Atomic Talk Title: Human-Focused Program Management

What is program management? Starting with a quick intro into Project vs Program Management, Technical vs Non-Technical program management, what is the purpose and primary responsibilities of a program manager? Different approaches to program management may work better in different contexts and companies. Lanette will share how she landed on a human-focused program management approach, and what it means.

We will cover the key questions asked of stakeholders, customers, and cross-functional partners along with some practical tactics to manage schedules, and risks, and meet goals (OKRs, KPIs) with minimal sacrifice.

Key takeaways:

• The primary question to keep in mind.
• Prepare before collaborating. 
• Tactics: Asking questions over making assumptions. Being effective over being right. Empathy over persuasion. 
• Outliers: Occasionally, some people are sneaky and possibly deceptive. How to approach interactions with challenging/adversarial individuals.
• Hierarchical power enforcement and threats are often poor and temporary solutions to human and system problems.
• There is always a reason why humans behave in seemingly contradictory ways. Attempt to understand the reason, factors, and context leading to the contradictions.