Let's Talk About That TPM Role

I've been a Technical Program Manager (TPM) for a little over three months now.

That seems like it's long enough to meaningfully reflect on whether or not it has been some sort of crazy, out-of-control rollercoaster where I am barely holding on for dear life, wondering when it will all stop, and I can just get off and go throw up in the bushes.

Or if it's pretty much what I expected.

The Thing Is, I'm Not Lazy

One of the reasons for why I changed roles was because I was not enjoying the people side of things. I feel like I've already said all I need to about that, so if you're interested in my thoughts on the topic, go have a read of my original reflections.

I can safely say that I have not had to do any of the people stuff in the last month or two, which honestly, has been the best thing ever.

This is exactly what I was hoping from the role change, and honestly, it's nice for something to shake out just the way I was expecting it to for once. Usually there is a catch or a caveat or something, but this time, nope, just freedom.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still quite aware of the people things.

I mean, when your job is to make sure that large and meaningful pieces of work are actually going to get delivered at the level of quality that the business requires, you need to understand quite a lot about the people involved.

But I know that the engineering managers that replaced me have things under control, and that element of disconnection and lack of ultimate accountability are freeing.

It is a symbiotic relationship though, because while I don't have to care too much about the people stuff, they don't have to care too much about the delivery stuff, especially for those large and meaningful pieces of work that I mentioned above.

A problem shared is a problem halved after all.

It's A Problem of Motivation

Not having to manage people is great, but it turns out that doing that job for the last six or so years has left me with some skill and experience gaps in other areas.

Areas that are more important in my new role.

I'm not too worried about the technical acumen pillar. I have a fondness for understanding systems and processes, so I'm still more than capable of meaningfully participating in technical conversations. I don't know if I could architect and design an entire software platform by myself, but I'm pretty sure I won't need to do that anyway.

I'm a little bit concerned about the execution without authority pillar. It's not like I relied on my authority as an engineering manager to make things happen, and I still have plenty of implicit authority thanks to having a lot of experience in our domain, but being fully responsible for organising and executing large pieces of work is definitely a stretch.

The biggest gap for me here is the actual mechanisms of doing that. Things like creating and communicating roadmaps, creating reference documents that make the value proposition clear to both internal and external stakeholders and the tools and processes that need to exist to make those things happen.

I don't think these gaps are deal-breakers, but it's definitely something I'm cognizant of on a day-by-day basis.

The pillar I'm most concerned about is the product sense one. At no point in my career have I been a product manager. I know I need to talk to people, elicit requirements, come up with my own ideas and generally lay out a vision that other people can follow in order to deliver meaningful product increments.

The problem is that I'm a pretty structured person and I like having a model to follow in order to create outcomes. Not knowing how to approach the product management side of things holistically is painful for me. I feel like I'm just fumbling around in the dark, hoping that I hit the right buttons to make something happen.

I'm sure it will get better over time, but in the short-term, it means that I tend to focus on the pillars, which feels unbalanced.

Sometimes I Just Space Out For An Hour

The last reflection I have on the TPM role is that it is pretty intense.

Previously, I was juggling people management with all of the things you would expect a TPM to do; identifying future opportunities, aligning the needs of external teams with the plans of my own, long-range planning for major initiatives, and so on.

Even with the people management side of things subtracted from the equation, I don't seem to be any less busy. The amount of work that I need to do has grown to fill the area available.

I mean, I know I shouldn't be surprised at this, because that's exactly how most jobs work, especially if you're a knowledge worker, but it goes a bit deeper than that.

There is always something that I can get involved in, and those somethings feel like they are important, especially if people are shouting.

But it's hard to tell if they are the most valuable thing I could be doing.

Instead of getting involved in all the things, should I be focusing on just the big things, leaving everything else up to the other people who I work with?

Probably.

I mean that's one of the big reasons why you want a TPM in the first place, so they can keep the big picture in their head while other people focus on the details. After all, you have to have both of those things covered to create the best outcomes.

Of course, it might just be that there is simply too much happening for a handful of engineering managers and a couple of TPM's to handle...

It Still Looks Like I'm Working Though

So, no people management, clear evidence of my own skill and experience gaps and the general feeling that there is too much stuff going on. That's how I would summarise the last few months as a TPM.

In other words, pretty much what I expected.

That's good, because it means I had a good understanding of what I was getting myself into before making the decision to shift.

I have not, as far as I can tell, made a terrible mistake.

I mean, I'd still rather be retired, free to do whatever I want, whenever I want, but that's still a ways away yet.

Not as far as it once was though.