Hello, todays interview is with Yasmina Khelifi.
Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI- ACP, PMI-PBA is an experienced project manager in the telecom industry. Along with her 20-year career, she sharpened her global leadership skills, delivering projects with major manufacturers and SIM makers. Yasmina strives for building collaborative bridges between people to make international projects successful. She relies on three pillars: her project management skills, the languages she speaks, and her passion for sharing knowledge.
French-native, she can speak German, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and she is learning Arabic. Yasmina loves sharing her knowledge and experiences at work, volunteers at PMI, blogs at projectmanagement.com, and PM Network Magazine. She is also the host and co-founder of the podcast Global Leaders Talk with Yasmina Khelifi to help people in becoming better international leaders.
Yasmina please tell us how did you get into project management and why were you interested?
As a telecom engineer, I began my career, by testing new value-added services at a French telecom operator. After a few years and with the sponsorship of my manager, I applied to a project manager position. It took me courage because I didn’t have strong self-confidence. Becoming a project manager was a life changing decision. I loved it from the beginning: the variety of activities, being able to organize, to build human relationships, to improve the processes, to create new things. Since then, I’ve managed numerous international projects.
In the process, you also have a blog and a podcast, tell us about it?
During the lockdown, I decided to invest my time in an online self-paced course by Dorie Clark on how to become a recognized expert. As part of the course, I have access to an amazing Facebook community where many people have their websites and portfolio. It gave me the energy to develop mine: I wanted to have one place to share my experiences and ideas. During the lockdown, I've also discovered podcasts and thought: "why not try it out?” I was curious to know how it worked and to share my knowledge about international leadership.
In investing your time in trying to build a community with all of these, what has been your experience so far?
You’re right it takes time and effort. My main aim is to spread knowledge as I didn't have specific guidance when I began to work. If it turns out into a lively community, that would be great. So far, It has been an invaluable opportunity to meet global leaders, learn from them, and share their stories. I haven't met personally most people I’ve interviewed so far. I think my knowledge of project management helps me a lot: I explain the project, set the expectations, communicate the final product for go nogo, and define a communication plan in social media.
Beyond the nitty-gritty tasks, I’ve met incredibly generous people with their time and experiences, and I’m looking forward to sharing more stories from global leaders.
Do you have any suggestions for the new project managers getting into this domain?
I will focus on three points.
First, get the confidence to leap into project management: you’ll get the skills for life, useful in any job. Project Management isn't linked to technical jobs. As soon as you work in a team (and who doesn't?) you’ll need to define the roles, functionalities of the products, expectations, planning, and draw on lessons learned.
Second, don’t hesitate to ask people for help and advice. Sometimes we think we will see as incompetent by asking but that’s a way to move forward.
Third, take part in training about project management but also about leadership. Devise your learning strategy. Be a lifelong learner!
Where can the readers find you?
This is where you can find my blogs and podcasts. I have a monthly newsletter about global leadership and also write here. As for social media you can find me in twitter @YasminaKhelifi7 and LinkedIn
Thank You Yasmina.
