Web3/Decentralized PM’ing
Expectations of PMs
Definition of project manager: someone who manages resources (i.e. time, money, effort) towards some goal (Links)
- implication: you have to articulate the goal
- implication: for best results, make best use of resources towards goal
PM in a nutshell:
- Understand/articulate the goal - write down objectives, goals, hypothesis and required information
- Be sure to get feedback and agreement on objectives, goals and hypothesis
- Set up and document a cadence of accountability - i.e. a weekly meeting where you do the following:
- review the work done (or not done) the previous week
- align on priorities/blockers/next steps
- commit to some tasks for the following week
- Use the cadence you set above to iterate towards the goal
Check out the following articles for more info on how this works:
Project manager responsibilities vary by the type of organization they are in…
- large organizations typically have project managers doing TACTICAL work like noting and accounting for resources (i.e. spring planning)
- smaller organizations need PMs to fill in the gaps (aka be problem solvers)
- i.e. why isn’t the team moving towards the goal?
- is it an alignment issue? then book a meeting or create a spect to align people
- is information missing? then do research or create a prototype/test to get the missing info
- Identify and confirm what PM role you are filling.
Articulating the goal of your project
- Work with leads/team to craft the hypothesis
- document the goal in a shared task tracker (i.e. Asana)
- document the next step as a subtasks
- share with team for feedback
Document Objectives
- What are the outcomes that indication completion or success of your project?
Figure out how to complete your next step in the next week. Have a meeting, create a group DM, find a designer - WHATEVER it is you have to do, remember to document it! Write down what happened in the asana task, and create another asana task for the next step after this one
- finish your next step
- document the results (on Notion and/or in Asana)
- create your next step in Asana
- share your update
Understanding the product
- PMs of a product have to understand how the product works.
- Reach out to individuals and look for materials that can help you learn how to use it.
- To cement that learning, reach out to a guild you're part of and give a short demo.
- Get and document the feedback that could lead into new features!
Getting Work Done
As part of the project there will be work that needs to get done to complete your documented objectives. There are multiple ways this could be achieved and its important to understand what options and budget you do or don’t have.
- Do work yourself
- Bounty out work
- Reach out to supporting Guild