A Practical TPM: Hands-on Technical Program Management

This lecture, I discuss the role of a Technical Program Manager (TPM), backgrounds of people in this role, and their designations.  The lecture includes a thorough review of the key responsibilities of a TPM. We will also look at the differences between TPMs and Project Managers and how to transition into a TPM role.

In this lecture , we review the common challenges faced by TPMs and how to handle them.  The challenges addressed include:

1. Lack of credibility or authority

2. Dependencies not prioritized

3. Disruptions

4. Unrealistic expectations

5. Inadequate resource or budget allocation

6. Scope creep

In this lecture, we review the common challenges faced by TPMs and how to handle them.  The challenges addressed include:

1. Risk management

2. Unclear goals or misalignment

3. Politics (Ethical/Unethical)

How to acquire or sharpen the following soft skills:

1. Strategic Thinking

2. Decision Making

3. Influencing Others

How to acquire or sharpen the following soft skills:

1. Motivating Your Team

2. Navigating Ambiguity

3. Playing the Political Game

How to acquire or sharpen the following soft skills:

1. Learning to Say No

2. Stakeholder Management

In this lecture, we review the list of technical skills needed to increase your impact as a TPM and how to acquire them.

How to choose the right program management framework. A comparison between the most popular Agile frameworks at scale.

In this lecture, we review tips for a successful program kick-off including best practices around scope definition.

This lecture covers:

1. How to choose a work management platform

2. Backlog structure and estimation   best practices

3. WSJF: a prioritization method

   
   

In this lecture, we cover:

1. The steps for feature refinement from high level description to architecture , implementation details and stories

2. How to calculate the teams capacity

We review 2 different representations of the Roadmap and do an actual roadmap planning exercise.

We review a release plan in Jira Advance Roadmaps, best practices for release planning and do a release plan for 3 team program.

In this lecture, we cover: 

1. How to represent dependencies

2. How to manage dependencies

3. How to mitigate dependencies

In this lecture, we discuss:

1. The recurrent program meeting agenda

2. Best practices for managing the delivery

We review the 4 categories of activities done by the TPM on a regular basis: 

1. Planning

2. Meetings/communications

3. Focus time

4. Miscelaneous support

   
   

In this lecture, we cover 16 best practices to improve the impact of a TPM within their organization.