You’re already working in the industry so you are a bit different to the majority of other researchers in the cohort who are PhDs. Tell me a little bit about your role and how have you applied your learning from the Code-Switch programme to your current role?

My role is Head of Strategy at Arts Council Malta, the national arts council, which is a public sector organisation which aims to support the cultural sector in Malta. I work with a team of experts in different fields of the culture sector from a cultural policy point of view, whose work includes the delivery of research projects and part of my job involves managing and overseeing that work. In my professional capacity, I have contributed towards the commissioningof research, coordinating and evaluating the tenderswhereby I act as a representative ofthe client.

Whereas, in the Code-Switch programme we were the research consultants providing a service to our own client which gave me a new perspective. For example, it improved my understanding of the issues that can arise if a client changes their aims suddenly, or if there is a lack of clarity and shared understanding of the project, and a whole range of issues which can impact decisions, approvals, approaches and delivery timeframes. At the same time as the Code-Switch programme, I was coordinating a tender for consultancyrequiring focus groups and interviews in my professional capacity.

So, at the same time as I was providing consultancy through Code-Switch, I was managing research consultancy at work together with my team. It really helped me to understand how to breakdown the work better from a project management perspective and understand certain needs and potential risks that might come up.

As a PhD researcher, time is not so pressured. You obviously have time constraints, but it’s your own thing, it’s an intrinsic thing that you do to expand knowledge. However, with researchin the context of consultancy, there is a lot at stake and a lot of people are depending on the work. You are still expanding knowledge but the research is utilitarian and has a clear end goal which is aligned with to business objective – there is a business case for the work. There is a difference between being a researcher in the purely academic sense and researching for consultancy. It changes the pressures around scope, timeframes and decision-making because, as a researcher, you have the autonomy to make more decisions about what to do, what to expand on and new concepts to explore within certain parameters.

Within consultancy, however, you need to be clear with clients about where something starts and finishes and how what you are proposing links to the achievement of the agreed objectives because each hour costs money, basically, and, you’re being paid to deliver something according within an agreed timeframe. So you have to be more specific upfront and this helped me in my thinking about how to improve performance both as a client or commissioner of research and as a research consultant. It gave me a good lens through which to look at research projects, especially from the functional perspective.

Something that has been important to me as a researcher is the project management learning which is influencing how I am now approaching the planning of my research. I am thinking more clearly about how to break my research down into chunks of work, assessing delivery timeframes and documenting the project plan. It has highlighted the importance of the project management side of things in research, which I did not give too much importance to before in my research where I am my own boss, but it really makes a difference.

For me, it was enjoyable because I learned something new and it was a bit of a break from my usual reading from a research perspective, and sometimes you need that. And, at the same time, it wasn’t too difficult to grasp so, in a matter of a few weeks, I was quite familiar with the industry, the client’s products and services and those of competitors. The project was also about a topic I’m interested in, digital services, so it didn’t feel like too strenuous and, yes, it was enjoyable.

Obviously, in the beginning, when you have no idea what you will be doing and it was completely new territory, it felt a bit overwhelming. But, once you make a start, get to grips with the consultancy framework, and work with your team and the client to understand the really key elements, it starts to take shape and your confidence increases.

Mainly because it’s real! You are dealing with an actual client with an actual project and what you are doing will determine actual business decisions and actions. There is nothing fictitious, like in most other training programmes. It is professional training, coaching and consultancy experience at the same time which you can add to your C.V.

I had actually done the PRINCE2 project management certification in 2019 as well, prior to joining the Code-Switch programme. Code-Switch does not strictly use PRINCE2 but it uses a lot of the concepts so the programme brought that training to life for me and showed me how things look and work in reality, for example how to analyse and manage risk. So, it was really valuable to see certain things that I’ve previously learned about in theory being applied in practice and actually doing it myself.

I would say, yes you have a lot going on but you will manage to find the time. The time commitment is quite realistic in terms of how it is planned and takes into consideration the realities of PhD students and researchers. The existing skills you’ll apply in the project will be useful for your own research and potentially positively influence your own research, as in my case. In addition, you’ll develop valuable new skills and get some consultancy experience under your belt which is not something you easily get from strictly academic engagement. So, it’s a win-win situation I guess.