Journey of Forms Syntron’s PM Lead: The Key to Teamwork

Introduction 

I am Chutima Banjongprasan, currently I am a Project Manager Lead where I am looking after several teams in Thailand (delivery teams), work and work with Hong Kong and China Leaders to manage the resources. For the Thailand branch, I basically look over nearly every aspect of the ongoing projects. From the budgets to the resource allocations. I graduated with a masters from Chulalongkorn University, majoring in MIS. It is actually a Finance and Accounting faculty but I specialized in IT for the business sector during my studies. 

When I was a fresh graduate, I did have an experience being a developer (Java Developer) for about 4 years, where I came to realize that it wasn’t my thing. I liked communicating and working with a lot of people as well as the managerial work. This is also why I chose project management.

Before I joined Forms Syntron, I previously worked as a Managing Consultant at Capco. They are pretty similar in terms of the work itself, but I also had the chance to make pitches and communicate with customers in terms of the issues they wanted solved back at Capco.  At Forms I make proposals, manage big projects and look after several teams in general as I am now classified as the “Lead” here. 

Forms Syntron

FORMS International (Thailand, HK & China) is a cross-border FinTech Thought Leader, Incubator and Enabler for businesses, the eco-system and the industry. They are serving financial institutions in Thailand, Hong Kong and overseas.

Why Did You Choose Forms Syntron/ FinTech?

I have tried numerous industries throughout my career. In the perspective of Project Management, the skills and basics for each industry are not much different. No matter what market you are in, the basis of project management will not change, it is just that you will have to apply it to the domain knowledge of each industry. But I am fascinated by how fast the trends of each industry changes which is one of the reasons why I moved industries a lot and  since Fintech is one of the growing fields, I became interested in it and stumbled upon Forms Syntron.

As for Forms Sytron, the culture here has a combination of the Thai and International working style. I really enjoy an open culture where members express their opinions regardless of age, gender or status. We get to work closely with the Hong Kong and China branch which broaden my horizons even more on not only the project managing aspects but how to deal with people, develop my juniors and allocate resources better as a Lead. 

The Best Team Environment From the Perspectives of a “Team Lead”

“Be confident to speak. People work as a team and never alone. No matter you age or status in the workplace, I believe everyone can share. I guarantee you positive outcomes.”

Sometimes seniors with higher levels are not always right. Juniors with younger and fresher minds can also contribute with valuable ideas that people in the team may not have thought of before. It is important that as a leader, we listen to every opinion, and take every view into consideration. Not only it opens more options to the team, but it also keeps the motivations of the younger members, giving them a sense of belonging. 

This might be controversial but from my experience, our (Thailand) culture is quite conservative compared to other countries. Majority of the juniors I have trained do not really speak out their minds. People won’t know if you don’t say. As a leader, I advise everyone to grow your confidence and to really understand the importance of communication. On the other hand, if you are a leader, listen and trust. 

Any Advice for People Who are Working Towards Being a PM?

A Project Manager has to know how to manage people. But there are also different parts to ‘people’ whether it’s in-house where it requires a different kind of leadership. From my experience, in-house tasks are a little more flexible than external clients since we know our working style which may need skill sets like adaptability. Whereas communicating with outsourcers or vendors may require another kind of adaptability that allows you to work under pressure with persistence.

How Do You See FinTech in 5-10 Years?

As everyone might see, the Digital Currencies are the fastest growing trends ever these days. However, I believe that the growth in Thailand will definitely be slower compared to other countries, but I don’t think it will die down. The place where digital money will definitely shine is the ‘Metaverse’. After Covid-19, the virtual world has become more common and transactions in that world will definitely be through FinTech. 

“Even though the growth here in Thailand might be slower, it will be quicker than you think. For all juniors out there, embrace this change if you are interested in the Future of Finance. I guarantee the fun of it.”

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