Ivan Pashko: From Projects to Purpose (UA) Kyiv Project Management Day 2025 Main Website - https://pmday.org/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@StartupLviv FB - https://www.facebook.com/pmdayconference

1. From Projects to Purpose
A journey from delivery to ownership through people, process,
and purpose

2. Ivan Pashko
Senior Engineering Manager @Preply
Former Delivery Manager @Intellias
Co-host at 80/20 Engineering Podcast
About me
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3. Agenda
Intro
Start with Why?
How: Product mindset
QA
01
02
03
04

4. Find the right tutor for
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5. Outsourcing taught me how to deliver
- product how to own.
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6. Engineering Management Role
People Process Business
Growth & Development: Support people’s
growth — know where they are today and
help them reach the next level.
Motivation & Engagement: Keep the team
energized and emotionally safe to do their
best work.
Performance & Compensation: Run fair
reviews and connect performance with
impact.
1:1s & Communication: Regular
one-on-ones are not status meetings —
they’re for building trust and understanding
what people need to thrive.
Efficiency: Make sure the team works
effectively, not just hard.
Process Design: Shape processes that fit
the team (Scrum, Kanban, retros, etc.).
Adaptation: Push back on inefficient
company-level rules when they block value.
Operational Role: Sometimes act as a PM
— managing risks, planning, and
communicating progress.
Metrics: Watch both delivery metrics
(velocity) and quality signals (tech
excellence).
Product Impact: Bring ideas, facilitate
problem-solving, and connect the team’s
work to business outcomes.
Partnership: Be a true partner to Product
Managers.
Strategic Role: Understand metrics, read
product plans, and help align engineering
with company goals.
Tech excellence: Balance between tech and
business, build to last
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7. An EM is like oil in the engine — reducing friction so
people, process, and business move together
-80/20 Engineering podcast

8. ● When you know what problems you solve for a customer
and why.
● It’s a shift from just executing tasks to thinking widely, how
they fit to a product strategy, what value they bring to the
company and end-user.
● Building features that are customer-focused,
outcome-driven, data-informed, and have collaborative
experience.
Start with Why?
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💭 Self-reflection: Do you start with what to build
— or why it matters?

9. How to get out from “Feature Factory” :
● Faster feedback loops Data-driven decisions
● Focus on outcomes, not outputs
● Connection to core metrics
● Ownership and Hands-on culture
● Keeping people busy ≠ delivering value
Feature Factory
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💭 Self-reflection: Are you measuring work done —
or value delivered?

10. We underestimate engineers ability to
influence a product

11. 💭 Self-reflection: Do your engineers shape what to
build — or only how to build it?
● More options to solve our problems
● Easier to find a "good enough" point
● Understanding the impact of doing and not doing
something
● Avoid over-engineering and re-architecture
● If engineers can’t shape the product, they’ll shape
the code.
If you block engineers from creativity, they will find it somewhere else
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12. 💭 Self-reflection: As a manager, what drives you
to grow your people when it’s not billable?
🌱 Because DMs run projects, not teams — people growth becomes
harder.
● Customers don’t usually want to “pay for growth.”
● Engineers grow only in mastery — rarely in purpose or autonomy.
● Result: Disengagement, overengineering, change of projects
● Growth comes naturally when people feel ownership and impact.
People: Purpose, Mastery, Autonomy
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13. If you block engineers from creativity, they
will find it somewhere else

14. ● Making decisions and assumptions based on the
data
● Understanding the key metrics and relying on them
● Evaluating the success of features and initiatives
based on data
● Using data when discussing requirements and
priorities
How: Being Data Driven
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15. ● Asking a lot of questions, be proactive
● Challenge the current assumptions and hypothesis
● Seek for broader context, view and picture
● Ask for feedback and provide feedback
● Evaluate costs vs benefits
● Connect the dots
How: Grow curiosity
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16. ● Make sure that we are solving the right problem and
follow up later
● Ask about their routines
● Engage in user research, customer support
● Help them generate hypothesis
● Participate in the experiment, A/B test design
● Learn more about how the product works
● Check what worked well and iterate on it
How: Partner with your manager
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17. The difference between a product and a
project is ownership
- Jeff Lawson

18. Questions & Answers
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19. Youtube:
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Thank You
Let's connect!
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More information on
www.preply.com
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