In this article we will focus on how you can increase your visibility as a TPM resulting in faster learning and growth. While we all want faster growth, faster learning is equally if not more important. TPM is a coveted role and people from across the spectrum are interested in it. You need to keep your visibility and impact high for keeping your job as well as growing into it. Normal TPM activities while crucial for project success will keep you at the same level.

Below are some tips that will help you thrive in this game:

  • Work for High Growth Business or Product

  • Latch on to Strategic Projects

  • Work for Influential Managers/Leaders

  • Manage Multiple Projects

  • Keep the Engineer to TPM Ratio High

  • Work on Customer Facing Products/Services

  • Work on V1/Greenfield Projects

  • Work on Projects that Impact Multiple Businesses

  • Contribute to PM Best Practices

  • Develop Strong Technical Muscle

  • Give Technical Talks

  • Setup Morale Events and Team Outings

Work for High Growth Business or Product: While working for an organization, you may get a choice on which division or product to work for. While working for established products may provide better job security. Higher visibility and faster growth lie in new products or services. Let’s take an example, as a TPM you join a retail company which has stores around the country as well as online presence. If you see a trend that business is moving from physical stores to Online, you may want to work in the IT division that supports online stores rather than physical stores. Even if you do not join the higher growth business at the onset, you may have opportunity 1-2 years down the line to make that change. Do not hesitate in doing it as this will benefit your career in short term as well as long term.

Latch on to Strategic Projects: Generally, companies have different types of projects based on their impact on the company. At a high level, these can be categorized as strategic, core and maintenance/sunset. Strategic projects are future oriented biggest bets for the company. Core projects are important to keep the lights on and maintenance/sunset are the systems which are on their way out of sooner or later. While you may not control on which projects you land on, it is important that you keep an eye on the biggest bets and make your intentions known to your manager that you want to work on these projects. Many of us get too heads down into the work assigned to us but its important to know what else is going on around us.

Work for Influential Managers/Leaders: Just like we choose the companies that we work for, it is also critical to choose the managers/leaders that we work for. Working for weak managers or leaders can waste all your efforts. You need to put in time and energy in figuring out who are the movers and shakers of the organization, who are rising stars and work for them.

Manage Multiple Projects: Senior TPMs work on multiple projects, unless you are on a big project it is better to have multiple projects even if you need to lean more on the engineers.

Keep the Engineer to TPM Ratio high: One of the measures included in deciding TPM effectiveness is how many engineers do you work with. For example, if you are managing a team of 10 engineers, that’s considered more influential than working on a team with 3-4 engineers.

Work on Customer Facing Products/Services: If you work for any big software manufacture companies, it is better to work on the so called ‘product groups’ rather than internal IT organization. Product groups are also called profit centers because they get the money for the organization. IT groups which support internal business functions like Finance, Sales, Marketing or HR are called cost centers. Salaries are higher, and growth is faster in product groups as compared to internally facing IT groups. If you work for a company where IT is a supporting function, then try to choose IT that that supports products with highest revenue impact.

Work on V1/Greenfield Projects: V1 projects are not only great for visibility, they are also awesome for learning and growing. Whenever you have a choice, go for V1 projects.

Work on Projects that Impact Multiple Businesses: As you grow in the TPM role, one of the ways you can differentiate yourself is by working on projects that impact multiple businesses. The more cross group impact you have the better.

Contribute to PM Best Practices: Organizations are looking to enhance their PM best practices. Setup/participate in PM brown bags where PMs discuss the challenges and suggest best practices to take the PMO to the next level in the organization.

Develop Strong Technical Muscle: TPMs with a strong T have a great advantage over less technical PMs in the organization. Engineering managers prefer to work with highly technical TPMs. You can read my article on how to make your ‘T’ shine in a TPM role.

Give Technical Talks: PMs who partners with Engineers and deliver Technical talks also get lot of good visibility across the organization. This also helps you differentiate yourself from the pack.

Setup Morale Events and Team Outings: Most companies lag in setting up and executing morale events. You may want to associate your brand with fun and activities. One way of doing it is through setting up of Morale Events. You can start small with your immediate team, followed by all teams under your manager and then probably at the organization level.

 TPMs do not deliver code, they are evaluated based on their impact and influence within the organization. Keeping your visibility high is critical in this scenario. While engineers may have the flexibility of working in a corner by themselves, the game is entirely different for TPMs. We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!