Staff Testimonials – Jonny Bithell's Story

Meet Jonny Bithell Project Management Consultant With MetaPM since 2016 MetaPM clients that Jonny has worked with: Victorian Managed Insurance Asscoiation The University of Melbourne Bupa Telstra

What do you enjoy most about working @ MetaPM

Being part of the MetaPM family, and it is family, allows me to go to work knowing I have a challenge ahead, security in the role, and a strong team behind me; ultimately enabling me to deliver a great service to our clients and strategic partners. The company offers a diverse set of opportunities across all Industries, including Government, Education, Telco and Insurance Sectors, to mention but a few. My experiences alone has seen my delivering an Agile technical implementation in one client to acting as a scheduler across large digital transformation programme in another. To enable this, MetaPM provide an extremely strong support team behind the scenes, providing access to specialist SMEs and Senior Practice Managers when required, a knowledge management portal for each practice providing relevant templates and supporting literature, or even just a reassuring phone call allowing you to query your thinking or approach to relevant activities or issues. MetaPM really take the time to be a part of your work life, whilst also making sure this is balanced with your home life. They want you to be successful and do their upmost to provide the foundations to enable this!

If you were to describe our company in 3 words, what would they be?

Loyal, Honest, Humble.

What do you like most about your job?

Variety of the role, the people I work with, and the consistent challenge. It may get hectic at times but I certainly don’t get bored… you just don’t have time!

What does a typical working day look like for you?

A typical working day involves a morning gym or yoga session in order to get mind and body primed for the day; finding that inner Zen everyone seems to talk about. Next step and I must state usually my most enjoyable part of the day, I find myself attempting to squeeze onto one of Melbourne’s most spacious Trams! Into the office for 0830hrs to start the day with emails and a nice cup of tea (note as an Englishman only the finest UK imported tea bags will suffice). In my current role as an Integrator for Telstra, working within Cloud services, I am responsible for getting a project and its solution operationally accepted by the business. Working across multiple projects, my daily activities will vary depending on the type and stages of each of these projects.
Usually, my day entails engaging the operational teams and SMEs across L1, L2, L3, L4 (and Vendor where applicable), on behalf of the project, to ensure the project deliverables are created, reviewed, and endorsed. Types of deliverables include Scope, Business cases, Solution Designs (SAD & DLDs), Support Plans and Operate Models. To close, this culminates in the final project stage gate, where I am responsible for ensuring Operations formally confirm their ‘Acceptance to Operate’ (ATO) and the project can Go-Live.
My days are always extremely varied and require me to engage with all kinds of stakeholders within the business, alongside external vendors. With this Client also being Globally located, I can find myself engaging and managing resources in Sydney, Adelaide, India, and even the UK, all in a single day!
My day closes, usually, around 1800hrs, with a quick catch up on emails and ensuring my calendar is up to date for the next 2-3 days. I also ensure I write a single bullet point outcome that I intend to achieve for each of the next day’s meeting. This is something I picked up and really works in focusing the mind for the next day.

What is one of the most interesting tasks / projects you have worked on?

My first role with MetaPM involved me leading the design and development of a Risk Scorecard Framework and Assessment Tool with one of our Government Clients, to be rolled out to all Victorian Government agencies. This project involved me conducting a procurement process to identify and engage the appropriate solution in the marketplace whilst ensuring all of the governance and strict requirements around public procurement were adhered to – challenging but good fun!

If you were to recommend us to someone who would it be and why?

I think I stated this in why I enjoy working @ MetaPM, but I will summarise:

• It is more than an organisation
• You are not a number
• People care about what you do
• No one wants you to fail
• You are set up to succeed

With the required professional skills, a good work ethos and a great sense of humour, MetaPM’s the perfect place to make your next career move!

What led you to become a consultant?

A career in consulting interested me due to the variety and dynamic nature of the role. As someone who always wants to be busy, this role allows me to work with lots of different people, face new and difficult challenges, and finally experience diverse business cultures and environments.
These facets of the job will mould and shape my career; and are applicable to any future role I may find myself in!

What gives you the greatest satisfaction in your role?

Prior to coming to Australia, previous roles included leading projects at Clarks, a well-known global footwear brand, and a brief role in the UK Royal Air Force Reserves. Both these experiences involved me working with people, all with the aim of achieving a common goal.
The fact I can continue to do this every day with MetaPM and the clients we work with, makes working for a living worth it!

What’s one interesting thing about you that not many people know of?

I’ve got ginger hair … turns out you get stick in Australia too. 🙂