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![]() What did we use to track task progress, risks, and any other issues? Remember that there was no email, no instant messaging, and no web-based project management tools like LiquidPlanner (gasp!) available. Then each division had 45-minute daily staff meetings and each counselor left the meeting with specific tasks assigned to him/her. The senior staff met for about ten minutes each day (does this sound like your team?) to run through the day’s schedule and make sure there were no conflicts with meeting spaces or requests for specialty staff. So where’s the project management in all of this? The summer was our “project” and making sure it was a fun, healthy, and safe one was our goal. It was a great way for the 16-year-olds to take ownership of their summer. ![]() My group of counselors and I would come up with ideas for programs first, then when the kids arrived, we’d break them into planning groups and plan programs together. There were also blocks of time during the daytime and evening that were purposely left open for our group to create programming. There were blocks of time for group activities, and special interest groups like Art, Woodworking, Sailing, Dance, etc. We would have a general idea of what needed to get done, but not a lot of details about how it would all happen. In the beginning, our activity schedule was a clean slate. Sounds crazy, right? Well, let me tell you a little bit about how our summer went. I started as a bunk counselor for around twenty 16-year-old girls, then moved up a few years later to become the Division Head for all eighty 16-year-old boys and girls and the ten college student counselors assigned to them. I usually bring up this experience when I am interviewing for a new job because, as ironic as it may seem, my summer camp job prepared me for project management better than any fancy-sounding internship could have. ![]() Me? I worked at a sleep-away camp in the Midwest, throughout and even after college. When I was in college, many of my friends got fancy-sounding internships or went traveling to other countries for jobs that made their resume sparkle. Then I got older and started working summer jobs, and not to say those weren’t good times, but they were often very intense and challenging. Now that the summer is here, it’s hard not to reminisce about lazy childhood summers the neighborhood swim club, the ice cream truck, and good times at the beach or on the playground.
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