Eying a C-Suite Role?

Break Into Program Management

Becky Flint

Program Manager Group

Dedicated to the growth and support of program managers (and their friends)

Dragonboat

Complete roadmap execution platform enables teams to work smarter and achieve results faster

becky@dragonboat.io

dragonboat.io/

My Journey

CEO co-founder

VP Product Programs

VP Biz Ops, VP TPM

Head of PMO

Head of PMO

Group Product Manager

Program Manager

Project Manager

Product Consultant

Startup TPM

MBA Finance

LinkedIn/in/BeckyFlint

Program Manager

PMO Manager

Director/ VP PMO

Principal Program Manager

Project Manager/ Scrum Master

Chief of Staff to CXO

Scrum backlogsEnd to end projects (from idea to go to market)

Roadmaps for Product Line/ Business Units+ People & Local Process

Portfolio of product lines/ portfolio + company-wide processes

Programs & Roadmap for a Product Area

Large programs

COO /CPO/ CTO/CIO/ CEO

The Leadership Pipeline for Project Program Management

Portfolio

Program

Project

How do you lead Portfolio, Program and Projects?

Who Horizon Activities Units

VP/ Dir PgM 6-12 month

(quarterly check-in)

Set /align Strategy

Months & team

Sr. PgM 2-6 month

(bi/ weekly check-in)

Roadmap execution

Weeks & team

Product owner Scrum Master Project Manager

1-2 Sprints

(daily standup)

Tasks Days or points & individuals

What Does Program Manager deliver?- Connect Strategy and Execution for Outcome

Top down

Bottoms up

Cross functional

Product features

People/teams

Cross functional activities

Deliver Projects

Achieve Program Goals

Portfolio Allocation for Outcome

Visibility Alignment Outcome

What do (some) others think Program Manager do?

Director of Product from a prominent Product Blog https://productsthatcount.com/resources/blog/brilliant-product-director-on-demystifying-product-management/

IterativeResponsive

Strategic Execution

ResourcesTime

Outcome

Program Management Drives Outcome - Like in All Leadership Roles

ROI$$

MoAR

Metrics on Available Resources

Agile Program Management: SAFe, Scrum @Scale, Double Diamond

Program Iteration

Align + Allocate

Team Iteration

Build + Learn

EPICs ⇒ Tasks

Learning + Feedback

Goals ⇒ EPICs

Where should Program Manager spend her time and brain power?

Automate

Simplify

Goal and Strategy focused

Horizon and unit appropriate

Allocation

Problem solving

Measurable

Learning & Insights

Visibility Alignment Outcome

Member Question 1 How do you handle competing demands from other teams?

1. Build a prioritization frameworka. Intake b. Cadencec. Define Roles and responsibilities d. Use the right measure: MoAR - metric on available resources (vs. ROI - return on investment)e. Prioritization is not linear, it’s about allocation (portfolio of product, portfolio of goals)

2. Be the Expert on the Six elements of a good execution roadmapa. Impactb. Effortc. Resourcesd. Dependenciese. Deadlinef. Time in market

Product ManagementCEO of the Product

External Focused

Vision + Strategy

CustomersMarketsImpacts

Program ManagementCOO of the Business

Internal Focused

Strategic Execution

Initiatives People

Processes

Member Question 2

Program Manager

PMO Manager

Director/ VP PMO

COO /CPO / CTO /CIO / CEO

Principal Program Manager

Project Manager/ Scrum Master

Sr. Product Manager

Product Manager or Product Owner

VP Product Manager

Chief of Staff to CXO

Group / Dir. Product Manager

Program Management and Adjacent Career Path

Other adjacencies: Business operations, Marketing operations, Sales operation

Product led growth

Rise of technology startups

Ever faster Speed of Change

More Distributed Teams

More Temporary/ On demand Teams

Confused Agile and Silo’s

Outdated $ driven practice of Portfolio

Management (PPM)

The Opportunity and Demand For Program Management

The number of technology based startups surged 47% in the last decade

It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it….

Automate busy work such as status reports

Focus on strategic impact - align for outcome

Focus on strategic effort: Create alignment for outcome

Takeaways

The art of program management is to achieve/ optimize outcome through and with team

Every leadership role needs program management skills

Visibility + Alignment ⇒ Outcome (More than what you do, how you do it matters!)

You are in Demand! Take advantage of it!

Appendix

Product Team 1

Product Team 2

Product Team 3 Product Team 4

Program 2

Program Management - X Shaped Connector

Marketing Customer Success Legal HR

Program 3

FinanceSales

Program 1

T shaped: Specialist capable working with cross functional teams

X shaped: Generalist working with cross functional teams & multiple functional teams

From Program Management to C-suite

Lead the Complete Strategic Planning and Execution Process

Strategy

KPI

Portfolio Roadmap

Portfolio Progress

internal/ external inputs

Issue mgmt & communication

Roadmap DeliveryEvaluate & Prioritize Themes

Define objectives & key metrics (OKR)

PMO establishes & leads the process

PMO establishes & facilitates the process