A day in the life of...
Steve Parker, technical director and lead developer
Steve Parker is our technical director and lead developer and has been with the company since 2004. He's responsible for the successful planning, execution, monitoring and closure of each project. Here, he gives us an insight into a typical day.
"My days start pretty early as I have two young children. I live locally so can be in the office as early as 7.30 and I am normally in by 8.00 anyway. I like to get in as early as possible, so I can check my email. I like to take care of the emails first as this is the quietest period in my day, and that leaves me free to support the development team and assist our clients during the day.
Once the email is under control I'll typically have a quick meeting with members of staff to sort out their priorities for the day. Our staff work both at home and in the office, so this can be a face to face meeting or a phone call. Once a week we have a team meeting with all staff members where I'll run through the current projects and make sure everything is running to plan. I'll also inform the staff of upcoming projects, so they have a clear view of what they'll be working on next.
Each day is different depending on the size of project we are working on and where we are in the project. A new piece of work will start with planning and scheduling, a large project will involve the coordination of different staff members, including myself. I'm also lead developer so during the project I will typically be working alongside the developers. If a project is nearing completion I will be focusing on delivering smoothly and on time. In a typical day I will also be dealing with telephone calls, emails, and client enquiries as well as being involved in the hands-on development of my own projects.
Keeping a project running smoothly can be a challenge as there are so many variables and considerations, not least accommodating changes in requirements, but I enjoy bringing it all together. Without sounding clichéd, delivering quality work and having happy clients really does make it all worthwhile.
I love training and have gone as far as putting a gym in my garage, so I can nip out for a bit of stress relief at a moment's notice!
It's great to be part of a vibrant, knowledgeable and, above all, passionate team. It all sounds clichéd, but Meantime is really like that. Every day’s a new challenge - accepted, solved and delivered.
"Steve Parker, technical director and lead developer
