A detail-oriented person is someone who pays close attention to the minor aspects of projects and tasks. They maintain a clear understanding of requirements and ask questions to ensure they grasp everything thoroughly. Such individuals can work with minimal supervision and efficiently manage complex logistics, schedules, and processes. We can evaluate candidates based on the following aspects:

• Resume: Is it well-written?
• Experience: Does the role require analytical thinking and a detailed plan? How do they handle complex processes and projects?
• Behavior: Do they take notes, listen attentively, and seek clarification? Do they provide specific details or examples?

People say that you don't take ownership of your project because you lack a proactive plan of action. The key difference lies in whether you are focused on managing day-to-day operations or if you have a clear future vision and understand what needs to be accomplished.

To address this issue, consider creating a to-do list at the beginning of each week. This list can help you assess whether your tasks are reactive or proactive.

I was disappointed to realize how bias affects people's judgments in the workplace. Once someone decides they don't like you, they will seek evidence to support their mindset, even if that evidence is not valid.

The story revolves around a junior project manager overseeing a complex project. The PMO removed him from some dev team meetings to help him focus on project execution. However, this decision later worked against him, as colleagues criticized him for not actively engaging with the team and missing meetings even though this change was planned in advance. They claimed he was not curious to learn from the group or follow up on matters, which wasn't true. In reality, the project was being executed successfully; it's hard to believe he could achieve that without any follow-ups with the team.

The takeaway here is never to underestimate the importance of your relationships with others. Everyone carries biases—in fact, it's a reality we all face. The key is to ensure those biases don't influence perceptions and decisions.

​Many organizations offer a mentorship program for career development. We give tips on onboarding to a mentorship program, setting the proper exceptions, and getting the most benefits from your mentorship connection. To start, let's first set the expectation. Mentor is not someone who will tells you how to get things done.  Instead,  they can who can you see more potential in you and assist you to find out what you can do. In other words, mentorship works only if we are ready to make some changes and learn ourselves.  We share some tips  to help you make decisions.

Setting Goals 
Defining a clear goal determine the success of each mentoring session. Starting with understanding the needs and challenges and then defining SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). An example goal is "In the 6 months mentoring session, I'd like to fully understand organization culture, create my PMO team culture practices, establish PMO vision, strategy, and performance KPIs. " Discuss the goal with the mentor, and make sure there is the enthusiasm that helps move things forward. 

Setting Expectations of Relationship 
A relationship with your mentor should be established by getting to know each other. Don't forget to ask about your mentor's professional background, interests, mentoring experiences, and what they plan to help the most. ​

The following is the list of information to share as a mentee: 

• ​Why do you participate in the mentoring program? This can be a job, hobby, or extracurricular activity.
• What are your job and career-related interests, professional challenges, and concerns? 
• What are the projects you have worked on, books you read, and classes are taken? 
• What are your hobbies, favorite travel plans, music, text, and movies? 

A mentee needs to know what a mentor can't do: 

• Directly telling you what to do and not do: A mentor should be a role model. Your mentor might share suggestions on what they would do in a similar situation and how they approach the problem, but it's up to the mentee to decide the best course of action. 
• Give you a performance review: Mentors should be outside your own management chain so you can have open and honest feedback. The mentoring discussion should be kept confidential. 

​Creating an Action Plan 
After the goals are set, the following step is to create action plans. It's the list of tasks needed to meet the goal. The following is an example action plan. "1. Review the corporate culture and have an in-depth discussion for understanding. 2. Create PMO team culture guidance. 3. Create and review the PMO team vision and strategy. 4. Create the team-building plan, including recruiting scorecard 5. Create a PMO KPI dashboard and performance review plan. " The more specific the actions are, the more possible the plan get completed as planned. 

The following are suggestions of actions for mentees:

• Create a clear goal and plan 
• Setup meetings and drive the process
• Be open to a different viewpoint and try new approaches 
• Listen, share, and contribute ideas and thoughts. 
• Keep all the discussions confidential.

​Regularly Checking In
During the mentoring session, keep revisiting the goals to make sure progress is made, everything is on track, and make adjustments as needed. At a particular time, summarize the progress and discuss the achievements.

The following are suggested actions for regular check-ins:

• Is the goal still clear and relevant? 
• Is the relationship healthy? 
• Is the communication clear and concise? 

Closing the Session
At the end of the mentoring session, start with a summary of what was learned and achieved and celebrate the success. Ask the mentor to suggest preparing for the future to reduce anxiety about the change around the corner. ​ Then redone the relationship post the mentoring session and communicate the future engagement plan, such as what's the connection and how often to connect. It has to be a mutually desired plan. 

In summary, a mentee should be in the driving seat to nurture the mentoring relationship and make it impactful. ​

Question to Ask When Working with Your Mentors

1. Do I have clear goals for the mentoring partnership and for myself? Am I on course?
2. Am I documenting the action items needed to meet my goals by creating tasks in your Mentoring Plan?
3. Could I have done something better? 
4. Do I need to extend the mentoring period?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the project management position is predicted to grow 7% until 2033, with an average yearly salary of $98,580 in 2023 (around $47/hour). However, the actual pay could vary across industries and companies. 

This month, our analysis will focus on AI/ML-related project management, a field that is currently in high demand. We will analyze the job requirements, skills, and qualifications, highlighting the value of your expertise. Let's look at an example job opening: 

Netflix: Product Manager, ML Platform: Training (10/14/2024)
Netflix offers entertainment services with 278 million paid memberships in over 190 countries. It is one of the big five tech companies called "FAANG." These companies are known for high pay and extensive company benefits. The position is part of a team building the Machine Learning Platform (MLP) to improve researchers' and engineers' productivity. 

• The qualifications include covering all phases of machine learning development at Netflix, including data processing, training, evaluation, deployment, and operations. AI projects require the PM to know how to manage the project lifecycle, which involves collecting data, creating training, engaging customers for evaluation, and performing operations efficiently. 
• It's worth noticing the role of "enhancing data scientist productivity" in the job description. This usually means getting the data quickly and with high quality and facilitating evaluation testing with users. It's a role that requires a solid understanding and a mastery of Agile project management methodology. The requirement for building a "roadmap of platform capabilities necessary to accelerate ML development, especially for Generative AI use cases" is a product management role. This requires working with customers to define OKR and prioritizing the feature roadmap. One technique is defining the platform's unique selling proposition (USP). Another is creating a user advisory board to collect product requirements and feedback. ​​

Netflix: Principal Product Manager, Data Platfor -Analytics Platform (10/18/2024)
​Netflix seeks a Principal Technical Product Manager to lead its Data Platform, focusing on optimizing data utility across the company by managing analytics platforms and driving technological innovations. This role demands a seasoned professional to develop strategic visions customer use cases to engineering features, foster cross-functional collaborations, and spearhead product roadmaps, all aimed at enhancing both the technical and non-technical user experience. Key Skills and Experience Required:

• Strategic Leadership: Ability to shape and implement strategies for data platforms (Spark, Trino, Airflow, Iceberg, S3) that align with Netflix’s business goals
• Technical Expertise: Extensive experience in data analytics or ML platforms, with proficiency in Compute engines, Orchestration systems, and Lakehouse technologies.
• Experience: Minimum of 8 years in technical product management, including significant experience in managing large-scale projects and teams.

To understand, Netflix infrastructure, check this Linkedin post: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐱 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧? This is a part of management not a product management position however, if you have The technical background and would like to extend your skills to customer driven projects and strategy, then this is a choice.

​Meta: GenAI Project Manager, Product Data Operations (10/21/2024)
​Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is a global technology powerhouse renowned for connecting billions worldwide through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus. The company's culture emphasizes rapid innovation, open communication, and initiative, encouraging employees to lead projects and innovate. The Project Manager position recently posted is their Product Data Operations team to advance GenAI programs. The job requires strong leadership and the ability to manage complex, technology-driven projects.

• Experience Required: At least 12 years in project management, specializing in technology-focused projects, risk management, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Desirable Skills and Knowledge: Proficiency in critical thinking, communication, SQL, or Excel/Google Sheets, with experience in GenAI or machine learning, such as data annotation project. 
• we need to note this requirement ”Build strategic capabilities (e.g., data-driven processes, frameworks, analytical tools) to identify and prioritize opportunities to accelerate GenAI product development cycles” This means  it requires project managers to know how to use analytic to an AI to drive project Execution.

We hope this analysis helps you prepare for the career changes. Let us know your analysis and  if it is helpful for job searching and career planning. 

After identifying people with common interests or attributes, people form a group or circle for comfortable interactions. Within the group, we trust, help, and share information. Outsiders are typically excluded, which causes the problem of missing opportunities, such as creative thinking.

To avoid group biases, we should start getting to know people by asking the following questions:

• Do I belong to the group the person is in?
• What are their interests and background?
• How can I become part of their inner circle?

Before tackling difficult problems, it's crucial to establish a connection with the person we're dealing with and become a part of their "we". We can accomplish this by learning about their background, including where they grew up, what language they speak, their hobbies and interests, what motivates them, their career objectives, the subjects they enjoy working on, and their past accomplishments. By obtaining this information and establishing a connection or belonging, we can be more effective in addressing their challenges. We need to be ally first. 

As your career grows, you'd like to take a higher position and take more responsibilities. To achieve these, you have to build your accountability within our organization to take ownership of your earmarked work and deliver the results. To do so, you need to listen, analyze, ask, and commit. 

Listen means clearly understanding the requirements of each assignment. You also need to sufficiently define the problem, including the problem scope and delivery requirements. 

Analyze needs you to clarify the assumptions, know who to work with, estimate, and plan to address the risks. It's also necessary to evaluate your ability to take the challenge and stretch yourself but not take anything over your limit. ​

Ask questions for clarification, suggestions, and assistance from assignment sponsors, stakeholders, experts, and your team. Healthy debate can be helpful to consider different perspectives and let all issue bubble ups to the surface. 

Commit until you are ready by rationally convinced that you are in the right direction. 

In summary, taking ownership of a task is an opportunity and a challenge. Take it with good considerations. 

Focusing on the project's result, project managers would admit personal limitations and seek advice and thoughts to construct the best solution. The limits can be limited knowledge, lack of information, ignorance, or simply personal biases. Relying on past success experiences can also be problematic because things keep changing. The following are some recommended actions for handling this situation: 

• Recognize limitations of personal expertise and experiences 
• Convince the team and outside experts of candid suggestions 
• Follow the process for analyzing and accepting advice 

In summary, we don't need to know all the answers but when and how to seek the correct answers. ​It's better to borrow great ideas from various sources than get stuck while solely relying on our own opinions. ​

You made a mistake. Don't panic. You can't cry over spilled milk. Making mistakes is common in every project. We want to share with you how to deal with errors and grow from them. 

• Admit it. If you did anything wrong, own it and admit it. Don't play the blaming game. If you don't dare to do so, you can't lead your project team.
• Find the reason. Mistakes happen with a cause. You have to endure the pain backtrack when an error occurs to determine what was wrong. Did you fail because you assigned a task to the wrong person? Are you not foresee the risk and take immediate action? Are you making incorrect assumptions? Ask questions can help guide your investigation. 
• Learn from it. Make improvements to your process or practices so that you can avoid the same error later. 

The key here is not about the mistake but how you address it and gain experience to face the challenge in the future. 

Leading a project requires constant decision-making. How do we address the customer's needs? What should be the risks that need immediate action? Who should we assign a task to? We'd like to share a critical thinking principle for making decisions. 

• Understand the situation (Observer). You can't decide without fully understanding your situation. You would collect evidence and data to find out: What is the problem? What is the current status? The accurate observation is the basis for the steps followed. 
• Ask for help (Orient). For a high stake decision with broader impacts or difficult to reverse or perform damage control, ask for help when you consult your manager or experts in the field to share experiences, suggestions, or clarifications of your doubts. Sometimes you would even need a devil's advocate to help avoid your strong biases.
• Plan for changes (Decide). You will carefully outline a plan to handle the changes and impacts for the appropriate decision.  
• Take action (Action). If any decision requires changes, consider taking small steps to validate your thoughts first and take steps with a well-thought action plan. 

The described approach is also called the OODA decision approach, which has four steps for decision-making. The approach focuses on filtering available information, putting it in context, quickly making the most appropriate decision, and taking actions to validate the decision. Remember that no matter how well we plan the decision process, we can't guarantee to make the right decisions. However, the decision-making process helps us make the best decision we can in our current capacity. ​​​ 

When you have to make challenging decisions that are not popular, here are some additional suggestions:

• Explain When people are not happy or strongly oppose the decision, don't ignore their voice or be overwhelmed by their objections. Understand their perspectives. After the decision is made, take your firm and clear stand and respect people by explaining why the decision was made this way. However, avoid delaying or flip-flopping a decision. 
• Take ownership While we can't guarantee every decision is correct, the most important thing to do is take ownership by admitting errors and addressing problems.
• Cut through Ambiguity with a Plan. The decision becomes problematic when we can't wait to know all before moving forward. We need to rely on our existing knowledge, process and take risks. The fundamental approach is to connect ideas, define the path and ways to experiment and adjust. ​

The key is to make time for contemplation and take the courage to make the choice. When we are busy with meetings, emails, phone calls, and other immediate demands, we often lack time for reflection, leading to decisions based on reflex rather than careful consideration.​​

The misconceptions and stereotypes we have about others can shape our perceptions. The same can happen to us. Today, let's discuss this topic.

First, let's address the common misconception that millennials are entitled. In reality, this generation works hard, bringing new perspectives to the table. However, they expect recognition for their hard work and potential. If you have millennial colleagues, don't hesitate to acknowledge their contributions.

Next, there's a prevailing misconception that women are more interested in project management roles than engineering. This belief restricts opportunities. We should support women excelling in any field they choose and allowign us to seeking various career paths.

Another stereotype we must challenge is the assumption that overweight individuals are lazy or less ambitious. Ambition knows no bounds, and it's essential not to judge based on appearances.

Additionally, the idea that those who dress differently are not in line with others are normally get challenged. Regardless of diverse styles, it's important to be conscious of dressing appropriately and accommodating different perspectives.

Let's also dispel the stereotype that individuals from lower social or economic backgrounds can't speak professionally. Everyone deserves respect and equal opportunities.

As we enjoy our tea today, it's important to consider fostering a more open-minded and understanding workplace that is inclusive. Let's think about how we can make adjustments so that the environment works for us rather than against us. 

Seeking advice is an excellent way to connect with senior leaders and build relationships, but it's crucial to avoid taking action without proper preparation. Keep in mind that your actions can either strengthen or damage the relationship.Here are some suggestions to make the most out of the opportunity: 

1. Do your research and ensure that you have a complete understanding of the topic at hand. 
2. Work on it and experiment with different approaches. 
3. Find at least one to three potential solutions to the problem.
   
4. Plan the conversation by starting with your understanding of the topic , why the topic matters, and presenting solutions that the leader can choose from, rather than asking what you should do about it.

It's important to showcase your independent problem-solving skills and knowledge and provide insights that leaders may not have considered. If they perceive you as a valuable resource who can contribute to the discussion, it's a sign of success. Remember, it's a conversation of give and take, rather than simply seeking advice.

We all want to build our careers and move to the next step as fast as possible. However, you might not see that happen as you expected. There are many factors to it. You may not be aware of lacking skills to do the job. People who make decisions might not see you as a qualified candidate. Or there are no opportunities to take. However, don't stop working on your goal. We share some simple actions that you can take at any time to prepare for your subsequent career growth. 

• Carefully draft every email you send. Take it as an excellent practice for your communication skills and a way to show your expertise. People do read them and will change their impressions of you. 
• Provide solutions to your team and manager whenever you have a chance to add value.
• Give a brief and concise summary of your work and your team in meetings and conversations.
• Lead by examples to show high-quality work.
• Gain more knowledge of your organization and industry 

These will not bring immediate opportunities but will make you ready for the next one because people will see you as a leader they can count on to get things done well.