Project Management

Manager notes #6 – Manage a team

Managing a team is more than managing individuals. Being a manager is not about having the most technical knowledge.

Stay technical

you will always have to guide technical decision making
you must be seen as technically credible
you need to stay enough in the code to see where the problems are and to evaluate
if you stop coding too early in the career, you may never achieve sufficient technical knowledge

Debug dysfunctional teams

A dysfunctional team can be characterised as a team where its members are unhappy, they keep quitting, the product manager is frustrated and they keep missing deliverables. They maybe lack energy or enthusiasm.

if team is not shipping, it might be because of the tools and processes. Remove all the bottlenecks as poor tooling around release, heavily manual testing, features too big.
« the brilliant jerk » – a move to another team
the negative person – make it clear the behaviour has to change; if he’s unhappy help him leave the team on good terms; maybe he is not aware of his impact on the team
unhappiness due to overwork – support the team and help them with the work. Reduce and avoid overwork
lack of collaboration – gather feedback, create opportunities for them to hang out outside work

Act like a shield ?!

The team should be shield from distraction. Help them understand the key important goals and focus on them (however, let some of the stress reach to the team so they will get some context into what they are dealing with). On the other hand, don’t deny events and communicate information that might neutralise the impact on your team.

Humans need some context into why these goals have been set and what problems should they be working on to solve. They need to understand the consequences.

Take good decisions

get as much data as possible and create a data-driven team culture
look into the future and get a sense of where the product roadmap is going
review your decisions and run retrospectives for the processes

Manage conflicts

When managing conflicts:

don’t rely on votes
have clear set of rules to evaluate decisions
address conflict issues without cultivating dysfunction
don’t take it out on other teams
be kind, not nice
don’t be afraid
get curious

Advanced project management

You will help set the schedule for the team by estimating whether the team can do certain projects, how much work will be and if you have the right people to complete the work. You need to have a strong sense of the pace of the team.

there are 13 weeks per quarter, expect only 10 weeks of focused effort on the main projects per team member.
20% for generic sustaining engineering work (testing, debugging, dealing with legacy code, etc)
say no in order to achieve goals
use doubling rule of software estimation
don’t be a telephone between the engineers and the rest of the company

Manager notes #5 – Managing people

As a new manger you must figure out your own management style.

The main tasks required to manage people:

Starting on a new report

Starting a new reporting relationship off in a right way means to get to know the person quickly so you can manage him best.

build trust and rapport – ask questions intended to help you get to know the aspects of the person that impact your ability to manage him well (how he likes to be praised, preferred method of communication, how you can tell if he is a bad/good mood, any clear career goals, any manager behaviour he might hate)
create a 30/60/90 – day plan – have a clear set of expected goals and create realistic milestones
encourage updating on-boarding documentation – reinforce the editing of the documentation by the new hire to reflect processes and tools that have changed since the last time
communicate your style and expectations – the team needs to understand your expectations and your style (how often you want to meet with them, how to share information)
get feedback – get as much feedback as you can. Don’t encourage people in this period to criticise the established processes in a way the team might feel attacked

Communicating with the team

have regular 1-1s – they are crucial. There are many styles of 1-1s:
- the to-do list meeting – list of objectives to cover in order of importance
- the catch-up – listen to anything your direct reports want to discuss but don’t turn it into a complaining session or therapy
- the feedback meeting –
- the progress report – when you have someone who is off on a side project that you are not personally overseeing
- getting to know you – get the know the person reporting you as a human being in a sense of you want to show them you care about them as individiuals
scheduling 1-1s -respect the schedule
adjusting 1-1s – adjust time and questions for each person

Micromanager vs. Delegator

Micromanagement

junior positions and projects that go off the rails sometimes needs micromanagement
too much control; trust and autonomy are affected

Delegation

delegation does not mean abdication – when you delegate you are still expected to be involved as much as is necessary
being a good leader means being good at delegating

Continuous feedback

Continuous feedback means a commitment to a regular share of positive and corrective feedback:

basic understanding of the individuals on the team
observe
provide regular feedback
provide coaching

Performance review

360 model – a performance review that includes feedback from the manager, teammates, everyone who reports and coworkers, self-review

Cultivate careers

You need to make a case for someone promotion. Every company has its own promotion process. In general, people are moved forward by the process. The evidence: projects completed independently, participation and support, engagement in team meetings and team planning.

Manager notes #4 – Tech lead

A tech lead role might not be the same from company to company, not even from team to team within a company, but it is expected tone both a technical position and a leadership role. So, it can be described as a set of responsibilities that any engineer might take on on once they reach the senior level. It may or may not include people management.

A common misconception is that the tech lead role should be given automatically to the most experienced engineer (the one who can handle the most complex features or who writes the best code).

As a tech lead you can continue writing code but you will have extra responsibilities such as:

representing the group to the management
- make independent decisions for the team
- handle difficult management and leadership situations
plan for future delivery
- partner effectively with other areas of the business
deal with details of the management process
- delegate work effectively without micromanaging
- focus on the team productivity

Being a tech lead is an exercise in influencing without authority. His main roles are:

take a wide view of the work so that you keep the project moving
have a good sense of the overall architecture of the systems and a solid understanding of how to design complex software based on the business requirements
project planner – find efficient ways of breaking down the work so the team can work quickly (getting work done in parallel)
write code, but not too much. raise issues early and delegate work

Manager notes #3 – Mentoring

The first act of people management is unofficial and that is when mentoring someone.

As a mentor you will practice skills that you will need should you decide to become a manager:

Listening carefully – listening is the most basic skill of managing people. It is a precursor to empathy, one of the core skills of a quality manager
Clear communication – communicate what needs to happen, provide clarity along the way

How to mentor an intern?

Before hiring an intern, make sure he will graduate in the year after their internship.

prepare his arrival – make sure he has everything he needs to start
have a project to work on – make him work on a clear project
have him present you the work – help him feel like his work mattered

How to mentor a new hire?

This is an opportunity to see the world of your company through fresh eyes. Mentoring a new hire implies on boarding, helping him adjust to life in the company and building your and her networks of contacts in the company.

what are the rules? spoken and unspoken?
update onboarding documents
chance to introduce the new person around
network building is a worthwhile investment of your time and energy

Key takeaways for a mentor

Don’t become a mentor unless if you think it will be rewarding for you and the person you are mentoring. As a mentor, you should focus on three actions for yourself:

As a mentor, you should focus on three actions for yourself:

be curious and open-minded – it is a great opportunity to see the world through fresh eyes
listen and speak mentees language – you will be forced to home your communication skills
- tell the mentee what you expect from him in an explicit manner
make connections – treat the person well, don’t abuse the mentoring relationship

Key takeaways for mentee

don’t waste your mentor’s time
think about if you need a mentor

As a manager you help the team by creating clear, focused goals.

Why creating the mentoring relationship?

When assigning a mentor for the new hire, ask yourself what do you want to achieve by creating that relationship. Mentoring relationship exists for:

helping a new person to get up to speed and be productive
helping junior people pair with senior people for career or skills growth

So, try to make sure there is some guidance.

Recognise that this is an additional responsibility for the mentor

The productivity of the mentor may slow down during the mentoring period. A mentor should be recognised for the work they put in as it yields valuable returns in the form of better employee networks, faster on boarding and higher internship conversion.

Manager notes #2 – How to be managed

The way you have been managed will be the foundation on which you will build your own management philosophy. So, part of being a good manager is figuring out how to be managed.

Spend time thinking about what you want

what you want to learn, what makes you happy and you want to do is your responsibility, not your manager’s

You are responsible for yourself

once you have set a goal for yourself, do what you can to make it happen

Give your manager a break

the manager’s job is not to do whatever it takes to make you happy all the time
if you resent your manager for whatever reason, you need to move to a different team or look for a new job. If you resent every manger you work for, you might need to think about whether the cause is them or you

Choose your managers wisely

when evaluating job opportunities, consider not only the job, the company and the pay but also the manager

Manager notes #1 – What to expect from a manager

Some basics things you need to expect from your manager:

One-on-One meetings

create human connection between you and the manager
opportunity for you to speak privately with the manager
as a senior you would need to drive 1-1s and bring topics for discussion

Feedback and Workplace Guidance

the worst thing is not getting/giving feedback at all
delivering fast feedback is more valuable than waiting for a convenient time
as a senior you could give more feedback to your manager

Training and Career Growth

you are responsible for figuring out what types of training you want
the manager can contribute to you career growth via promotion and compensation
managers can’t guarantee promotions but they can help you build the skills they know the system is looking for

Project closure

Closure is the final phase of the project life cycle.

Closure requires the consolidation of communications with team and stakeholders.

Closure requires feedback and to capture the learning experiences gained.

Some key questions in this phase:

Were the original objectives of the project delivered?
What do I have to measure?
How do I get and offer feedback?

Wrap-up:

obtaining project acceptance
finalising and terminating resources
de-establishing the team
capturing remaining costs and closing project related accounts
compiling a final project reports

Evaluating project success:

assessing, verifying and documenting project results
measure the performance of the project team

Capture lessons learned

Reward the effort, the team and the contributors

Project team and communication

There are 4 key questions to keep in mind when doing project delivery:

Am I delivering to the plan specifications and requirements?
Am I able to secure supply of the necessary resources?
Will I be able to manage and control the project scope?
How will I be able to control quality?

The answer depends on the ability to communicate whit other parties. Build and maintain open and honest relationship with project team.

Stakeholder are the people and the organisations affected by the project. Understand their role so you can determine their expectations and needs. Internal stakeholders (project manager, project team, project management team) and external stakeholders (end users, customers, suppliers, contractors).

Teamwork is a critical factor in project success.

Assign role to the project team members by recruiting the right skill set.
Assign responsibilities. Each member should be clear about his role within the project.
Encourage and support project team members.

Effective communication

Three channels of communication:

upward – the project manager communicates with senior managers. Topics: issues, risk, expectations of the project
lateral – the project manager communicates with clients, suppliers, contractors and vendors. Topics: resource needs, progress update, budgets, schedule issues.
directly – directly to the project team. Topics: highlights pending tasks, confirm delivery dates, schedule general team meetings.

Leadership skills can be developed over time.

Most important thing is to create trust and a common purpose among the project team members.

Determining project risk

Risk represents uncertainty and all the projects are exposed to some degree of risk.

The process of identifying, assessing and responding to risk is called risk management. It will require ongoing communication with the team and engagement with the stakeholders and continuous monitoring and review.

The risk varies as a result of:

the extent and duration of the project
the period time between planning and execution
level of experience on similar projects
maturity of the technology used.

Risk can be multifaceted: technical, financial, commercial, reputational (intangible), etc.

6 steps to plan a major risk in the project:

Understand the context of the project and confirm the objectives
Risk identification
Risk assessment – prioritise the risks by severity (a combination of likelihood and impact)
Risk responses – develop risk response strategies
1. Accepted
2. Transfered
3. Reduced
4. Avoided
Monitor and review – ongoing process
Communicate

PESTLE.

Project management – Planning

An old adage which is completely true for project management: Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Characteristics for planning a project:

dilligence
investement of time
gathering sufficient information in order to have a detailed plan that helps avoid as many mishaps as possible

Scop, schedule and cost – 3 key areas

Scop (what needs to be done to deliver the project)
- first establish the project objectives
- the tasks that need to be performed
- the resource that will be required
- determine the limitations of the project
- work breakdown structure = one of the most important project management deliverables.
Scheduling (how you plan to manage your time)
1. Defining the activities
2. Scheduling these activities
3. Estimating the activity resources required (materials, people, equipement)
4. Estimating the activity duration to complete (amount of work needed to complete individual activities using the estimated resources)
5. Developing the schedule
Costing the project (control the project costs using a budget). A constraint.
- estimate the resources required
- estimate the duration of these activities
- prepare a cost estimation
- seek additional budget or trade-off by reducing scope