Expectations of PMs

Definition of project manager: someone who manages resources (i.e. time, money, effort) towards some goal (Links)

• implication: you have to articulate the goal
• implication: for best results, make best use of resources towards goal

PM in a nutshell:

1. Understand/articulate the goal - write down objectives, goals, hypothesis and required information
   1. Be sure to get feedback and agreement on objectives, goals and hypothesis
2. Set up and document a cadence of accountability - i.e. a weekly meeting where you do the following:
   1. review the work done (or not done) the previous week
   2. align on priorities/blockers/next steps
   3. commit to some tasks for the following week
3. Use the cadence you set above to iterate towards the goal

Check out the following articles for more info on how this works:

• https://almithani.com/posts/my-agile-process/
• https://links.mirror.xyz/d7KQKyhdO04KF4wJ1O5-RThE-loIg9ap4MP8__H7r8g

Project manager responsibilities vary by the type of organization they are in…

• large organizations typically have project managers doing TACTICAL work like noting and accounting for resources (i.e. spring planning)
• smaller organizations need PMs to fill in the gaps (aka be problem solvers)
  • i.e. why isn’t the team moving towards the goal?
    • is it an alignment issue? then book a meeting or create a spect to align people
    • is information missing? then do research or create a prototype/test to get the missing info
• Identify and confirm what PM role you are filling.

Articulating the goal of your project

• Work with leads/team to craft the hypothesis
• document the goal in a shared task tracker (i.e. Asana)
• document the next step as a subtasks
• share with team for feedback