10 June 2003

Program management: responsibility without authority key to MS success Chris Sells explains that program managers have to persuade, cajole, sell "doing the right thing" to others at Microsoft. Management by buy-in (as opposed to management buy-in). Responsibility without authority is is designed into the role, and is seen as a key differentiator for MS. The PM's job is wake up in the morning and think to him/herself, "What's the right thing to do today?" The range of things that fall into this category is far too wide to even give you the bounds, but essentially it's whatever someone else isn't already doing (or isn't doing to their satisfaction : ). Once they identify the right thing to do, they can attempt to take "ownership" of making it happen (your boss gets a say in how you spend your time). Once ownership is acquired, that's when things get interesting. PMs have all kinds of responsibility, but no authority. While this kind of position is generally one to avoid in the world of corporate politics, the internal product cycle training video I watched a couple of weeks ago points out that "responsibly without authority" is by design. Instead of ruling by fiat, PMs have to wander around the company finding folks that are involved with what they're doing to get their "buy in" and their help. The way to do that is through old-fashion politics, i.e. gathering consensus, persuasion, trading favors, brow-beating, table thumping, complaining up your own management chain, complaining up your opponent's management chain, etc. It's not just a popularity contest, although being liked certainly helps. It's also about your reputation, as established by your technical chops and your ability to produce, among other things. 11:16:35 AM     comments