Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Life as a PM/TPM at LD
37 Plays1 year ago
Program Managers. Technical Program Managers... two roles, one practice. Ekta and Lauren walk me through the program practice at LD — from driving plan management and bridging cross-functional communications, to orchestrating our largest initiatives.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction of Guests and Roles
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to The Commute. I'm Kiana, and I'm the host for this episode. And I'm joined by these lovely ladies, and they can introduce themselves. Hi, everyone. My name is Ekta Shah. My pronouns are she and her. I'm a senior technical program manager over at Shoppers Drug Mart Commons. Hi, everyone. I'm Lauren Duca. Pronouns are she and her. I'm a director on the program management team.
Defining Program vs Technical Program Management
00:00:27
Speaker
So as you can probably tell by the job titles, today we will be talking about what life is like as a program and technical program management person at L.E. We will. We're excited because I know nothing. So that brings me to my first question. Lots of P words at L.D. program project.
00:00:50
Speaker
So for program management and technical program management, you introduce those as two different things. What is the difference between program, technical program?
00:01:04
Speaker
And then the other piece. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll get into it. So I'll start with program overall and then we'll get into the differences of the different teams. So on the program side of things, it's really about, you know, bridging teams together, think about orchestrating, think about the big picture. So what does that mean? That means, again, bridging teams together, really driving communication across the initiative.
00:01:29
Speaker
and then also when it comes to planning, end-to-end plan management, mapping out milestones, dependencies, that's a really big one. Ensuring that everyone has a seat at the table, we're collaborating, and a lot of the initiatives that we do lead, there are tons of different work streams. We're talking about not only at Loblet Digital, but when we look at our broader enterprise as well, a lot of the initiatives involve them. So there's a lot of people and a lot of stakeholders to all bring together.
Responsibilities and Strategic Priorities
00:02:01
Speaker
We're almost, yeah, we're almost about, yeah, it's about mid 30s and probably close to 40 soon with some of the open rules we have. So quite a growing shame and it's definitely grown a lot since the time that we've even been here at Lopla Digital. So you guys have a lot of
00:02:18
Speaker
Similar to the DX team kind of, but in size. So you work very, very cross-functionally. I know there's a lot of people that work directly, especially product designers. Obviously, they have a big product at work, but they work specifically on PCX, PCO. So your team is a very collective group, but kind of like DX in that there's designers that support PCX, PCO, etc. So is that kind of the same vibe? Yeah.
00:02:43
Speaker
Let's get into the difference between program management and technical program management. So on the program management side, exactly what you just described, it's really cross vertical. So think of initiatives that span across, maybe there's an issue that spans across PC Express, Chopper's Drug Mart, and then also the enterprise team. Maybe there's a couple of teams that are involved there. That's really where program management comes into play and leading the big picture, leading the plan there.
00:03:11
Speaker
The folks on the program management team, which is the team that I lead, are a bit more fluid in that they move around a little bit more. It doesn't mean you're on something different every week, but these are large initiatives. So maybe eight months you're on something, you take that to lunch, and then you're going to be on something else. And this is all decided on when we look at the roadmaps, we look at the strategic priorities. What are the big priorities for the organization? And that's where we allocate the program managers to.
Team Collaboration and Culture
00:03:37
Speaker
And then technical program managers, like when you were saying about DX2D, right? These aren't vertical specific TPMs that are associated with the initiatives that the verticals need. For example, shoppers, drug mart, Joe Fresh, PCX, you know? You would have multiple TPMs within these verticals that would be supporting large initiatives that happen for those verticals.
00:03:59
Speaker
Oh, so you got a little bit more technical. Yes, technical specifics. And we also get to partner with them, actually. So if you take gift cards, for example, which is hot off the press, PCX right now is doing it, SDM launched it last year. So we and Lauren got to work together on that because Lauren was leading it from a program perspective. There were PC bank, PC financial teams involved in gift cards, right? So the enterprise team. So all of those communication
00:04:28
Speaker
And then there was SDM specific communication that needed to be managed, the risks and dependencies that needed to be managed within the tech team. So when you asked earlier about program and technical program, right? What do we do? We are the people that work with business.
Shift from Project to Program Management
00:04:43
Speaker
We are the people that work with engineering team and the product team and obviously designers and everybody else.
00:04:49
Speaker
So, you just know all these, you just know all the people. I know. Bringing people together, bringing them together. Yeah, exactly. That's so interesting. So, because like, I don't know, growing up, I feel like interesting job. I don't, I don't know if it's ever like, it was never really like conventionally, you know, like.
00:05:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So what kind of like, I'm just curious, what kind of like, do you go through to get to be a TPM? Yeah. Interesting. Or in that line of work, like comms, like, could you enter through comms? We actually have technical background. I am a master's of science in computer application. Rock on.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yeah, and I actually have like a bit of a different background and I think one thing that's so interesting and we've had this conversation across our team, everyone comes from exactly different areas, different minds more, a bit more on the calm side, like you said from that. So again, it just depends on, you know, there's a bunch of different areas that folks have come through, whether it be
00:05:43
Speaker
more on the technical side, whether any more on, like I have some agency experience working with clients, which also is similar in that way. But one thing to call out, and we were chatting about this earlier, is just when it comes to project and program. Because if you think about project, you know what, some organizations is a bit more structured in terms of budget, scope, timeline, right?
Tools and Strategies in Program Management
00:06:10
Speaker
It's a lot bigger than that at Lobba Digital. We went through this evolution of project to program over the last two years ago to really focus on what are the big initiatives that are driving change? What's moving the needle? What's driving our businesses forward? That's where the program managers really lead.
00:06:32
Speaker
Exactly, exactly. Interesting. So with your role, even though you guys come from different backgrounds, the underlying thing, from what I'm understanding, y'all gotta be organized.
00:06:48
Speaker
Like type A, is everybody just like super, super type A? Yeah, absolutely. I can speak for myself, yes. I know of all the great TPMs that we, and TPMs that we have in LD, excellent at organization. Yeah, I think you have to be key and part of the role. And speaking of organization, that's how we leverage our product.
00:07:12
Speaker
engagement plan which is PEP which I'm not sure if you've heard but other LD folks would have heard and that's why we leverage that and that's the key for our organization as well like we get our roadmaps in the beginning of the year you know that's what makes it unique for us that we get the roadmap we get because of the roadmap it helps us build a plan of what we can deliver within the year.
00:07:35
Speaker
So that organizational skills come in really handy, building that PEP, mapping out dependencies across multiple teams. Like if I am helping you out with any of the employer brand program, I would be making sure that I check, oh, do we have designs for this? Do we have creatives for this? Do we have the tech resources or the tech bandwidth for this? So things like these is what helps us
00:08:00
Speaker
Keep everything on track. Yes. The product execution plan is huge. We're
Communication Challenges in Large Enterprises
00:08:06
Speaker
not missing things. The other thing too is when you said organization, these are large programs, so tons and tons of work streams. So multi-work stream management is huge.
00:08:17
Speaker
Are you getting stressed? Are you stressing? I would say I'm an organized person, but then when I look at people who, again, I have worked from TPM team, I've worked with you for Rise, I've worked with Karen for Hack Days.
00:08:32
Speaker
I am, that's like another level. I'm like elevated. I think I'm like, oh yeah, like I'm so organized. And then Karen comes in. Like Karen just gets it done. And I'm like, oh my, like just like the, the spreadsheets, the CODA, like I'm just, everything is like so organized. I'm like, wow.
00:08:49
Speaker
That's great that you bring that up because that's another big piece of the role too, is source of truth. So we want to ensure there's a source of truth for all our initiatives. How is the initiative progressing? If you're looking for an update on something, if you're curious on what are the big risks of the program, that's also something our team manages and drives as well too, to ensure there's always clarity on how things are going.
00:09:14
Speaker
Yeah, you don't want like missed mixed communications. Yeah, I feel like, especially to like, I don't know, we all know LD and how it's like, the role that we play in the larger enterprise, so it must be kind of crazy being able to, especially for program like, yeah, just, you're working with so many different people, you're working within this larger enterprise, you're working with LD like, yeah,
00:09:34
Speaker
I feel like a lot of teams like a lot of teams at LD have to go through this like crazy kind of like process of working within such a large company but yeah but uh but yeah because I especially need be too I feel it as well where it's just like you're working with all these brands but then LD etc so interesting so so usually there's like
00:09:59
Speaker
How does it work?
Team Engagement and Collaboration Activities
00:10:00
Speaker
So usually is there like one TPM assigned to a specific like program? And that's kind of how it works. So do you guys work together? Like I know you guys had mentioned that you work together. How often did that happen? That's what makes our team so unique, you know? Like program and technical management team.
00:10:18
Speaker
We work closely together. We help drive engagement within our verticals as well as within the steep that we work with. So, for example, you know, we are so heavy on culture, you would not believe it. Like, I can tell you one thing for sure. If you are in the office and if there are a lot of convenience in the office, go and swing by MJD's desk. You will absolutely find a cookie. Oh, I know. That's like, that's a golden thing. I was there the other day, I had some, like, mommy treats. Treats, treats, treats, treats.
00:10:45
Speaker
No, but the jokes aside, there's a lot of things that we do within our practice to ensure that because we work so closely together, it is really essential for us to understand what the other person is working more and how can we help bridge the gap between these two teams, for example, right? So you would not believe even the program management team has a half a day session which is called get with a program day.
00:11:14
Speaker
We dedicate half a day, and we actually talk about all the cool initiatives that we do. How long does this happen? We do it twice a year. Twice a year. So it's a reserve, don't we? You gotta know people. You can't just... Exactly, I know, I'm sorry.
00:11:34
Speaker
Absolutely, we can branch out. But no, this day is so important for us because we get together, we understand what the team is working on, what the verticals are working on, what's next, what's cool. And it's such a great day to also leverage the connections that we have.
Impact and Leadership in Program Management
00:11:52
Speaker
And not just that, this was one of the aspects of our team. There's others, there's lunch and lunch.
00:11:58
Speaker
We do lunch and needs, and that means we get to showcase what the team is working on again. It's launching and learning, as the name suggests. We also have women identifying circle within the DPM. Something we started. Yes. Which has been great. It's been so amazing. I know. We each take leads, hosting topics with that. Sounds like it's part of our team.
00:12:25
Speaker
Yeah, we've been getting together and collaborating and it's a big component to our team and exactly what you said, what makes us unique at LDE from engagement perspective, culture, all the stuff that makes coming to work that much more fun. Yeah, I can see the culture piece, JD, pretty big on... Yes, yes, yes.
00:12:50
Speaker
Interesting. So in terms of the role, specifically at LD, because you mentioned at other companies, like obviously LD, I think a lot of companies have TPMs. At LD, what do you think really makes that different than other, I guess we can say tech or other companies. I think obviously the enterprise is a huge part of it, but specifically at LD.
00:13:18
Speaker
I'll add something that I think personally what I've seen that makes it unique is yes you get to work across the enterprise and the broader organization but I think also the impact influence and ownership you have. You know you're not just you know getting a program or a project and saying okay these are the milestones and you know having
00:13:40
Speaker
Meetings where you're facilitating and saying, OK, are we hitting this or hitting this? OK, status updates like the things that you might find that maybe you're a little bit more in the traditional side. You really have that, you know, impact drive you're leading these programs with, of course, with all the amazing cross-functional partners and leads out there as well, too. But that's really a big difference.
00:14:01
Speaker
something you know personally at Loblet Digital that I've experienced over the last six years as well too is it's just that ownership it's it truly is you know something unique and something that's really powerful here at your LP. 100% and like to go on the ownership thing I feel like again didn't know a lot about the role.
00:14:18
Speaker
Every time though I have to like approve a graphic approve a social post There's always a program person there just to ensure the copies good because they just you guys know everything about that specific Like you saw it from beginning. Yeah, so it's like really helpful to have that overview person
00:14:34
Speaker
Yeah, like, you know, there's designers that worked on specific things. Yeah developers that worked on specific things, you know teams that were shown specifics, but there's always There's always a program person there like because I go through because sometimes like I work with people I don't really know I go through yeah person. Okay, like interesting like and they should know everything It's it's full picture, right? It's that full picture Management and oversight that you really have
00:14:58
Speaker
You know eyes and ears and to everything that's going on Not just focused on you know one work stream, but really all the different work streams whether that's you know business operations growth Everything yeah, so are you guys just like coda gods that like do you just?
Personal Reflections and Favorite Aspects
00:15:15
Speaker
We do use we do use coda we do use coda. Yes
00:15:20
Speaker
We do use CODA. I mean, we've gone through the evolution, of course, as the whole organization has. But yeah, we have CODA. We've also implemented some really great templates to have standardization. If you have an initiative and you're kicking it off, we have a full template, so you're not going in and doing everything from scratch. That's a big thing, too, from our team, is we like to leverage the learnings that we've had on other initiatives.
00:15:47
Speaker
you know, well, maybe even one of our lunch and learns were like, hey, you know, this was really a success for this initiative. And then maybe there's another TPM or program manager who's like, hey, I'm actually dealing with that right now, too. Let's chat and let's have a one on one. Exactly. Share those learning. I'm pretty sure at one time we had a lot to learn about.
00:16:05
Speaker
Yes. We literally have a power house that actually helps you sort out quota issues if you're having it. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, that's great. So are you the code of people? If anyone had a question.
00:16:19
Speaker
Yeah, we can definitely connect you with folks on our team. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm going to say you're well connected. We're well connected. We got the connections. We got the connections. Final question. Yeah. What is your favorite thing about working as a TPM slash?
00:16:39
Speaker
program. I guess specifically at LD it could be anything from like you know you could talk about working with your team but also just like generally about the job like your career pathway here like why do you love being at TPM so much. I just love that
00:17:01
Speaker
No two days for me are the same at L.D. Almost three and a half, four years in September at L.D. And... Oh my god, you're gonna get that pin soon. Oh yes! We have to do a little... I had mine last year, we had a little mini... It wasn't really, it was just a little...
00:17:22
Speaker
pin ceremony thing. I'm looking forward to it, not going to lie, but no two days are the same for us, you know, and I mean it in a really positive way because it's what keeps me excited about this role specifically in LD and the fact that
00:17:41
Speaker
For over the three years I've still I'm still with shoppers like I started with shoppers and I you know, I got to learn so many different any I got to work on so many different initiatives and during my career and The career highlight I would say was launching BCO at to guard offers on shoppers website That we did in I think October 2021 if I'm not mistaken So that was like that was that you got to find out so many things that happened behind the scenes, which we are not even aware of the drama
00:18:17
Speaker
But not too much, no, no. But I mean the nitty-gritties of how the shoppers work, my business is set up and the technicalities of it, right? So you get to learn so many different things, even with the same vertical, even three years in, after one career promotion, several growth opportunities, that you still get to learn everything new, like something new about it every day. You still have to change.
00:18:39
Speaker
It's not the drama. It's not the drama.
00:18:45
Speaker
Yes, I am. That's what I'm saying. And the fact that life at LD, come on, you have so many core values that you really, you feel that, you feel that with the people that you work with. So being a TPM at LD, highly recommended.
Impactful Projects and Memorable Moments
00:19:03
Speaker
I'll spend a little bit about growth too. Looking back at the journey, being at Wobble Digital for almost six years in May, tons and tons of opportunities. What I'll say is I've really looked at growth as
00:19:19
Speaker
you know beyond just different roles of course that's growth but being on different initiatives so you know one year I'm on one initiative the next year I'm on another I'm getting to work with new folks which is always amazing that's you know growth opportunity itself working on new businesses getting to go like really deep into some of these businesses and then you know moving on to another business and then taking some of those learnings is really something that keeps things exciting as well too
00:19:47
Speaker
So I'd say for me that's one of the exciting things. I think, I know you touched on something for you, you know, personally that's been one of your highlights. For me, I definitely will have to say everything in regards to Helios migration. Tons and tons of learnings over the last, you know, few years. And it's really about like standing up on a team. It was a completely different way of working. Just from a complexity standpoint when we get into all like the technical aspects of it, that for me was really an awesome growth opportunity.
00:20:16
Speaker
But yeah, I think I could honestly name so many each year. Like it's hard to pick those. So satisfying to see like a project from start to finish. Like literally from start to finish. Yes. And some of my favorite moments are, you know, when you get to those launches, like I'll never forget. Sometimes you're on like calls.
00:20:36
Speaker
late. It's like 10 p.m. and everyone's like waiting. We're like, okay, are we gonna go? Are we gonna no-go? Like, we're gonna just, okay, we're gonna chat through. It's like, okay, we're gonna go. Amazing. And it's just this moment of everything just that everyone has worked so hard for. It comes to life, which is amazing. I have to tell you something, which is so, so neat. Do tell. Do tell. I joined in September 2020. No pandemic. Yeah. And that's when we launched, sorry, e-commerce. Yes.
00:21:03
Speaker
And one of my coolest memories is... Lauren was Tim, my manager before, and Tim was leading this initiative. I had just joined, right? And I was there to just witness with the popcorn and everything. And I saw the coolest ever video that everybody was there. So the video starts with...
00:21:26
Speaker
What is it? Star Wars audio? The Star Wars theme audio? Where Lauren, everybody, like everybody, all the key stakeholders are coming into the frame. Like Lauren goes. We'll find her. Let's dig it up in the archive.
Cultural Moments and Team Connections
00:21:39
Speaker
I think she starts with, are we a go? Are we a go? And then every one of our leaderships, senior leadership on the camera says we are a go.
00:21:48
Speaker
It was like, take that. When I saw that and I was like, we'll find it. I want to make that. I know. So someone recorded it. Yes, recorded it on. We got to share that with this online. We have to share it. Oh, yes. Like my family skipped to be there.
00:22:08
Speaker
I feel like MJD definitely has it. Someone has it. We'll find out. We can find it. We're all connected. We're all connected. We'll find out. Yes. We'll find
Closing Thoughts and Reflections
00:22:17
Speaker
out. And he needs to know. And I'm like, shit. Don't worry. But no, no, no. That was one of the coolest moments. I love that one.
00:22:25
Speaker
it's funny you brought that up because i was like that was the other one in my head and i was like i'll never i'll never forget iconic moment any any other well super super like obviously there's there's probably so many there's so many there's so many yeah and again this is probably a huge one yeah it's a huge one and
00:22:41
Speaker
I think just all the teams, all the cross-functional teams coming together, there's always those really great moments. Of course, not everything is about just the launch, but when you are working so hard to get all these amazing initiatives out and to our customers, you're going to have feelings about it, of course, right? So it's definitely things that you will never forget in your career, which is small.
00:23:29
Speaker
We'll just put both of them over there. But yeah, thank you for chatting with me. Thank you for having us. I learned a lot. Yeah. Great experience. I hope you won't call us project managers. I won't. I won't. You'll never forget now. Yeah.
00:23:36
Speaker
Look at that. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is. And there it is.
00:23:44
Speaker
You've grilled it in your brain. Yes, I will not. But yeah, honestly, I'm like, the way that low-key I was sweating a little bit, describing the rule. But I guess, yeah, like, it seems like such a fun job to talk to so many people. But yeah, thank you for coming on. Thank you so much for having us. Hope everyone is having a great commute and we'll see you on the next app. Thanks.