Technical Program Manager

Projected Time

30-45 minutes

Prerequisites

In General you will need following to be a Technical Program Manager:

• Technical Competency
• Project/Program Management & Agile Experience
• Past Experience in Handling & Leading Development Teams

Motivation

• Better Estimates
• Add Value to Other Parts of the Project
• Be the Link Between Development and the Business

Objectives

Participants will be able to:

• Create and maintain a project plan with tasks and estimates
• Communicate with both IT and business stakeholders
• Risk management and escalation
• Manage scope

Specific Things to Learn

• What is TPM ?
• Career Path
• Work Responsible for
• Challenges

Materials

• Techtonica Slides
• TPM Overview

Lesson

What is a TPM?

TPM stands for “technical program manager” a team that manages the coordination of business decisions and leads design through the implementation of the infrastructure.

Career Path

1. Technical Program Manager
2. Technical Program Manager II
3. Technical Program Manager III
4. Principal Technical Program Manager
5. Sr. Principal Technical Program Manager

Technical Program Manager (TPM) is Responsible for:

• Enabling the team to launch various features
• Leads the sprints, gathers requirements from the product managers
• Sets up architectural reviews with teams consuming the service
• Helps out in on-call and escalation

Types of Technical Program Managers

• Front End
• Backend
• Integration
• Business Intelligence
• ERP
• Localization
• Hardware
• Data Center
• Process
• Security
• Cloud TPM
• UI/UX

Perhaps the biggest advantage to being a technical project manager is having the ability to fill the communication gap between the development team and the business team.

This can manifest itself in many ways:

• Describing how individual development components relate to the big picture for an organization
• Ensuring the business team understands why certain technical decisions were made along with the benefits and trade-offs
• Explaining to the business why a requirement may not be technologically feasible but here are some alternatives

What Now?

So now you’re convinced that you should become a technical project manager – but how?

1. Take Time to Understand Your Project/Product.
2. Learn to Code on Your Own.
3. Build Something on your Own.

Challenges

• Lack of loyalty in employees and corporate bosses.
• Evolution of Technology.
• Globalism in HR.
• Self Image and Proper Restraint.

Common Mistakes / Misconceptions

• Tech Project Manager is only skilled in project management
• Tech Project Manager Job is to create reports/ Gantt charts
• No role for Tech Project Manager in Agile context
• Tech Project Manager role is the same across the organisation

Independent Practice

Try to manage or lead a project in your current organization or your team.

Check for Understanding

• Are you able to manage or lead the project?
• Can you deliver project on time?
• Can you Plan for problems and potential conflicts?

Supplemental Materials

• TPM wiki - Use it as a reference.
• Program management roles - Use it to understand the roles.