BECOMING A TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER

Monday, March 31, 14

ABOUT SCOTT• Current: Director of Customer Success @Pantheon

• Past: Support Manager, Promet Solutions, Drupal dev shop

• Service Manager, MSP in Chicago

• IT Project Manager, Consultant; Oilily, Chiasso

• Management Consulting

• Certified Scrum Master

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ABOUT JOHNNIE

• Current: Senior Project Manger @Prometsource

• Recovering Developer

• Construction Management

• Certified Scrum Master

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RAREST ORCHIDS

Kinds of PMs in Drupal:• Previous Tech Exp• Owner• PMbot• “Assistant”

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BAD RAP ON YOU…

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WHAT IT TAKES

1. PM skills

2. Technical knowledge

3. Soft skills

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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MAJOR METHODOLOGIES

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AGILITY• In general, agility is defined as "the ability of a

[system] to rapidly respond to change by adapting its initial stable configuration”

• agility or nimbleness is the ability to change the body's position efficiently, and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, and endurance

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AGILE MANIFESTO• We are uncovering better ways of developing software by

doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools• Working software over comprehensive documentation• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation• Responding to change over following a plan

• That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

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LIES ABOUT AGILE• It is a silver bullet that fixes all problems

• Agile is the right approach for all projects

• One Agile framework is good for all the projects you do.

• Agile will stop you from making bad decisions

• Agile will immediately show results

• All clients love Agile

• Your love life will improve if you adopt agile.

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AGILE FLAVORS

Agile ModelingCrystal Clear Dynamic Systems Development method (DSDM)Exia ProcessExtreme Programming (XP)

Feature Driven DevelopmentOpen Unified Process (Open UP)Scrum Velocity TrackingKanban

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WATERFALLit just flows!

• Discovery• Planning• Development• Implementation

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DUNDER-MIFFLIN ♥’S WATERFALL

Document ObjectiveSOW What client wants

Charter Attributes of ProjectPRD

What you will buildTRD What you will buildFunc Spec

What you will build

WBS Fantasy timeline

Change Requests Reality

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TECHNICAL SKILLS

Monday, March 31, 14

JUST LEARN:

LinuxApache/NGINXVimHow to codeDrupal: Entities/Taxonomy/UsersDrupal: Site BuildingDrupal: Theme LayerDrupal: Panels? Domain Access? Display Suite?Drupal: the config & content database knotDrushIDEMySQLApplication layer IP: http, ftp, ssh, ssl/tls, dns,

telnet, ldapWireframinghtmlCSS javascriptPHPSASSxmlrssREST/apiCRUDCIsimpletestcachingreverse proxy cachingperformance testing

New RelicSymfonyux/uiSEOVersion controlPhotoshopprovisioningQA/selenium/behatSOAPPCI complianceVirtualizationVagrantComposer

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JOHNNIE’S KEYS LEARNINGS

• Drupal Ladder

• Buildamodule

• Modules Unraveled

• Drupalize Me

• Google is your friend

• Have smart friends

• Someone on D.O has probably had same problem

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ALWAYS BE LEARNING

• Projects aren’t the best place for it

• Build your own plan

• Things you should focus on:

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JOHNNIE’S RECCOMENDATIONS

• Google is your friend

• someone on D.0 has probably done it before....

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SCOTT’S RECOMMENDATIONS

• 1,000,000 questions

• 90 days of …

• Books:

• D7 Module development

• Front End Theming

• Build a Megasite

• Do your own retrospective

• Immersion: Podcasts, Blogs, Meetups, Classes

• Camps/cons

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SAMPLE 90 DAY SPRINT• Objectives:

• Code everyday

• Build a site with CDN, SSL, SOLR, Redis

• Content from Feeds

• Deliverable: Site, Notes, Commits, Retrospective

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SAMPLE/HTTP

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MY RECOMMENDATIONS• Blooms Taxonomy

• Knowledge: Repeat Terms; “List”

• Comprehension: Understands how to repeat examples; “Describe”

• Application: When to use; “Apply”

• Analysis: Why that works; “Appraise”

• Synthesis: Extend knowledge; “Create”

• Evaluation: Understands the entire sphere; “Predict”

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OTHER PM SKILLS• Organization

• Look for the similarities

• Set expectations early: Kickoff, Onboarding, Change requests, Decisions, Estimation

• Think Binary

• Pick your tools and get to know it

• PM Tool (Excel)

• Waterfall/Agile/Scrummerfall

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TRACKING PROGRESS

守: Obey 破: Detach 離: Depart

Drupal

Linux

Apache/NGINX

MySQL

PHP

X

X X

X

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SOFT SKILLS

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• How to handle 11th hour stakeholder

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• How to handle 11th hour stakeholder

• Working with the enemy of success

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• How to handle 11th hour stakeholder

• Working with the enemy of success

• How to handle black swan events 

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• How to handle 11th hour stakeholder

• Working with the enemy of success

• How to handle black swan events 

• How to handle the 11th hour stakeholder brought in by the project enemy during a black swan event

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7 HABITS1. Constant Self Improvement

2. Confrontation: Get Good At It

1. “No,” “Not yet,” “That is out of scope”

3. Be Fun & Interesting

4. Ask, Listen, and Repeat

5. Relentlessly attack blockers

6. “Success” is subjective:

1. Detach with Love

2. Champion the project

7. The last 20% is what makes you a great PM

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PROMISES

• Projects will succeed

• Authority and Trust will grow

• You will be surprised at what comes out of your mouth

• You will work more efficiently (so you may be busier, but less reactive!)

• You will be able to do the stuff you have in your head

Monday, March 31, 14