Can you explain what you do to an elementary schooler?
A few years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to. I could barely explain what I do to a fully-grown adult
🥴
But when I was invited to speak at the Great American Teach-In at my daughter's school, I planned it out in less than a day.
HOW did I explain Project Management to a bunch of elementary schoolers? With food, of course!
😅
To explain what a PM does, I gave them a project to complete: Build the most Amazing, Yummy Burger by dinnertime.
And then we walked through each step:
1. Define the project.
What makes an Amazing, Yummy Burger, and what does “dinnertime” mean?
2. Determine your materials.
What ingredients do you need? What will you cook with?
3. Sort your resources.
How much time do you need? Which trusted adult will drive you to the store and help buy your materials?
4. Sort your budget, get your mula.
Go to your (imaginary) boss and say, “Hi boss, I’m the PM on the Amazing, Yummy Burger Project, and after pricing out the materials, here’s how much we need.”
($60, in case you were wondering – this turned into one fancy burger)🍔
5. Gather your materials...and avoid scope creep.
“At the supermarket,” they ran into a display of delicious-looking Rice Krispy squares.
I told them, you may want them, and everyone else may be telling you to get them. But you can’t, or you won’t have enough for materials.
Side note: I pulled out the book “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie,” and the kids recognized that darn mouse would just want more.
I explained this is called SCOPE CREEP. Which meant they’d gotten distracted from their goal.
6. Review the process, complete it, and do a final check.
Time to cook and plate your burger, then check you’ve met your requirements.
Now tell your boss, “Hey boss, we met our project goals and built an Amazing, Yummy Burger by dinnertime.”
✅ Amazing, Yummy Burger Project was a success!
The kids got a kick out of it, and I got to see how much my confidence had grown.
Plus, when when we were done, I told them about more projects they could manage independently, like homework.
🥭 How would YOU describe your job to a 7-year-old?