Laura Crouzieres – Project Manager- Space Between

Laura Crouzieres is currently a project manager for Space between , and even though she has a degree in Criminology and Sociology she found herself interested in the technology aspect of things.

She talks about her career path and exciting projects she has for the future.

Tell us a little bit about how you found this career path:

I started at Space Between at the beginning of 2019 and have been
focusing mainly on delivering new and exciting software for our
customers. I was first exposed to the world of project management back in 2011 where I managed projects for a company that provided nursery management software. Having a degree in Criminology, I didn’t even know what software was, let alone how you managed tech projects, however I learnt fast and developed a real love for being part of the team to provide an intuitive software solution that was going to make such a difference to people’s work life. Since then I have worked for several companies in both a product and project manager role and I am continuously learning and being amazed at what technology allows us to do today!

What do you enjoy most about managing technology projects:

For me, I love seeing a concept come to life. It still amazes me to this day, that someone can design a fab idea on paper and the brilliant team I work with can take that idea and turn it into a piece of software that hundreds, if not thousands of people will use every day in their life to make things that little bit easier for them. Knowing that I have helped deliver a solution to a customer that is exactly, if not better than what they wanted and seeing it out there being used, makes my job so worthwhile.

Can you tell us about some of your exciting technology projects:

We have so many exciting projects on the go at the moment, it’s hard to know where to start! In the essence of going green, the team has produced a mobile app for all of our customers branches for potential candidates to use and register with, reducing the need for multiple paper forms. There are many advantages of this app including the aforementioned benefits to the environment but also it is a huge time saving and error reducing piece of functionality as now there is no need for someone to then duplicate what was on the form into the CRM, as the app automatically inputs it straight there.

We also have a really interesting project ongoing where the possibilities of where the software can go are endless. We are creating a members portal which will allow candidates to create a profile, upload specific information, receive relevant notifications etc. This portal will eventually be the hub of our customers business and we already have so many ideas for what the future phases of this project could be!

What kind of areas of technology does you role expose you to:

As previously mentioned we have multiple projects on the go that evolve various areas of technology including web app and custom web app development, website development and mobile and tablet applications. Depending on what area of technology is being used for a project, the upfront planning and technical architecture has to be adapted slightly however the managing of the project stays relatively the same. At Space Between we use an Agile methodology for projects, utilising the Kanban approach.

Tell us a bit about your extracurricular interests:

I am captain of a ladies netball team in Ashford. We play every week and I absolutely love it, I get such a buzz from playing and when we win it’s just the icing on the top. It’s such a fab team sport and I have met such lovely women from playing and can call them all my good friends. We often meet up outside of netball and do our next favourite thing – dancing!

I also volunteer at the RSPCA, some people may call me a crazy, cat lady! I am a Home Visitor which means I get to go meet the lovely people who wish to adopt a cat or a dog and just make sure they and their environment are right for the animal. Once they have been approved, I get to go back a couple of months later just to see how they are getting along – this is my favourite part as I then get to have lots of lovely furry cuddles!