discuss their roadmap and how to translate that, providing the technical perspective the client might not see.
- Push the team to look past our world. This means actively seeking out what might be causing issues for customers.
- Push for data-driven decisions by repeatedly measuring support logs and trying to avoid the fallacy that happens in support where often one user regularly logs their use of a specific function and the improvement of that function gets a lot more priority over other functions that affect the other thousands of users taking up an extra five seconds of their life every time they log in but they don’t necessarily flag it as an issue. So with a structured approach it’s possible to find that discrepancy and ensure the development of a better product.
- Provide a fresh perspective as an outsider to the day-to-day coding. This enables me (as I mentioned earlier) to ask the “stupid” questions that ultimately lead to better communication, revision and a better product.
Facilitate the transition to new models. Our projects are adapting to the changing landscape of software development with the rise of AI agents. This involves more structure in the planning and requirements stage to keep up with the increased pace of development. The client’s expectations are changing with the nature of the AI agents but even they are not exactly prepared for the power within this field if things are done right. That’s why making sure the client knows exactly what they want to build in the earlier stages has become imperative to producing clear and precise instructions/requirements.
What are the most challenging aspects of your job as a project manager? How do you overcome them?
Probably the most challenging aspect is ensuring clear communication among team members, and knowing whether the message has truly been understood. Especially when you’re communicating with a large team where each person has a unique communication style and limited time.
It’s easy to assume everyone is on the same page, only to find out later they weren’t. The key is to avoid cramming too much information into a presentation and instead, communicate information less densely but more precisely and deliberately, ensuring the message lands with clarity and impact.
What is your greatest moment as a Devoteamer?
At our company off site in Hamburg two years ago, I was fortunate enough to spot an Airbus Beluga plane coming in to land at the Airbus factory. My excitement brought both confusion and joy to my colleagues and I believe that exposing that level of nerd sometimes can feel intimidating, but in this instance it was met with shared excitement and curiosity.
How would you describe your team? How do you move together?
Our office has a hybrid environment where some people work from home while others are in the office. I try to make sure that when we’re in the office we’re communicating sufficiently in order to bridge the gap between WFH and office work.
I try to keep a stream of communication open even starting conversations that are not necessarily about work. This gives the team members the chance to mention any challenges or ideas they have without the formality of having to start a line of communication specifically for that reason.
How would you describe the Devoteam team?
It’s a very solid and honest team, made up of very different backgrounds, there’s a lot of respect and space for people to be who they are. Everyone is also very kind and friendly, there’s more of a supportive, collaborative environment than a competitive and individualistic one.
We’re also the kind of company who is happy to say no to a client if they don’t benefit from working with us – we’re not here for any short term value but for lasting positive impact.
How do you set the pace in your job?
Honestly it’s about what I discussed earlier; staying in constant communication with my team members and scheduling check-in meetings regularly to navigate our expectations and realities efficiently.
Go Big: What does that mean to you?
To me it’s about delving into an idea I’m not yet confident in, but still feel secure enough to run it by my colleagues and exploring its potential. That also reflects how the team here is very supportive but also honest.
They’ll shoot me down (nicely) if it’s a bad idea but they’ll also find the value in what I’m proposing and help me develop something really meaningful.