Project Program Manager Career Conversation

1. - 1 -
Career Conversation
How will your life be post MBA….
…. If you were a or project / program
manager

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About Me
Joined
Cognizant
Client Facing
at onsite
Delivery
Responsibility
from offshore
EPGP
at IIMB
Consultant
@ Deloitte
Independent
Consultant
2002 2011 2012 2016Both client
facing and
offshore
Testing /
Development
Tech Lead /
Solution
Design
I like to….
Professional Journey
17+ years of professional experience in providing IT services
ranging from advisory to implementation for fortune 500 clients
Under Graduation
BE, Mechanical Engr.
NIT Trichy
Home Town:
Trichy, Tamil Nadu
Current Base: Bangalore
Analytics
Lead -
Agilisium
2018 2020
Data Lead -
Securra

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 Project Management
 How can MBA Help
 Preparing for Project Management Interviews
Agenda

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The Big Picture
Strategy
Planning
Execution
What to do?
How to do?
Any business or organization’s asset development process has three blocks in it
Strategy | Planning | Execution
Resources

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The Big Picture
Strategy
Planning
Execution
Each block has a critical role to play in order for a business to be successful
Long-Term
Medium-Term
Near-Term
Scope Timeline
People
Cost
Dependencies
ResourcesResources
Risks Milestones Quality
Key Decisions
Evaluation
of Choices
Leadership
30,000 ft
30,000 ft –
5,000 ft
Ground
Level
Visionary
Opportunities
Delivery
Constraints
Project
Management

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Types of Projects
Projects can be classified into different categories
Field | Technology | Work Area | Work Type | Location | Sourcing | Project vs. Product | …
POC
Prototype
Build
Migrate
Upgrade
Run
Field
Non-Field
WorkArea
Work Type
The overall principles of project management are the same, however the
project Management focus areas vary by the project characteristics

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Defining Project and Project Management
Project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a
unique product, service or result with a defined beginning
and end
Anything without a time bound, cost, scope is not a project
Project Management:
Managing the project to achieve goals while managing the
constraints – scope, time, cost while leading a team
Optimize allocation and integrate efforts across teams
Focus on business outcomes

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Defining Program and Program Management
Program is a group of related projects managed in a
coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from
managing them individually.
Programs are also time bound with cost and scope
Program Management:
Managing several related projects while managing priorities
Align with organizational / business objectives
Focus on business outcomes

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Your boss is very tactical in nature
Your boss might force you to deviate / change your focus
You could be working with a team that is not fully equipped
The market is very turbulent (things change frequently)
The org level goals are dynamic
Facing resistance through organizational inertia
There are various stakeholders and each one looks at the
project in a different perspective
You are an independent contributor, the project members do
not report to you (Influence without Authority)
Is it difficult to focus on Outcomes?

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PM Disciplines (Knowledge Areas)
Project Integration Management
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Project Human Resources Management
Project Communications Management
Project Risk Management
Project Procurement Management
Project Stakeholder Management

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PM Process
Initiation
Planning
Execution
Monitoring & Controlling
Closing

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PM Frameworks
Waterfall [SDLC]
Agile Framework
Lean Framework
Theory of Constraints
Lean-Agile

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Communication
Team / People Management
Negotiation
Influencing Without Authority
Risk Management
Status Reporting
Leadership
Executive Status Reports
Top skills for a PM

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Stay business focused
Understand the holistic picture (ask the right questions)
OB and HRM – understand organizational inertia, value
system, people resistance to change
Structured approach to problem solving
Operations – achieving efficiency and effectiveness
Tools / techniques learnt from Strategy
Spreadsheets
How can MBA Help?

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Stakeholder(s) Management
Influencing without Authority
Communicating: Tell a story through PPT
Don’t confuse role and designation
− Higher the designation, more towards defining org level strategy & taking
accountability
− Example: Sr. Manager performs program management with multiple
project managers reporting to him / her. Sr. Manager can also perform a
very complex project management. Sr. Manager in a services company
can be responsible for Account P&L in addition to deliver accountability
− Example: IT - Sr. Manager role in a Cognizant could be different from
Amazon, which can be totally different in FreshWorks or a captive
Other Things you Should Know

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Other Things you Should Know
Scenario – ‘A’
PM executed a complex
project without crisis
through superior execution
Scenario – ‘B’
There was a bit of a crisis,
but the PM handled it really
well at the end
Which one of the two is better?
How can this be perceived by the leaders?
How do you address this?

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Typical Work Day of a PM

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Start and end with a meeting
Review task status, impediments, risk contingency and
mitigation
Resolve conflicts
Managing ambiguity
Executive Status Reports
Typical Work Day of a PM

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MBA can bring in the business focus that can be missing in
a typical PM
Typical PM focuses on managing the business, as an MBA
grad, you can look to move the needle towards business
objectives
Be more effective in handling people, negotiating and
influencing
Stay current (trends, tools, techniques, etc.)
Summary

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 What is Project/Program Management
 Role of a typical Project/Program Manager in a company
 Skills required to be a Project/Program Manager
 Leverage MBA for a switch from different domains to Project/Program
Management
 Domains work experience that would would be helpful to land up in
Program Management. Ideal previous work experience for this role
 Placement roles offered for project / program management Which
companies hire from one year MBA campuses?
 Difficulty in switching domains
 Typical working day brief of a project manager / personal experience
Audience Questions Review

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Other Questions

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Thank You!