Experience matters
I first became exposed to the role of program manager when I was working in France. At that point in my career, I had worked as a software engineer, product manager, and technical support engineer and also spoke both French and English. I was asked to take on the role of technical program manager that required me to guide the delivery of product features from initiation to launch, collaborating as needed across product areas, functions, and regions. It was a perfect blend of my skill sets. When you have a room full of people each with their own motivations and differing views about how to approach a problem, it’s helpful to know what is motivating that product manager, or what the engineering lead is thinking, as I did, when you’re trying to get people aligned and moving in the same direction. I always encourage people to be open to considering other roles to get that first-hand experience. It’s not required to be a successful program manager but it sure helps.
Lowering your bar
Several years ago, I was elected president of a non-profit organization. There were 12 board members only two of whom were from the technology industry. I approached my role with enthusiasm, using the same high bar that I had cultivated in the tech industry where the stakes are much higher and the timeframes more condensed. After the first two board meetings, the other board member from the tech world, entrepreneur and product leader Elisa Rossi asked if I had time for lunch. We met up over a nice meal where she gently suggested that perhaps I might consider lowering my bar a little, that I was coming on a bit strong. It was fine for the tech industry she explained, but not so much when dealing with unpaid volunteers running a non-profit. It was such great advice that I put immediately to use and have applied many times since then. And even within a tech company, everyone’s bar is different. Program managers are so often type A personalities and set high bars for themselves. I’ve learned to adjust that high bar up or down as needed, which allows for a better work/life balance.
Sharing program status — a delicate dance
Program managers will tell you that writing status reports can be tricky, especially when things aren’t going so well. But the status needs to be shared with stakeholders regardless, and program team members shouldn’t view a yellow or red status as a black eye. Despite the hard work of the team, and with all of a program manager’s careful planning and risk mitigation, sh*t happens! And you have to keep stakeholders informed. Just make sure the status also includes what the team is doing to get things back on track. With some pre-emptive communications, your stakeholders will understand and then you can get the team focused on getting back to green.
When bad news can be a good thing
“I don’t like being disappointed, but I really hate being surprised” said Bill Finch, then Engineering manager at HP. I was a new product manager, in only my second job out of college, and was meeting with him to update him on the team’s progress. The news wasn’t good. We were going to need to delay the release, but we had enough time to react, communicate with our key stakeholders and re-adjust launch plans. I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news but knew that the sooner I told him, and everyone involved in the endgame, the better. It was a great lesson to learn so early on in my career. I’ve lived by his words many times since then and never regretted it.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Program management is about enabling others to do the things they’re good at to achieve program success. As program manager, you definitely shouldn’t be doing the work yourself, even “just this once” to get things over the line. It’s critical that the business hold up their end of the bargain and contribute subject matter expertise. And you need to let them! Your job is to drive the train forward, not prepare the food, maintain the engine, and validate tickets. It’s not possible for one person to do everything. It takes a team of people, each with their area of expertise, aligned on the end goal and working efficiently and collaborating well, in order to move a program forward. Your real value is in getting others to do things.
It’s back-to-school season
If you’re one of the lucky ones, when you joined your company as a program manager, you went through several weeks of onboarding. There you learned a variety of things ranging from your company’s program management methodology to what tools were at your disposal and where to store all of the artifacts you use when driving a program forward. I hope you learned practical skills like risk management and understanding meeting management best practices, which can vary significantly by company. Once you’re up and running and feeling good about the impact you’re having, it’s a good idea to think about how you’ll ensure that your learning continues as you progress in your role. There are great courses available on topics such as influencing without authority, effective communication skills, and becoming a trusted advisor. As students head back into the (virtual) classroom and you realize you haven’t yet spent your annual professional development budget, you might think about what training you can sign up for to enhance your program management skill set.
An art, not a science
One of my program management leads commented to me this week that she was explaining to her engineer husband how program management is an art rather than a science. I couldn’t agree more! Of course being skilled at creating a good schedule and writing clear status reports are important qualities. These can be easily learned in a class or from your manager. A solid understanding of the business is also key. That said, the soft skills required to be a truly effective program manager are the keys to success in the role. Building relationships with team members and stakeholders. Being empathetic so you care about someone else’s problem. Really knowing how to listen to (and not just hear) what a concerned team member is saying. Having the finesse to drive alignment in a meeting full of people each with their own agendas. Knowing how to push team members just enough to get the job done but have them still invite you for coffee in the end. This is NOT science, people! It’s truly an art to do these things really well, and I tip my hat to the very talented and wonderful program managers at Zendesk who practice their art each and every day!
It takes two
Every member of a team has a specific role to play. They’re assigned that role because, well, it’s their job, but also because that’s what they’re good at! If program managers ensure everyone is playing the right role, and doing it well, there’s a better chance the program will succeed. What happens if someone oversteps? Or drops the ball? Neither is a good thing. If a program manager oversteps, don’t be surprised if the business lead then drops the ball. The partnership between these two people must be super-effective. And the onus is on the program manager who is responsible for driving the program forward to a successful outcome. If, for example, someone asks a program manager for a general presentation on program goals and customer requirements, the program manager should reach out to the business lead and have them do the presentation. A program manager with “helper” tendencies may tend to just jump in instead, because they can or to save the business lead time. But in so doing, they’re enabling their business lead to be less accountable. A program manager can talk about the program, sure, but not as well as the business lead, whose job it is to do that and who is usually more suited to the task. That’s okay, nobody can do everything well! And let’s face it — program managers prefer and are better at talking about program timelines, interdependencies, and risk mitigation. If you as a program manager overstep and then complain that your business lead isn’t stepping up, you may have yourself to blame.
What summer vacation has to do with OKRs
Summer is the time for road trips — even this summer, although they’ll likely be shorter, in an RV, and will involve lots of disinfecting wipes. When you decide to take a trip, you get your family members aligned on the purpose of the trip and what will make it a success. And based on that, you’ll determine what needs to be done to make it happen (reserve the RV, pack the bags, plan the menus, etc.) Would you instead set out with 3-yr old twins, no destination in mind, no idea what will make your family say it was the best vacation ever, and then no real plan for how to make it happen? Of course not. It’s much the same in a business setting, when such important things as customer satisfaction and company revenues are at stake. Setting goals and desired outcomes help program managers know what programs need to be put in place to successfully achieve them.
Less is more
I’ve never been a big process person. I know that sounds strange, given that I’m a program manager and often we’re the ones in the position of putting processes in place to make things run better. But when I started the Program Management Office at Zendesk, where I work, I started it in Product Development. Having spent 10 years as a software developer myself, I think that experience was formative — I wanted to get right to the business of creating things and not complicate my life with a bunch of annoying processes. Perhaps it’s that, but I think it has more to do with not wanting to waste people’s valuable time. I don’t get excited about process. Rather, I get excited about solving problems and making things run better. If that means putting a process in place, great. But when I do that, I prefer taking an iterative approach so that I can try out a new process just enough to prove that it works end to end. If it’s all it was cracked up to be, and it solves the problem, then let’s go a little further next time. And the time after that. I’d rather have the teams I support as a program manager coming to me and saying, “Wow, this new process really helps. Could we have more?” Wishful thinking, perhaps — but hey, a girl can dream!
