Augustine Matovu

I have worked on many important projects throughout my career. What’s really crucial for me when starting one is to get very clear on the goals right at the start and then create a plan with milestones. I also like dealing with the most difficult parts of the projects early on—that way in case there are any significant issues, I’ll still have a nice amount of time to complete before the deadline. I also typically break down large tasks into smaller chunks, so that it is easier to know where to start. Detailed planning is very important to ensure an important project goes smoothly. For example, last year I was in charge of supervising the audit of funds managed by Malaria Consortium. In order to get project completed, I found out who the key stakeholders were and got their input on the project’s different parts. Then, I outlined the major milestones that would be involved in completing the project, and worked backwards to break down the work that would need to be done at each stage. I created a list of all possible risks that might stop us from reaching those milestones, and I then added some extra time to the schedule in case anything unexpected came up. I also made sure that my role and responsibilities in the project were as clear as possible so I knew exactly what I had to do together with my audit team.