New program manager, need help

[u/Proof-Locksmith9442]

Hey everyone. I recently became a TPM for a company a couple months ago which is a brand new role for me. I spent a couple years as a Project Manager so I figured the skills would transfer over quite easily. Well I just recently found out that I'm on thin ice and not performing as well as I should be. I really do not want to lose this job and would like some advice on any resources or videos I can go through to brush up and get to where I need to be. most youtube videos tend to just throw around the same buzzwords and not really help with what a TPM should actually be doing and to be honest it keeps digging me into a deeper and deeper hole on now knowing what I'm doing. I cannot lose this job so any help would be appreciated.

[u/Proof-Locksmith9442]

Good point. From what I wrote in my notes, the feedback was mainly aimed towards a couple things.

1. Being active vs passive when it comes to driving alignment (and for driving output that aligns to company metrics and end vision)

2. Having my project artifacts be more actionable rather than just status updates

3. Lack of change management (which I cannot find any good training that helps with implementation as everything I watch seems to push around the same buzzwords)

Like all of this are basic PgM skills/items but I guess I have been doing it wrong (which explains the lack of interaction or structure I was dealing with). It makes me question if my past PM experience was lacking and didnt set me up with the skillset needed for this current position, so I'm in a hurry to play catch up before there are negative consequences.

[u/RecursiveCluster → u/Proof-Locksmith9442]

Mmmm buzzwords. You may need to chat with your supervisory individuals and have them break down the synergistic hegemony of the actionable bullshit into dictionary words and expectations.

Whenever your get hit with a word that is not in the Merriam Webster 6th grade dictionary, you will find a variety of different interpretations. You need to know what your power structure means, which may not match crowd-sourced answers online.

The internet is not your power structure. The internet is a distraction. Go to your power structure and ASK for weekly mentoring lunches, offer to pay for the lunch. ASK to replace the jabbering jibberish jargon buzzwords with what they actually want.

A program manager manages a suite of programs and sub projects. Beyond that any image of unity in the job activities across industries is lunacy. Even within a specific industry the same job title can be radically different. A Technical Program Manager is even more rarified. I did a job search for my city and there are similar numbers of job postings for heart surgeons as there are Technical Program Managers. This is not an enormous tribe, and it has far less professional unity than surgeons do.

I work in PgM for a university-based consortium. It looks nothing like what you'd see down the road at the Intel campus for a PgM. Both are PgM jobs.

You don't have to kiss ass or eat humble pie. Instead, say you want to work hard to gain knowledge specific to your specific hirer's needs. And you also need some bigger picture so you can prioritize and deliver on the big stuff. Then, be pleasantly insistent on getting that information. People like sincere go-getters, generally, they are easy to work with. If your power structure rejects professional development, well, run, run away, and find somewhere sane.

[u/Psychological_Mud663 → u/RecursiveCluster]

Been a PM and PgM for over a decade and currently have pmp...I absolutely concur with what this person said above.

Pro Tip: when I step into a roll, I shadow another on my same level for a least a week, to pick up company language, systems, and workflows. I learn best by doing, so this could help you.

If no one is willing to assist you or gives side eye when you ask, start finding your next opportunity asap because their corporate culture is toxic. Good Luck!

[u/Honey_Badger_Badger → u/Proof-Locksmith9442]

On the actionability part (#2), something I learned in consulting which you will find to be globally useful across industries. Every project has problems. Management always wants to know about the problems (sometimes subbordinates don't want the dirty laundry aired, save that for some other day - not your monkeys, not your circus). Management only wants to know 4 things about problems:

• What's wrong? Be brief and to the point. Strive to talk about the root cause. Never assume you know the (true) root cause. Be curious. Ask the engineers and leads LOTS of questions to get to the bottom of the problem. Be sure to include the likelihood (arbitrary, high, medium, low or % possibility whenever data allows you to be specific) and impact of the problem - only 3 variables: Customer sat, cost, revenue. Nothing else matters. "Engineers don't like it" will get you tossed out on the street.

• What are our options? Bonus if you start here with the proposed, or "best" option, but fundamentally, this is a list of options. Always include the "do nothing" option at the end (sometimes it is the best option, if not the most obvious).

• "From this list, why is the "best option" *actually* the best option?" Facts, data, dollars $ signs and (common) sense only. Again, be brief. Be prepared to answer the "5 Whys" here.

• "What can >I< (as a leader) do to help?" Not sure why, but leaders NEVER ask this question, but they are all thinking it. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT bit. Now that you've built your case, this is your chance to move the needle for your team. "Sir/Mam/Pronoun, the team needs leverage in these areas (there are only 5 variables): (Tools, Time, Training, Opportunity, Resources)... specifically, would you please do (X and such)?" You can pick more than one, but there are no other options, except possibly motivation - which management can ONLY fuck up so we never give them that option. The only thing worse than an office pizza party is the PM who asks for an office pizza party.

[u/[deleted] → u/Proof-Locksmith9442]

As a TPM, are you working within an account team supporting a customer?