Joanne has immersed herself into the business and taken advantage of our great benefits, like our volunteering days. She’s also made a great start in her role, coaching team members and leading a brilliant team in our finance department.
Six months in, what can you tell us?
My first six months in the business flew by, as a new joiner to BT Group there is a lot to learn and lots of different units and acronyms to get your head around. My first few weeks were spent meeting colleagues, largely virtually and then I attended the corporate induction. Everyone I have interacted with so far has been extremely helpful and incredibly supportive, there is lots of opportunity to join networks and take part in on site events.
What made you want to join BT Group as a Unify Programme Tech Lead?
The Unify Programme is an exciting programme to be part of and allows me to work with several areas and units to broaden my knowledge of BT Group. I know people who worked at Three Snowhill (our Birmingham office) and they all had lots of positives to say about the business. So, when the external recruitment event was announced last summer, I was keen to attend to see what roles were available and how I could use my skills and previous experience within the organisation.
I also knew that joining such a diverse company could help me further my career – there were lots of opportunities at the event and it was great to sit down with the teams and understand which roles would be right for me.
One of the things that impressed me were all the support mechanisms available within BT Group from people networks, health and well-being initiatives, and volunteering opportunities.
What are your key responsibilities as a Unify Programme Tech Lead?
Every day is different in my role as PMO Lead for the Unify Programme, since joining I have primarily been looking at the end-to-end processes within the PMO, listening to customer feedback, coaching the PMO team, reviewing our programme governance model and touchpoints with stakeholders and ensuring we have consistency and quality in what we deliver to all our stakeholders across the business.
I’ve been able to change key processes and bring in automation to help us be efficient in delivering key project information to our stakeholders across the business. Over the last few months our MTP (medium term planning) process has been high priority for the programme to ensure we have the correct funding for the programme moving forwards, this has seen myself and the team work with various stakeholders from right across the business to ensure we are making the right choices for all.
I’m also leading on comms for the programme and working closely with the communications team to ensure we use all the tools available to us.
What skills do you believe are important in helping you succeed in your role?
The ability to quickly adapt. Good communication skills and the ability to build relationships. Being able to listen to and take on feedback and finally, paying attention to detail.
You used your volunteering days to support the Home-Start charity, can you tell us more about this?
I saw the opportunity to be in involved with Homestart on the BT Group internal Workplace page, there was a request for volunteers to be ‘Lead Elves’ – supported by time off for volunteering. At BT Group colleagues can take off three working days per year to support a charity of their choice.
We joined an initial call and then were allocated a local Homestart branch to work with, for the Snowhill elves that was Homestart Birmingham Northwest. HomeStart offers locally trained volunteers to provide emotional and practical support to families in their own homes and targeted support for families who need short-term intervention, for very specific needs aiming to build resilience, promote family independence and where appropriate, break the cycle of dependency.
The Festive Give volunteer opportunity was all about delivering festive cheer and a target to provide presents to around 160 children. As one of the lead elves for Snowhill we undertook events during November 2022 such as raffles, cake sales, drop off points and wrapping sessions – we collected nearly 500 gifts and had a lovely afternoon taking these to the team at Homestart.
What opportunities have you been given with the finance team at BT Group?
There are lots of opportunities to learn and grow within finance at BT Group, my experience within the team so far has showed me a supportive team ethic with great managers who support you both personally and professionally. The hybrid working is great for work life balance.
Can you tell us what you enjoy most about our new office in Birmingham?
The office is in a fantastic location for commuting and for access to the shops and bars in the city centre, the office itself has some great facilities – MK Health Gym, a restaurant, coffee shop, and lots of activities organized by the host team such as charity events, raffles, and bingo. There is lots of flexibility to move around and mix up your day and people you interact with as you have the chance to hot desk.
