Zen of Program Managment

Microsoft’s Jobsblog features a very interesting overview of the role of a program manager at Microsoft together with some hints on how to be successful. The role of a program manager at Microsoft seems to be similiar to the product manager role at other companies. So this will also be an interesting read for product managers there.

The ‘zen’ of program management lies in connecting the customer and value proposition with an actual product or service. The program manager brings the team together to make this connection between aspirations and ends.

The goal of this paper is to provide deeper insight into the program management role and clearly identify what makes program managers unique and uniquely valuable. While this document focuses on the value of program management, this value is only realized within the context of the broader team. Teamwork is paramount, and no one role carries the team.

This paper covers the three major steps of the software product cycle, and the value that program managers bring to each step:

• Planning: Framing the Landscape
• Design: Defining the Solution
• Execution: Delivering on the Value Proposition

Read the whole article at Zen of PM : Microsoft JobsBlog.

Agile Product Management

Pragmatic Marketing published an interesting article about the role of product managers in agile teams:

When you adopt agile development methods, you encounter new concepts, new artifacts, new planning methods, and new roles and relationships. It seems that agile teams do everything in a new way. And, as you attempt to integrate agile into your existing systems, you’ll also attempt to map these new concepts to your old, familiar concepts. Requirements are now stories; iterations are now sprints. And a product manager is now called a Product Owner… right?
Wrong!