Becoming a Drupal Technical Project Manager

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


ABOUT JOHNNIE

• Current: Senior Project Manger @Prometsource

• Recovering Developer

• Construction Management

• Certified Scrum Master


RAREST ORCHIDS

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


BAD RAP ON YOU…


WHAT IT TAKES

1. PM skills

2. Technical knowledge

3. Soft skills


PROJECT MANAGEMENT


MAJOR METHODOLOGIES


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


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.


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.


AGILE FLAVORS

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

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


WATERFALLit just flows!

• Discovery• Planning• Development• Implementation


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


TECHNICAL SKILLS


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


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


ALWAYS BE LEARNING

• Projects aren’t the best place for it

• Build your own plan

• Things you should focus on:


JOHNNIE’S RECCOMENDATIONS

• Google is your friend

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


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


SAMPLE 90 DAY SPRINT• Objectives:

• Code everyday

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

• Content from Feeds

• Deliverable: Site, Notes, Commits, Retrospective


SAMPLE/HTTP


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”


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


TRACKING PROGRESS

守: Obey 破: Detach 離: Depart

Drupal

Linux

Apache/NGINX

MySQL

PHP

X

X X

X


SOFT SKILLS


• How to handle 11th hour stakeholder



• Working with the enemy of success




• How to handle black swan events




• How to handle black swan events

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


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


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


Becoming a Drupal Technical Project Manager

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