Two Technical Leadership Hacks to Infuse Positivity into Your TPM Role

The goal of today's post is to help you become one step closer to your goal of being a more people-oriented Technical program manager (also known as TPM).

As usual, I will keep it short in a TLDR mode. I present to you two hacks that you could use even now to enrich your work life and bring some positive emotions to your fellow humans (and AI if you work with it)

1. Be nice for no reason

If you are using Microsoft Teams, there is a way to set a status for the day, which everyone who communicates with you will see.

In my case, it looks like this:

I found this very useful when I first saw it from a colleague. Her message was, "Be nice for no reason." And I was nice. That was a good reminder that we are people, and we need to have a certain level of positivity in our work lives.

Could you please try this and see how the tone of the communication changes?

If you are not using this specific software, I am sure the one that you use supports a similar mode as well.

Friday - the feedback day

Encouraging people to give their best for our joint success works if it's honest.

If you are working remotely and never see the people f2f as I do, here is a trick that could help you and your team to be positive.

1. You can book yourself a 15-minute slot each Friday.
2. When the time comes, reflect on who did something exceptional this week.
3. Write them a short e-mail stating their achievement.
4. If appropriate, CC their manager.

Here is an example I sent out, which is a case sent to their manager, and the person is in the CC. That works in some cases as well.

Dxxx, I hope you have had a wonderful day so far. I just wanted to spend 30 seconds to say how I greatly appreciate all the support I receive from Vxxx. Looking at the interactions with his team, he is a great manager and a catalyst of change, which helps my work. I also hear good feedback from my peers, and I am so happy we work together.

Kudos one more time!

"Stand Up And Shout"

As usual, my last section is about heavy metal and how the great masters of this music coach us through their songs on how to be better people and better at what we do.

You, as a TPM, are the most robust chain in most cases. You are the glue that holds the program together, and this is what your job description is.

For the rest, I will let Ronnie James Dio tell you this:

You are the strongest chain
And not just some reflection
So never hide again
You are the driver
You own the road
You are the fire, go on, explode

Homework for you :)

Friday is approaching; why don't you try the feedback hack and let me know how it went?