What's your "niche"

[Joi Converse]

Hello,

I've been pondering lately what my "niche" or unique qualities I bring to the table as a program manager. There are best practices, templates, matrix, plans, etc. that we all use at pre-determined times which can make it seem like our professions is limited in its creativity. Curious, what others think about this and would love to hear how or if you have created your own "lane" so to speak.

[Miles Tillinger]

Interesting topic, @Joi Converse

I can attest to that feeling that it's challenging to create anything new in the professional world.  Atlassian has it's Playbook, which we're all trying to add new plays to.  But often these are remixing existing patterns from other forums, frameworks, or methodologies.  I've codified and applied practices that were new to my peers, so I had the appearance of being "creative", but really I was just bringing in new knowledge and experience from outside.

I've invented Ice Breakers, but in this huge world it's hard to say that I was the first to think of them!

In the past I can remember designing new ways to run a Retrospective, finding interesting ways to Gather Data or Generate Insights.  But with a resource like retromat.org, that can generate 14 million different retrospective formats, was I just reinventing the wheel?  😅

But with new technologies come opportunities to create your own "lane". 

Atlassian recently announced our AI product, Rovo, which, among other features, enables users to create AI Agents.  Inside Atlassian we're already seeing a lot of new Agents being built by individuals and teams, to assist with common tasks in program management, such as defining an OKR, creating and mitigating a risk, or creating a comprehensive program roadmap.

[Joi Converse]

Interesting point about it not really bringing "new knowledge" but rather something that isn't currently used in the environment you're in. I had a similar experience this week when I organized my research into a "pros vs cons" matrix. Not a new idea or even creative but for the team I'm on it was a different way to present options.