“Leave people better than you found them” — A Program Manager’s Guide to Life and Work — ft. Poovendhiran Mohanan

Long walks, reading, trekking, public speaking, mentoring others — there’s a lot that makes the world go round for Poovendhiran Mohanan. Working as a Program Manager at Zeta, ‘Poovi’ as he prefers to be called, truly enjoys the fulfillment of playing a part in others’ growth stories.

Through his role, and through his interactions with people, one thing is for sure — if there’s a problem to be solved, he will do everything he can to solve it, both for the adventure of the process and for the impact it creates on people.

We sat down for a chat with this multi-faceted Zetanaut, to understand how he approaches his role to bridge gaps, contribute to evolving processes, and ultimately help Zetanauts have a better work experience.

How long have you been at Zeta? And how has the experience been?

I joined in March 2020, just before the lockdown. I was honestly in a dilemma because changing companies during the lockdown wasn’t an easy decision. But eventually, I joined, and to be honest, the experience has been quite easy for me. I’m a people-person — very easy-going and someone who likes talking to people. The difficult part was that I genuinely hate working from home. But I made an effort to keep interacting with people and have ended up meeting amazing Zetanauts from across the organization.

Another thing that helped is that we’ve had a lot of engagement interventions at an organizational, business, and team level, which really allowed me to connect with new people.

How have you formed bonds with your immediate team through such a phase?

So, when I entered Zeta, I joined at a level higher than that of my earlier job. I was earlier a Scrum Master, and here I’m a Program Manager. I started with a team of about 20 people at the time. Now, people are the core of my role, right — everything is to do with people and solving their problems, assessing risks and making their job easier. So, I started by setting up multiple meetings to understand individual problems and then came up with action items to really solve the root of the hurdles.

Believe it or not, that’s how I bonded with people as well. No one’s really going to get comfortable with you if you just jump into a conversation asking, “Hey, what’s your problem?”. Once you really get to know them, make them feel comfortable, they actually open up to you. Solving real organizational or team issues isn’t possible without an insider’s perspective. The truth is — people are highly receptive to change. They truly want to see the changes that are made in response to their feedback, insights, and grievances. The key is to spend that time, invest that energy, really understand them and their problems, and only then begin to cull out solutions. Over my time with different people and teams, after gaining a lot of insights, I started setting up processes, and as a result, I hope I’ve made the lives of my fellow Zetanauts easier.

>> Fast-forward to today — as a program manager, I work with larger teams & stakeholders, also I have a team of project managers reporting to me. So, they tackle the project-level stuff, and I take care of it all on a program level. Here’s the tricky part — I don’t actually manage the team, I manage the program. So, I need to work with people who help me accomplish the goals for the program. To put it simply, it’s all about influencing without authority. It can be a little difficult, but it all comes from truly taking the time and effort to communicate with people and forge meaningful relationships with them. If you’re not empathetic, it’s close to impossible. So, I believe, over time, I’ve really grown into the role of working closely with so many people.

That’s interesting. Tell us a little more about your approach to influencing without authority..

Okay, so the first and foremost thing to do is really build the relationship like I said, one needs to invest time to understand their strengths, know what each individual brings to the table and what challenges they are facing — get to the root of it. You absolutely have to put yourself in their shoes, and again, here, empathy is key.

Another super-important thing is listening. Not for the sake of responding but with the intent to really listen, absorb and then solve their problems. Imagine an Olympic race and picture the multiple hurdles that are placed along the way. My job is to remove those hurdles for people, while also keeping my track smooth.

To break it down — ask the right questions, at the right time, to the right people and help them to solve challenges. That’s the basis of what a Program Manager does.

Continuing in the vein of influencing without authority, how do you navigate circumstances when you may not be authorized to ask someone for help, but you need their assistance to get the job done?

See, I think the purpose and intent are important. You need to be really clear about the reason you’re there — explain to the other person why exactly they are important, why their help is of significance, and what the larger impact will be. They need to know the magnitude of the problem too, right? It’s crucial to explain to them how they will help in solving a larger organizational challenge as well. In fact, there’s a model to explain this and to guide this process. It’s called the RACI Matrix — essentially, who’s responsible, who’s accountable, who’s consulted and who needs to be informed? So, go to a certain person with a specific problem that they will be able to solve. Help them help you, basically.

Okay, this is fascinating! So, tell us, how much of what you do is theoretical and model-based, and how much relies on empathy, experience, exposure and those finer nuances?

That’s a good question. I think when I started, I didn’t actually have any models or any PMP certification. I did have a CSM certification, but that’s quite different from what’s required for my role. So, when you begin, you just try to do things as you best understand them. You give it a shot and you definitely make mistakes, which is completely fine. Though, I have to say that mistakes give me sleepless nights! Simply because I believe in never ever making the same mistake twice. I need to keep thinking about it, mulling over it, and figuring out how I can come to a point where I don’t make that same mistake again.

So, it’s all about learning from these mistakes and developing better processes. In Agile, we call it continuous improvement — I mean that’s life itself, right? We’re constantly figuring out how not to fall the same way again. The process makes progress, after all.

To come to the theoretical stuff. When you actually encounter these specific problems, that’s when you probably read up or seek help and come upon these models that help to dissect the problem and solve it. It’s all need-based. For instance, one of my magic mantras for problem-solving is the 80/20 principle.

But it’s also based on circumstances — case in point is the Shu Ha Ri concept that I go by especially when I’m coaching or mentoring people. Step 1 (Shu) is simply to follow the rules, and learn the basics consistently. Step 2 is Ha, which is to master the rules and all the nuances of it. And step 3 (Ri) is to break those rules. (Not to throw them out the window of course!) What this means is to reach a level of excellence where you can make your own rules.

So, these are the kinds of things that you learn on the go, with experience, through different people, in different situations.

That’s some great advice for anyone aspiring to ace the art of problem-solving. Now to a simple question — what is your favorite part of being a Program Manager?

It has to be that I get to interact with so many different kinds of people! I believe that the role of a Program Manager is super critical because you need to work with multiple stakeholders and manage expectations across the board. I love to learn from people, and this job is actually perfect for me because I get to learn from everyone. Another thing is also that I enjoy passing on whatever I know to others. So, that’s how I look at coaching and mentoring people, and it’s something that I like because I want to be able to help others avoid the mistakes I made.

And what’s your favorite part of working at Zeta?

A lot of things. People here are really intelligent, really smart, really quick. In almost every conversation I’ve had till date, I’ve learnt something new here. An average day in my life is filled with meetings and interactions, so I get to absorb exciting information all the time.

Also, the work environment here is super-fast and you’re constantly on your toes because you’re solving problems at a massive scale. So, there’s something to look forward to every day. I don’t like monotony basically. I enjoy adventure, and I get to experience that here. Navigating through various challenges to reach the end-goal — that has to be the best part for me. I think Zeta really lives up to its philosophy of ‘People Must Grow’ — when you go up, you also lift others.

Another thing that’s been really fun is to participate in all the activities at Zeta. Because the least you can do is participate, right? The entire experience is built by everyone — not by a single person. Gradually, I got interested in becoming a part of organising stuff within the company. From a Hackathon, to organizing interest clubs and starting a Program Chapter, I’ve worked with people across the company to try and do something beyond just the job itself.

One piece of advice for young aspirants who may want to follow the same path as you?

I’d actually say: figure out your own path. Don’t follow another’s path because it worked for them. Identify what works for you and do it. It all depends on what you want from life. That’s my advice. The only concrete advice I can give to someone specific to being a Program Manager is that you must keep learning and keep striving to understand people — work with them, get to know them, teach them, and empower them. The role is very people-centric, because no matter how big the tech problem is — you’re ultimately solving it for PEOPLE.

That’s all from Poovendhiran for now. However, no amount of insights from him are enough to fully explore the nuances of how he works. If you really want to understand the essence of this Zetanaut and what he brings to the table every day, then the best way to sum it up is ‘Leave people better than you found them’.

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