TPgMs Compared to Other Roles

How does technical program management relate to other roles?

There are many other roles that a technical program manager must interface with daily. Understanding the boundaries between these roles helps with your overall effectiveness in driving initiatives forward.

Product management and engineering

Technical program managers partner with many other roles across the company. This can sometimes lead to confusion, especially in small and medium-sized companies where the TPgM role is still being defined.

Technical program managers partner most closely with product and engineering managers and their teams.

Founders own everything, from the vision all the way down to the most subtle details of execution. As a company grows, a founder will need to multiply their impact by hiring for critical product and engineering roles. This is the beginning of split ownership. Product managers own the "why" and the "what," while engineering managers typically own the "how," "when," and "who."

Layered complexity is introduced as a company continues to grow. Technical program managers are introduced primarily to take ownership of the "when" and the "who."

Note: The TPgM's ability to own the "when" and the "who" is heavily dependent on their understanding of the "why" and the "what" from the product manager and the "how" from engineering. Additionally, an engineering manager should still own the "when" and the "who" within their own team.

Along with ownership, it's important to understand focus. Where does the TPgM role fit into a tech ...

Relationship to operations

Operations and technical ...