How Program Manager and Tech Lead Relate
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 10:08 am
The Engineering leadership of the squads plays a fundamental role in the success of the program, either because it helps to promote engagement and evolution of the journey of the developers, who in practice are the ones who actually guarantee the deliveries (whether by following the Delivery process, the squad ceremonies or the technical decision-making processes).
Therefore, the Program Manager has a fundamental role in collaborating with this role. Starting with the vision of capacity , helping to flag and escalate problems in the composition of the squad that could lead to program failure, being a partner in the Tech Lead's work.
Additionally, a Program Manager helps coordinate comm iceland mobile phone number unication about the status of the Delivery, predictability of deliveries and potential risks, consolidating a series of topics that could be demanded of the Tech Lead, helping to reduce the cognitive load and increasing the strategic focus of the role.
Finally, PgM helps Engineering leadership to map bottlenecks in the process, promoting improvements in workflow , discussions about the effectiveness of the agile squad management method , or even about ceremonies and promotion of continuous improvement, helping to direct teams towards a lean and adaptive mindset .
It is worth adding that, when it comes to TPMs, there is also collaboration in technical decisions, promoting an evolutionary vision of the architecture and connecting with technical decisions from other contexts. In this collaboration, there is also an effort to promote architectural documentation, mapping technical risks and promoting good integration and continuous delivery practices.
Relationship between the Program Manager and leaders and executives
A major task within the Program Management discipline is knowing how to relate, whether in the day-to-day of squads , or with executives or senior leadership such as Heads and Directors. This always involves adapting communication and understanding what is effective for each forum.
Since the engagement of each of these characters is important, it is worth understanding how the Program Manager person usually is in the organizational structure. It is common, in companies where the role is already consolidated, for Program Managers or Technical Program Managers to be paired with GPMs, Engineering Managers and Design Managers, making up a quartet that is responsible for delivering value to the tribe, and may even make up more than one tribe depending on seniority and the complexity of the contexts.
In this position, it is easy to quickly escalate problems with managers, or signal major difficulties to Heads and Directors before a risk or blockage actually becomes a detractor to the program's success.
In addition, PgM is responsible for structuring and executing a communication plan focused on promoting transparency efficiently for different stakeholders. This plan involves asynchronous communication in channels or emails, creating reports and presentations with the big picture of the Delivery, promoting recurring agendas for follow-up and collaboration, and other strategies that are deemed relevant.
In this case, Heads and Directors, company portfolio managers and even C-levels are daily consuming materials produced by the Program Manager, who needs to be able to adapt, to ensure that they are achieving engagement and passing on the most relevant information for each forum.
Conclusion
I think it's clear that this role, still so recent, is also rich in terms of areas of knowledge, as well as having a great potential for impact on the organizations that adopt it.
Companies that have already internalized the Program Management discipline usually feel, within a few months, the impact on increased team productivity , scaling product and technology delivery, breaking down silos and communication bottlenecks, and promoting end-to-end communication in the organization.
If you have any questions about the Program Manager position or want to give feedback on this article, feel free to contact me on LinkedIn!
Master Product Management
Do you want to stay up to date with digital product management and master the best practices in the market?
Here at PM3, our vision is to make the Brazilian Technology market a global reference in Product Management. And to make this happen, we take our mission seriously: to train the best professionals in the Product area.
That's why we brought together Product experts to share real cases from our market in the Product Management Course content . This way, you will receive complete training in our context, with examples of those who actually make products in Brazil.
Therefore, the Program Manager has a fundamental role in collaborating with this role. Starting with the vision of capacity , helping to flag and escalate problems in the composition of the squad that could lead to program failure, being a partner in the Tech Lead's work.
Additionally, a Program Manager helps coordinate comm iceland mobile phone number unication about the status of the Delivery, predictability of deliveries and potential risks, consolidating a series of topics that could be demanded of the Tech Lead, helping to reduce the cognitive load and increasing the strategic focus of the role.
Finally, PgM helps Engineering leadership to map bottlenecks in the process, promoting improvements in workflow , discussions about the effectiveness of the agile squad management method , or even about ceremonies and promotion of continuous improvement, helping to direct teams towards a lean and adaptive mindset .
It is worth adding that, when it comes to TPMs, there is also collaboration in technical decisions, promoting an evolutionary vision of the architecture and connecting with technical decisions from other contexts. In this collaboration, there is also an effort to promote architectural documentation, mapping technical risks and promoting good integration and continuous delivery practices.
Relationship between the Program Manager and leaders and executives
A major task within the Program Management discipline is knowing how to relate, whether in the day-to-day of squads , or with executives or senior leadership such as Heads and Directors. This always involves adapting communication and understanding what is effective for each forum.
Since the engagement of each of these characters is important, it is worth understanding how the Program Manager person usually is in the organizational structure. It is common, in companies where the role is already consolidated, for Program Managers or Technical Program Managers to be paired with GPMs, Engineering Managers and Design Managers, making up a quartet that is responsible for delivering value to the tribe, and may even make up more than one tribe depending on seniority and the complexity of the contexts.
In this position, it is easy to quickly escalate problems with managers, or signal major difficulties to Heads and Directors before a risk or blockage actually becomes a detractor to the program's success.
In addition, PgM is responsible for structuring and executing a communication plan focused on promoting transparency efficiently for different stakeholders. This plan involves asynchronous communication in channels or emails, creating reports and presentations with the big picture of the Delivery, promoting recurring agendas for follow-up and collaboration, and other strategies that are deemed relevant.
In this case, Heads and Directors, company portfolio managers and even C-levels are daily consuming materials produced by the Program Manager, who needs to be able to adapt, to ensure that they are achieving engagement and passing on the most relevant information for each forum.
Conclusion
I think it's clear that this role, still so recent, is also rich in terms of areas of knowledge, as well as having a great potential for impact on the organizations that adopt it.
Companies that have already internalized the Program Management discipline usually feel, within a few months, the impact on increased team productivity , scaling product and technology delivery, breaking down silos and communication bottlenecks, and promoting end-to-end communication in the organization.
If you have any questions about the Program Manager position or want to give feedback on this article, feel free to contact me on LinkedIn!
Master Product Management
Do you want to stay up to date with digital product management and master the best practices in the market?
Here at PM3, our vision is to make the Brazilian Technology market a global reference in Product Management. And to make this happen, we take our mission seriously: to train the best professionals in the Product area.
That's why we brought together Product experts to share real cases from our market in the Product Management Course content . This way, you will receive complete training in our context, with examples of those who actually make products in Brazil.