My 6-year-old daughter asked me the other day " What do you do for your job? " I instantly had thought paralysis - how do you explain being a "Project Manager" in a way she would understand (and think her dad was cool !) ??
She knew that I worked for the airport but whilst I was trying to formulate an answer - she fired more questions with a great sense of curiosity and wonder:
"Do you fix the planes ?"
"Do you tell the people which aeroplanes to use ?"
"Do you drive the planes at the airport ?"
Actually, that last one sounded pretty cool and disrupted my thought process.
I was anticipating answering this question since she was born and when the moment finally arrived - I failed completely!
When I told her I "manage projects", she had no idea what either of those words meant.
Here are my top 5 lessons learnt:
Lesson Learnt # 1 - Check the internet for ideas
There is a wealth of information and ideas on how to explain your job to kids.
I felt a great sense of comfort that I was not alone and that other parents were also struggling.
For kids 10 and under - there is not much at all. Most of the information I found were in chat forums such as quora.com where parents provided ideas and experiences.
For kids 10 and above - I was really surprised at just how many resources there are around project management for kids - check these out:
Project Kids Adventures! http://www.projectkidsadventures.com/ It's about helping children develop life skills by performing basic project management as they do fun projects (like building a treehouse).
Kids encyclopedia facts https://kids.kiddle.co/Project_management This one is for older kids / teenagers.
How To Put A Man On The Moon If You’re A Kid https://fastprojects.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/How-To-Put-A-Man-On-The-Moon-If-Youre-A-Kid.pdf Love this ebook is by Fergus O’Connell - it takes you through the very basic fundamentals of project management in a fun and simple to understand way
Lesson Learnt # 2 - Be prepared for the question
Winging a response on the spot (like I did) is probably not a good idea - especially if you have a job that kids can't readily relate to such as Project Management.
What to prepare really depends on how old your child is - you have to be able to explain it at their level.
After some thought and preparation, I explained it something like this:
"When people want to build something, I help them do it..."
"I help them to start the work, ask other people to help and we all try our best to finish it with what we have..."
"Everyone is happy if we all do a good job..."
She gave me a slightly perplexed look - but I took that as a great sign and a good lead up to actually demonstrate my job.
Lesson Learnt # 3 - Demonstrate what you do
This one is about taking your kid through the journey of what you do in a demonstrated form.
When I told her that I would show her what my job was with Lego - she seemed pretty happy with that.
With her Lego collection in front of us - I told her that I would now pretend to do my job...
"So, what do you want to build?"
"I want to do this one, Frozen Ice Castle with Elsa and Anna. I want to do it like the picture"
"OK, do we have all the pieces?"
"Yes, they are here"
"OK, the book says we need to find these pieces first..."
If you want your kids to be excited about what you do at work - you also need to express and show that excitement!
Lesson Learnt # 4 - Demonstrate what could go wrong
This one is about showing what would happen if you did not do your job properly and the importance of doing a good job.
So with Lego - I showed her that if we lost a piece, or if we were too quick, did not check the pieces properly or attached them the right way, it would not work.
That worked well and we had a great Lego building session.
I felt I was "project managing" things well and on track until we had the following exchange:
"Can I come to your work tomorrow ?"
"Well you need to go to school..."
"HMMM - It's not fair, I have to go to school and you go to work and play Lego !"
Lesson Learnt # 5 - Have patience - don't give up
My biggest lesson learnt is that if you don't explain it right the first time, have patience and don't give up trying.
I am really eager for her to understand what I do for a living - it's a major part of what provides for us as a family.
I completely failed the first time and as for the second time round - I'm a little closer albeit she's probably telling her friends at school that her dad does something with Lego at the airport.
When she's a little older and is better able to grasp some of those principles I will certainly try again...
In Closing...
I'm not giving up!
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