Introduction: A Day in the Life of a Box PM
“Hi, I'm April Reagan - I'm a box PM for the Visual C++ Team."
One of the first things that I seem to have to do, upon introduction, is explain to people what a “box PM” does. I've recently been avoiding the confusion by saying “release PM,” which seems to at least give people a hint of what the responsibilities are related to.
A box program manager is basically a project manager without any direct reports (unless, of course you are a box PM lead). In other words, I drive the team from a peer stance. Minding the product cycle and keeping feature teams in check and on schedule is only one small part of the job. Box PMs are ultimately on the hook for everything that ships in the "box." This PM must pick up (or at least prioritize and delegate) all of the loose ends that don't neatly fit into a feature/component area - setup, help, samples, end-to-end product scenarios, customer programs, legal, servicing and external issues, just to name a few.
I also spend some time fielding questions from anyone around the company who needs to work with our team but doesn't know who to start with; on the division's intranet portal, each team has one primary contact listed - and for Visual C++, that is me. I personally try to make myself a reliable resource for the product management team, the team in whole, our internal and external partners and customers. I find it to be a very challenging and rewarding job!
From a product cycle perspective, the project start up and shut down are the busiest times for a box PM, however there really is no truly slow time since, as with any project manager, it is important for one to be on the lookout for potential risks and their mitigations, how the project is tracking towards quality and schedule goals and change management. Our product team is currently working towards a 2nd Beta that will be followed by more stabilization time and a final release later this year. (We are looking for some excited testers for our Beta 2, so if you are interested, please let me know!)
When I considered starting a blog, I decided that it would not only be an opportunity for me to keep interested readers informed on what's new in Visual C++ land from my perspective, but to talk about what it is like to be a “box” program manager. So I'm going to dive in. I hope readers who find my blog will find it interesting and at times entertaining!
april
