In my previous article about what a PM does I talked about contracts. While I didn't mean contracts in the literal sense of a legally binding document the best PM groups I've worked with do produce a specific set of documents which serve to record what has been agreed to, track status and help to identify and resolve problems. Below I walk through those documents and what their purpose is.
Continue reading Tools of the Software Program Manager Trade
Asking what a program manager (PM) does in the software industry is a bit of a trick question because so many different and only tangentially related positions are called PM. So I can't provide a universal answer but I can explain what the PM groups I have worked with over the years have done/do. The short answer is that we are the conduit between the core Development team (e.g. Development/Test/PM) and the rest of the known universe. Our job is to bring data from the outside world in, bring the core Development team's ideas out to the world, negotiate a "contract" between the two as to who is to do what/when and then be held personally responsible for making sure everyone honors the "contract".
Continue reading What does a software program manager do anyway?