What a year it’s been! We have introduced you to so many new faces, and we have one more before 2021 ends. Meet WebDevStudios’ newest teammate, Project Manager, Joanna Foss.
Joanna calls herself a pathfinder whose job is to help navigate WebDevStudios (WDS) clients and their project team to the best way forward. She is a true project manager (PM) at heart. Keep reading to become familiar with Joanna.
Joanna Foss, Project Manager
“Sometimes projects can become complicated, and the team can lose sight of the goal. To me, a good PM leads their team out the woods, back on the path where they can see clearly and have room to run,” Joanna explains why she calls herself a ‘pathfinder.’
She adds, “Plus, my dad was an Airborne Ranger Pathfinder in the Army. So that mentality and term are just ingrained in me.”
Before joining us at WDS, Joanna’s past career experiences include working as a social worker, and later as the head of partner success for the educational tech startup. She says both job roles helped her develop the required skills for project management.
“Being a social worker teachers you so many things—listening being one of the biggest. That’s a skill I use everyday as a PM,” she says, adding, “You have to listen, truly listen, to your client and your team. You’ll gain so much insight into running the project, as well as learn fantastic things about the people you’re working with.”
As the head of partner success in a previous job role, Joanna was tasked with building the department from the ground up. Joanna elaborates, “So much of that was not only about creating strategy, but about team buy-in and collaboration. Both are so important to project management. You can’t build a plan in a silo. If you’re team is not on board, your ship can’t sail.”
Joanna heard about the open project manager position at WDS through a friend and former WDS staff member.
“She had amazing things to say about the team, and I figured what’s a better indication of a solid company than hearing positive things from a former employee? Turns out, she was right,” she elaborates.
Joanna is looking forward to learning more about WordPress. She reports that she is already blown away by the expertise and knowledge of her coworkers. “The team here is stellar, and I could not be happier to be a part of it,” she exclaims.
For Joanna, her traits of a project manager extend beyond the virtual hallways of WDS. She swears that task management tools are her life savers.
“I’ve used them to plan everything from my recent partial-cross-country move to my own wedding,” says Joanna. “They help me break down projects into small chunks so that I can stay organized and on track, while keeping the bigger goal in mind. It may seem like just another thing to manage, but trust me—it becomes habit after a while and there’s nothing better than crossing something off the to-do list.”
The task of finding yet another top-notch project manager for our team is certainly crossed off our list now that we have Joanna. She has adapted to our processes and company culture seamlessly, and we look forward to her continued contributions.
WDS is hiring!
We’re still recruiting and invite you to look at our current job openings. At WebDevStudios, we support our newest teammates with:
- A supportive remote work culture
- Clearly outlined processes and policies
- Impressive benefits, including unlimited flex time
- Continuing education
- Opportunities to contribute to the WordPress project and community
- Camaraderie
Submit your online application today.
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