How to be a Project Manager (Student) at Meteor or Mesh

TL;DR / Intro (10 mins)


  • What is a Project Manager?

    • A Project Manager oversees the planning, execution, and delivery of creative projects. They handle communication, problem-solving, and stakeholder management.

  • Common Tasks:

    • Communicating/checking in with everyone (1 on 1s)
    • Hosting meetings
    • Problem-solving (unblocking)
    • Work definition, distribution, and delegation
    • Timelines and roadmaps
    • Stakeholder/client communication
    • Team motivation
    • Conflict resolution and mediation
    • Risk analysis and management
    • Change management

  • Misconceptions:

    • Walking people through their own jobs
    • Setting up private meetings between team members
    • Handling budgeting, finance, or HR-related tasks (depending on the organization)

  • Industry Names:

    • Project Manager
    • Producer
    • Team Lead
    • Executive Manager
    • Scrum Master (possibly)
    • Product Manager (possibly)

Required Resources and Tools (5 mins)


  • Software Packages:

    • Version control (GitHub, Plastic, Perforce, etc)
    • Project management tools (Jira, Trello, Airtable, Asana, etc)
    • Communication platforms (Slack, Discord, MS Teams, etc)
    • Visual whiteboard (Miro or Mural)
    • Project-specific software (Unity, Unreal, etc)
    • Email and document editing tools
    • Calendar applications (GCalendar or Outlook)

  • Enforcing Software:

    • Familiarity and feature availability are important.

  • Licensing or Cost Requirements:

    • Often project management and communication tools require subscriptions.

  • Hardware Requirements:

    • Similar to or slightly less demanding than developers.
    • A good laptop with a keyboard is essential.

Deliverables and Time Estimation (15 mins)


  • Organizational Tools:

    • Project management tools like Jira or Trello are commonly used.

  • Timeframes:

    • Impossibly short: Less than a week for complex tasks.
    • Too long: Over a month for smaller tasks.

  • Pivoting Difficulty:

    • It can be challenging depending on project complexity and team dynamics.

Giving Instructions and Feedback (15 mins)


  • Client Project Start Requirements:

    • Clear written requirements and agreed-upon targets.
    • Understanding of target audience and UI complexity.
    • Resources provided by the client.
    • Project milestones and deadlines.
    • Involvement level in the process and contact with Subject Matter Experts.

  • Client Feedback Presentation:

    • Recurring meetings, slide decks, multimedia, post-meeting emails, showcases, or sharing project boards.

  • High-Quality Work Traits:

    • Responsibility, good communication, team understanding, time management, people skills, conflict resolution, reliability, and trustworthiness.

  • Poor PM Traits:

    • Forgetting to reply, starting conflicts, missing deadlines without warning, micromanaging, poor planning, over-promising, lack of feedback, and refusal to learn or accept feedback.

Best Practices for Collaboration (15 mins)


  • Problem-Solving:

    • Common issues include scheduling conflicts, scope creep, and resource constraints.
    • The Project Manager, along with the team, should address these issues.

  • Communication Vocabulary:

    • Project Managers should understand project scope, timeline, resource allocation, and risk management terminology.

Additional Resources (email afterwards)


  • Share links to basic tutoria