Since the start of Very Good Ventures, our focus has always been excellence in Flutter. While that hasn't changed, one thing that we have had to adjust is our expectation for the use of our resources. In order to build the best Flutter team in the business, you first need talented Flutter engineers. However, we still need to have people to talk to clients and wrangle timelines.
In the past, this work fell to our lead engineers. Since they were leading the development, they also led the team. But as our client portfolio started to grow, they started to spend more time in meetings and paperwork than actual development. We were in a position where expert engineers were having trouble finding time to engineer anything. This is where our need for Program Managers came in!
Program Managers are key to an efficient engineering process
We define Program Managers as the glue that ensures our resources are allocated efficiently and that our clients are happy with the work that we are doing for them. It's this intersection between engineering and business where a Program Manager lives. It's their job to focus everyone involved onto one clear goal, timeline and plan so that the team moves forward together.
Our Program Managers focus their day-to-day tasks on how we keep that team moving forward. Some days that means lots of calls and conversations with clients, designers, and others to understand project requirements and ensure we’re on track with defined goals. Other days that means being heads down on writing requirements into tickets for engineers, or testing and signing off on the latest changes from the engineering team. Every so often you even get to sit down and write a blog post like this one! But no matter how hectic things become, Program Managers always check in with the team on a daily basis. While every project is different, we typically have daily standups driven by the Program Manager to anchor the team and keep everyone on the same page.
Let’s be honest, it’s a tough role. On top of that, there is no clear cookie-cutter candidate for it either. For each client or project, the tasks that a Program Manager takes on can be wildly different. Sometimes a more technical Program Manager, perhaps a former engineer, would be a good fit for the role. Other times, the product and technical side may be solid and what’s really needed is someone who can serve as an effective project manager and provide a clear plan for everyone to follow. Being able to change and adapt to what is needed for each project is important to make sure all the balls stay in the air. The goal of every project is the same — to ship successfully to customers — but how we get there changes consistently.
Program Managers at Very Good Ventures
As we continue to focus on the Program Manager role and build out the Program Management team at Very Good Ventures, we hope to not only instill more confidence in our clients but also allow our other team members to focus on what they do best. Engineers should be focused on creating the best solutions possible with Flutter, not chasing down loose ends on customer requirements or sitting in phone calls that could have been emails.
To hear more about the role of a Flutter Program Manager, tune in to this episode of the Flutter 101 Podcast hosted by Vince Varga.
We’re actively growing our Program Management team at Very Good Ventures — contact us at careers@verygood.ventures.
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