A Day In The Life Of A Design Program Manager At A Top Technology Company
A Design Program Manager's day is "a little bit different" each time, involving "putting out fires," facilitating productive meetings with "clearly defined agendas," and streamlining workflows through data analysis. The role also includes a crucial element of team engagement and morale-boosting, acting as "part-time therapists" to maintain motivation amidst project challenges.
Project Management, Communication, Problem-Solving, Teamwork, Leadership
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Marin Dennis
Design Program Manager
Fortune 10 Technology Company
Santa Clara university 2012
California college of the arts MBA in design strategy
Communications
Technology
Creative
Took Out Loans, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. A day in the life of a Design Program Manager is diverse and exciting, involving a mix of problem-solving, facilitating meetings, and improving team efficiency.
2. The role often involves 'putting out fires' (solving urgent project issues) and ensuring meetings are productive and goal-oriented.
3. In addition to operational tasks, the role includes team engagement and fostering a positive work environment, acting as a 'part-time therapist or cheerleader' to maintain morale and motivation.
Transcript
So what does a day in the life of a design operations manager look like?
That's a good question. Every day can be a little different for a design operations manager or design program manager, and that's what's really exciting about this type of work. Sometimes you can be putting out fires, which is what we call when chaos happens on a project. You need to go all hands on deck to try and solve the problem.
On a good day, when there's not a fire to put out, a lot of it can be helping facilitate meetings. I'm often on calls and meetings, and my role can be making sure there's a clearly defined agenda and purpose. The goal is to make the most out of the time we have together, so we feel like something's been accomplished when we leave.
Lots of times, people in the corporate world will tell you that so many meetings happen and nothing ever gets done. My job is to really focus on having a goal, and then at the end of the meeting, state what the goal is or what the next steps are if we didn't quite get there.
I can also be found in spreadsheets, looking for more ways for the team to be efficient. I try to use different tools and processes to help streamline work for the team. So, meetings, spreadsheets, emails – all those fun things.
There's also an element of just having fun and engaging with the team, back to that cultural part. Sometimes we joke in sign-offs that we're kind of like part-time therapists for design teams or cheerleaders. We're just trying to keep the motivation and spirits high, even when things aren't always perfect on projects.
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