Planning a TPM Org

Each time the topic of project managers comes up in conversation (hey, I still have some techie friends), the same reaction rears its head. Engineers roll their eyes, managers cop to trying to find a reason to not attend their meetings, and TPMs kvetch about being undervalued and unappreciated.

So why do TPM orgs commonly seem broken from the get-go? It usually boils down to poor communication at the leadership level, resulting in contention between internal customer (Engineering) expectations & needs versus what TPM managers and teams want to — or can — provide.

If the charter of the org doesn’t mesh with the talent on the team or the expectations of the their customers, you wind up with unrealistic measurements of success for PM teams, unnecessary strife within the team & with customers, and the potential for a fissure, when a strong relationship must exist for there to be success.

Launch Questions for a TPM Org

To avoid the unnecessary contention, ask yourself and your leadership a few questions right off the bat. While it’s not a comprehensive list, it’ll at least point you in the right direction, slow your pace, and help ensure that everyone involved is in sync before making a long-term commitment for the company and its employees.

1. Are you rushing into creating the org? Are you sure? What will happen if you delay by a month or two to make sure you get things ‘right’?
2. Does the creation of the org, and its charter, goals, and personnel profile, fit into the culture of the greater organization?
3. What problem are you trying to solve by creating this org? Do your main customers/stakeholders agree that it’s the correct problem? Do you know who your main customers are?
4. Does the proposed charter of the org solve the problem above? Do you even have a proposed charter? Do your main customers/stakeholders agree with the charter? Make sure there’s either agreement on all sides or an “official” mandate for the change. You don’t want to encroach on someone else’s territory before you even get started. Remember- you need your customers and stakeholders on your side to be successful partners.
5. Are you building the org for short- or long-term impact? This will obviously impact your hiring profile and headcount plan. Under- or over-hiring, either in sheer number or skill set, could stall progress right out of the gate.
6. What are your 12- to 18-month goals for the team? Do they directly support the problem you’re trying to solve and the charter of the org?
7. How will the org be measured on a regular basis? Get consensus on this from customers/stakeholders, as this is the easiest way to objectively show the value the org is providing (and a great way to limit the he said/she said politics).
8. Have all customers/stakeholders signed off on the flow and ownership of communication, work, and decision-making throughout the entire lifecycle of a project? This will ferret out many of the day-to-day conflicts before they become a problem. Just make sure to document it. :)
9. Who owns the communication of the charter and goals to the Individual Contributors who will work with the team on a daily basis, and to the rest of the organization? This might seem like a small thing, but messaging matters. If you feel you need buy-in from multiple teams, it helps to have leadership from those teams co-own the messaging to show they stand behind the charter and goals.
10. Are your leadership and your org prepared to make any necessary changes based on your 3-, 6- and 12-month retrospectives on the new org? Are all participants clear on the process for both the retrospectives themselves and for making any changes stemming from them?

The majority of these questions could pertain to creating any new team or organization, particularly if you’re creating an org to partner with multiple other teams or if existing responsibilities will be transitioning to the new team (i.e. support orgs within Engineering).

If you already have a TPM organization…

It’s never too late to make the changes necessary to get back on track. The most important thing to have is strong TPM and Eng leadership. You need someone who can and will objectively evaluate their team and make the necessary adjustments to their staff through either the performance management process or by making a wholesale organizational change. And it’s critical to have leadership partners who will back them up and take an active role in making things better.

Communication across the organization needs to be tight, timely, and transparent from the beginning (rumors spread like wildfire). Last thing you want is to lose any people you want/need to keep around due to lack of information and ‘fake news’. Your most valuable people will likely jump ship first and quickly.

Be sure to involve current employees and engineers in at least some of the discussions. People are most likely to buy into any decisions if they’re a part of the process.

Don’t skip any of the steps above. All re-orgs require time- you are messing with employees’ livelihoods and the future success of your org after all. Treat your retrospectives with respect, learn from the process, and don’t be afraid to make adjustments as long as it’s not just ‘change for the sake of change’.