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Foundations of PM

This repo houses the notes I made as I completed the Google PM Course.

Course Modules​

Resources​

Templates​

PM Softwares to consider​

  • Azure DevOps

  • ZenHub w/ GitHub

  • Asana

  • Jira

  • Mural (For Virtual Whiteboarding)

  • n8n: Workflow automation (might be good to stitch together services)

Foundations of PM​

Mainly comes down to the following:

  • Organizing

  • Budgeting

  • Communication

Everything else is a derivative of the above, like say team work, which involved communication and organizing.

PM Responsibilities​

  • Planning and Organizing (Gathering Requirements, feedback, creating plans, meetings etc)

  • Managing Tasks (identify, communicate and manage metrics, milestones etc)

  • Budgeting

  • Controlling costs and other factors

More:

  • Hold team members accountable for their assigned tasks.

  • Ensure risks and issues are both tracked and visible with clear priorities and escalation paths.

  • Help the team to adopt the right workflows and PM styles.

  • Collaborate witth other teams and deliver the right solutions under budget.

Core Skills:

  • Enabling Decision Decision-making (Equip everyone with information, plans, action items)

  • Communicating and Escalating (Communicate goals, feedback, escalate issues, solutions, suggestions)

  • Flexibility (be ready for change and correct course when necessary)

    • Assess External constraints: Team member circumstances/status, leaves etc.

    • Plan for risks and challenges: Have backups for all things, failures, drop outs etc.

    • Slack

  • Strong Organizational Skills:

    • Planning and Scheduling Software (Templates, workflows, calendars)

    • Collab tools (Email, dashboards, team software)

    • Docs

    • Quality Assurance Tools (Evaluations, Productivity Trackers, reports)

  • Handling Ambiguity

    • Keep calm

    • Be Empathetic and show it

    • Communicate clearly

    • Make decisions and stick to them (no second guessing)

    • Trust the team

PM Roles​

Introductory Levels:

  • Junior PM: Shadow a senior PM and perform PM task.

  • Project Admin: Assist team with administrative tasks.

  • Project Assistant: Offer support to team in the form of research, training etc.

  • Project Coordinator: Get hands-on with project work and administrative tasks.

  • Project Support Specialist: Most of the above.

Traditional PM Roles:

  • PM

  • Project Analyst: Share info, analyse data, create strategies etc.

  • Project Lead/Director: Core Decision-making and control direction of project.

  • Project Controller: Project Planning.

  • Technical Project Manager.

  • Project Management Office Analyst.

Project vs Program vs Portfolio

Program is a collection of projects. Portfolios are collections of projects and programs across the entire organization.

Operational Management Roles:

Work with various business units and work in tandem to deliver a project/program/portfolio.

  • Operations Analyst: Research, investigate workflows, create procedures, optimize.

  • Operations Manager: Strategic Decision-making and plan of actions.

  • COO

Agile Roles:

  • Scrum Master: Guide the SCRUM team. AKA Tech PM.

  • Product Owner: Drive direction of product development and progress.

Other ways PMs add value:

  • Prioritization

  • Delegation

  • Effective Communication

They're similar to the earlier points and are derivatives of them.

Impacts Include:

  • Focusing on Customer

  • Building a great team

  • Fostering relationships and communication

  • Managing the project (Let the team understand the big picture of the project even if they play a tiny role)

  • Breaking down barriers (find new innovative ways, advocate for them, educate)

Planning and Organizing​

  • Utilize Productivity tools and create processes

  • Create the following:

    • Plans

    • Timelines

    • Schedules

    • Documentation

Track all the above from start to finish of a project on a platform of your choice.

Budgeting and Controlling costs​

  • Monitor and Manage Budget (Spreadsheets)

  • Track issues and Risks (Kanban style ??)

  • Manage Quality

  • Remove barriers (Could be lack of resources, tech debt etc)

Project Tasks are activities that must be accomplished within a set period of time by the team.

  • Controlling Change (Understand the stakeholders' needs, and communicate change in budgets, timelines while also protecting team from rework.)

Creat a doc to track all changes.

  • Empowering the team (Let the make decisions, let them communicate with stakeholders and let them feel trusted and responsible)

Working with Cross Functional Teams​

Teams that consist of diverse set of people in terms of backgrounds, expertise and job functions. It can be a challenge, but only by working with a proper synergy and utilizing their strengths can a project be successfully completed.

  • Clarify Goals (Define expectations, role, budget, timelines and overall place in the project)

  • Build the right team

  • Measure progress (Letting the team know how much they've accomplished is great for morale)

  • Recognize Efforts

Leadership and team dynamics​

Strong interpersonal skills are very important. Influencing without authority, wherein a PM guides the team to complete the work without acting as the boss.

A good relationship with all stakeholders is equally important since it is through them that you get the most information about the vision and goal of the project while also ensuring the team is on the right track.

Some key interpersonal skills:

  • Communication

  • Negotiations (with stakeholders, team or anyone in favour of the project and it's aspects)

  • Conflict Mediation

  • Understanding Motivations

Project Management Life Cycle​

Phases:

  • Initiate (Define goals of the project)

    • Define Project Goals

    • Determine resources, people, and other project details.

    • Get approval

  • Make a plan (Plan on how you'll complete the project)

    • Create a budget

    • Set the Schedule

    • Establish the team

    • Determine roles and Responsibilities

  • Execute and Complete Tasks (Act on plan)

    • Manage the progress (Remove obstacles)

    • Communicate

    • Make adjustments (schedule, budget, tasks)

  • Close Project (celebrate, evaluate and retrospect/reflect)

    • Ensure all tasks have been completed

    • Confirm acceptance of project outcome.

    • Reflect backups

    • Communicate results with stakeholders.

Project Management Methodologies​

Set of guiding principles and processes for owning a project through its life cycle.

  • Linear Methodologies: Previous phase/task must be completed before the next.

  • Iterative: Some of the phases and tasks will overlap or happen at the same time.

Waterfall​

  • When everything is clearly defined

  • Slow to respond and adapt to change

  • More managable when conditions are right.

Agile​

  • Quick iterations

  • Responsive to change

  • Done in pieces

Lean and Six Sigma​

Lean and Six Sigma together make Lean Six Sigma, key aspects:

  • Positive Work Environment

  • Team Collaboration

  • Move quickly through the processes

  • Improve Quality

  • Save money

Phases:

  • Define (Define project goal, similar to initiate phase)

  • Measure (Measure current system to suggest improvements, collect data)

  • Analyze (identify gaps and issues based on data on hand)

  • Improve (present findings and start implementing)

  • Control (learning from the work done before to put up new processes and documentation in place)

Understanding Organizational Structure​

Common Structures:

  • Classic: Also called functional or top-down (Chain of command -> o -> o -> o)

  • Matrix: Grid style, collab with many teams. Multiple chains of commands.

Impacts on PMs

  • Authority (depending on the org structure, you may report to one or more, or have reports from one or more teams)

  • Resource Availability (Accesss to people, equipment and budgets).

Project Management Office​

It is a group within the organization that defines, sets and helps maintain PM standards and processes throughout the organization. It often acts as the coordinated center for all of the org's projects.

Things worked on:

  • Strategic planning and governance

  • Best Practices

  • Common Project Culture

  • Resource Management

  • Creation of project docs, archives and tools

Organizational Culture​

  • Values the employees share, as well as org's values, mission and history.

  • Company's presonality

Knowing it allows for quicker conflict resolution, faster and harmonious project completion.

When a proposal clearly shows how it aligns with the company culture, people will be on board.

Assessing Culture:

  • How does communication happen ?

  • How are decisions made ?

  • Onboarding processes ?

  • How are projects typically run ?

  • What kind of behaviours are reflected by people ?

Navigating the culture:

  • Ask questions

  • Make observations

  • Understand your Impact (Change agent: person from within the org that helps the org transform by focuing on improving the effectiveness and development of the org)

From the Docs:

Ask questions

You can learn about an organization's culture by asking questions of management and peers. It can be helpful to ask these questions in the interview phase to better understand the company’s culture before accepting a position. You might want to ask questions about:

  • Atmosphere

    • What is the company’s dress code?

    • How do people typically share credit at this company?

    • Is risk-taking encouraged, and what happens when people fail?

    • How do managers support and motivate their team?

    • How do people in this role interact with customers and users?

    • When and how do team members give feedback to one another?

    • What are some workplace traditions?

    • What are some of the ways the company celebrates success?

  • Policies

    • What are the policies around sick days and vacation?

    • Does the company allow for employee flexibility (e.g., working from home, flexible working hours)?

    • What policies are in place that support employees sharing their identity in the workplace?

  • Processes

    • What is the company’s onboarding process?

    • How do employees measure the impact of their work?

  • Values

    • What are the company’s mission and value statements?

    • How might the person in this role contribute to the organization’s mission?

    • How does the organization support professional development and career growth?

  • Listen to people’s stories

    • Listening to what current employees have to say and how they portray the company will give you great insight.

    • What were employees' experiences with similar projects in the past?

    • What can they tell you about key stakeholders and customers?

Change Management​

The process of delivering your completed project and getting people to adopt it.

  • Create a sense of ownership and urgency

  • Figure out the right combination of skills and personalities

  • Effective Communication

Understand the motivations, benefits and outcomes fo the change, and communicate them to those affected by it.