How to start as a new TPM with no documentation or priorities
Starting a new technical program management role with zero documentation, unclear priorities, and teams with no time leaves new hires unable to answer basic questions like deadlines or stakeholders. This lack of structure results in an unorganized backlog of hundreds of vague items, leaving people feeling like they are just slowing their teams down.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1making agile boards, trying to wrap my head around things, asking what I can do to take weight off people's backs and clear their calendars, and pretending i know what I'm doing
- 2Setting up bill pay with the bank
- 3Putting recurring bills on auto pay
- 4Using QuickBooks classes and courses for training
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Ive been a software engineer (with agile lead experience) for 3 years, last week I started as a TPM for another internal department. I'm starting to severely regret it.”source ↗
“Here's the problem; none of my team have the time to even work on these projects. No one seems to be able to answer my basic questions like: when is this due? Who asked for this? Who are the stakeholders? What can I do to help you? Is there a priority on this?”source ↗
“There is an unorganized excel sheet backlog of hundred and *hundreds* of vague items.”source ↗
“I am not sure where to even start. At this point I feel like I'm just slowing them down by asking questions and monitoring progress. I genuinely do not know what I can do to help my teams out. My manager has been extremely unclear on what he needs from me.”source ↗
“Honestly, his whole office is a mess. Nothing is physically filed, nor are any of his excel invoices, recently anyways.”source ↗
“Im a little overwhelmed atm because i dont really know what to do? Like yea theres work but what needs to be done first?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Taking over bookkeeping with no records or account logins
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- 4Is it normal to have no work to do at a new job?
- 3How to get production experience when pivoting to a new software field
- 4How to do project planning in Office 365 without MS Project
- 5How to teach a class with no textbook or curriculum