Last updated on December 29th, 2023 at 11:17 am

The role of a Technical Program Manager (TPM) demands that a TPM possesses a variety of skills. Although the core skills of a TPM are technical proficiency and complex program management abilities, the day-to-day toolbox of a TPM contains so much more. In this post, we discuss the core skills that a TPM requires.

TPMs must be able to employ a wide range of skills to ensure the success of their programs. These skills would include being able to:

  1. Communicate with Stakeholders (Development Managers, Product Managers, Developers, Architects, Compliance Teams, etc.)
  2. Influence Team Members Without Authority
  3. Prioritize Deliverables 
  4. Negotiate Timelines
  5. Understand Relevant Technology enough to Manage their Programs 

What Skills do TPMs Need to Master?

The skills required for TPMs vary depending on the type of TPM.

  • Depth/Embedded TPMs: These TPMs work with one to three development teams
  • Breadth TPMs: These TPMS own large cross-team programs, manage 30+ teams and are responsible for large initiatives.
  • SWAT TPMs: These TPMs specialize in fixing critical programs. 

The three roles require an additional set of skills for success. Think of these skills as the icing on the cake of a TPM’s core skill set: Program Management and Technical Acumen.

TPM’s core skills

The TPM’s core skills are Program Management and Technical Acumen.

Program Management is needed to ensure product delivery and Technical Acumen includes the ability to have effective conversations with internal and external teams.

Program Management
  • Creates new programs when required
  • Understands the vision/objective and kicks off new programs
  • Manages and tracks Programs through its various phases 
  • Communicates progress/blockers with all stakeholders clearly and on time
Technical Acumen
  • Understands the system’s functionality and architecture down to its core components
  • Participates in the design review process and influences decisions to ensure quality
  • Applies engineering standards to the program and its dependencies
  • Documents technical details to help broader audiences understand the delivered solutions
Communication Skills
  • Conveys information clearly and precisely to a wide range of stakeholders

(Product Managers, Leadership Team, External Vendors, Testers, and Engineers)

  • Articulates technical concepts clearly to non-technical business users
  • Negotiates and facilitates priorities and timelines 
Leadership
  • Epitomizes servant leadership
  • Owns with authority when required
  • Displays the quality of being genuine 
  • Demonstrates trustworthiness and vision
Stakeholder & Partner Management
  • Collaborates with business partners to understand problems and envision workable solutions
  • Gathers together different stakeholder groups and coordinates consensus on goals and product vision
  • Negotiates with both internal and external partners on the timing of dependencies to ensure successful delivery
Influence
  • Exercises influence without authority, leading teams by example and behavior rather than mandate
  • Builds a network of peers with trust as currency and a shared goal as the motivator
  • Creates win-win scenarios in each collaborative effort to allow all stakeholders to progress with their own goals
Prioritization
  • Reassess backlog ona regular basis by the Effort-Value matrix to decide which goal to pursue
  • Knows when to terminate tasks that lose relevance and initiates items that provide the most value to the program goal
  • Communicates reasons for prioritization with all stakeholders
Multitasking
  • Switches between the six levels of Agile planning (from goal setting to daily planning) with ease
  • Handles multiple conversations with different stakeholders (such as product managers, architects, developers, etc.) without losing the thread of conversation

The above should give you a good overview of the core skills a TPM needs. Try to ensure that your current role gives you the opportunity to practice and hone these skills. 

Skills By Specialization

Certain types of roles may require additional skills. See below:

Specialization Skills
Depth
  • Holds expertise in one or more areas (Mobile/Web/Backend/Infra/Data Science/Security), and in planning and execution
  • Understands architecture enough to foresee design, process, and technology related challenges
  • Understands the vertical well enough to know the problem space well (in the case of a depth TPM)
Breadth
  • Has been significantly experienced in handling a variety of products and programs
  • Shows problem-solving abilities across product, engineering, and other domains
  • Possesses expertise in dealing with 30+ stakeholders simultaneously in one program
  • Influences without authority
  • Is adept at handling situations where there is a great deal of ambiguity
  • Exhibits sophisticated judgment honed from years of experience
  • Comprehends the details of a situation intuitively and suggests possible solutions
SWAT
  • Acts swiftly
  • Knows how to fail fast while ensuring all risks are identified and mitigated early
  • Handles complex problems that are in progress
  • Understands political dynamics and the underlying motivations of each stakeholder
  • Maneuvers ambiguity comfortably without knowing the exact complexities while being able to plan for any eventuality

There you go ! We hope the above post helped you in figuring out the skills you have and the skills you need to sharpen up.

Authored by 

Gouri Prasad, Vikas Sharma, Vadivelan Natarajan, Purnima Vijaya 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Question 1. What does technical program manager do?
A TPM’s primary responsibility is to work across several teams or orginizations and ensure that the program they own reach its goals.
Question 2. What skills do I need to be a technical program manager?
A TPM needs to have a variety of skills. The most essential skills are program management, Technical acumen. But there are many more soft skills like the ability to communicate clearly and emotional intelligence.
Question 3. What does a Senior Technical Program Manager do?
A Senior TPM’s primary responsibility is to work across several teams or orginizations and ensure that the program they own reach its goals. Senior TPMs generally are working on solving more complex problems.
Question 4. What makes a good technical program manager?
A good Technical Program Manager is someone who takes to ensure that their team is in good health and the programs they own delivering are progressing well.
Question 5. How do I get better at TPM?
Taking stretch goals and trying things that you are not comfortable is one way to grow. You can also get better at being a TPM by getting a mentor or a sponsor.
Question 6. What is difference between program manager and technical program manager?
A TPM does everything a Program Manager does, but they also add the ability to understand, have conversations on the technical aspects of the program they own.
Question 7. Should a project manager have technical skills?
A TPM would need to have strong technical skills. This would help the TPM to have and lead conversations with the technical team and also add value in discussions when technical desesions are made.

Authors

Purnima Vijaya

Purnima Vijaya

Experienced contributor with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology, Data, and Analytics industry.

Vikas Sharma

Vikas Sharma

CSM and SAFe 5 AGILE certified Program Leader with experience in People, Portfolio & TPM.

Vadivelan Natarajan

Vadivelan Natarajan

Gouri Prasad Mallampalli

Gouri Prasad Mallampalli

10+ years of experience working in data-driven projects.