Lessons Learned: How I Transitioned From Being a Developer to a Product Manager?

When I started my programming career, I had no idea about product management or even Agile. I spent the first two years frustrated, waiting to be promoted to the position of senior developer. I finally quit my job, still not having achieved it. Five years later, I ran the most recognizable SharePoint company in Poland. How did I do it and what did I learn?

.NET Developer (Altkom Akademia S.A. — 2 years)

My first serious job was .NET Developer at Altkom Akademia S.A. We were working on some of the most complex products for insurance companies from all over the world. The technical level and architecture of the solutions were at a very high level.

Unusual habits prevailed there. Younger programmers like me were not allowed to go to lunch with their older, experienced colleagues. It was also inconceivable that a person with a short period of experience would be promoted to a higher position, regardless of the results achieved.

I spent two years of my first full-time job frustrated, waiting to be promoted to the position of senior developer. I worked 8 hours a day without breaks. To save time, I didn’t eat lunch until I got home.

One of the unusual events in the company was the so-called Santa Claus Campaign. In December, just before Christmas, the company regularly decided to dismiss 25% of the workforce. The first sign of the near end was a locked computer and an invitation to the boss’s room. One by one the monitors went blank in silence.

I survived two winters like this, probably because I was one of the cheapest “resources.” One day in spring, I surprised myself — during the periodic interview, I decided to “throw my papers” and look elsewhere for happiness.

I didn’t have a plan, but I knew I should have done it much sooner. There was no future for me there, although I had mastered many technical skills: domain driven development, unit tests, dependency injection, version control (branching and merging), ORM, SSRS, and SQL to name a few.

Lead .NET Developer (Bank Pekao S.A. — 1 year)

I had to move away from my parents. As my finances were in a deplorable state and I had no savings, I decided not to pay attention to personal development and chose well-paid outsourcing.

During the first conversation with Sii Sp. z o.o. (an outsourcing company), I learned that the Customer (Bank Pekao S.A.) was looking for a Microsoft SharePoint specialist. I spent the weekend going through the books, watching the courses, and briefly soaking up the knowledge that got me through the interview.

The questions were very general, I managed to direct the conversation to Microsoft .NET, and there I felt comfortable. This is how I started my adventure with Microsoft SharePoint. This technology turned out to be crucial later in my career.

I worked in the internal SharePoint department, and sometimes I coordinated two-person projects for our customers. I also created an ORM framework that allowed people unfamiliar with SharePoint to create solutions without the exact knowledge of the platform. I started to identify and sign myself as “Lead .NET Developer”, even though it was never formalized in any way.

For work, I always dressed in an elegant shirt, suit pants, jacket and leather shoes. I believe that the way we think and talk about ourselves influences how others perceive us.

Working in a bank taught me how to contact customers, conduct business analyses, and translate requirements into working software. While implementing dozens of small projects, I realized how important it is to listen and hear what the customer actually says and to propose solutions while working closely with customer, instead of blindly implementing the presented requirements.

Team Leader and Architect (ITMAGINATION Sp. z o.o. — 1 year)

One of the colleagues I met at work heard that I was a “Lead .NET Developer” and offered me the position of “Team Leader and Architect” in his own rapidly growing company (ITMAGINATION Sp. z.o.o.). The company now employs more than 500 people today, but it had less than 25 people at that time.

Interestingly, I was one of the few people who did not have a technical interview — no one checked my knowledge or competence. No background checks. Knowledge and trust prevailed.

I took over the design of a new platform for Dom Inwestycyny Xelion S.A. (an investment house), which at that time seemed doomed to disaster — floating scope, complicated business domain, huge delay, many technical challenges and an angry customer.

One of my first decisions was to move the entire team of 8 people to the customer’s premises. We were given a small, hastily arranged room without windows and inefficient air conditioning, but I wanted to be able to work as close to the business as possible.

At that time, I knew nothing about Agile or Scrum. Below are a few solutions that I introduced intuitively:

• I divided the scope into vertical blocks containing all the software layers (database, business logic, user interface). These features became the basis for planning work and presenting a burndown chart, which I created manually in Excel.
• The customer received access to our test and development environments, thanks to which he could verify the status of works and submit comments on an ongoing basis. This full transparecy built trust.
• Feature priorities were replaced with tags like “Needed in the first version,” “Right after Go Live,” “Can be done later.”

We worked very hard, supported each other, and focused on a common goal. I remember releases at 02:00 AM, when we were saved by coffee and pizza ordered to the office.

With a delay of several months, we managed to complete the project and introduce a new, innovative platform to the market. We were fully aware that we had accomplished the impossible and saved the project from total failure.

Working on a project for Dom Inwestycyny Xelion S.A. taught me, above all, to focus on the team. I had little knowledge of the technology used (ASP.NET MVC), but it did not prevent me from focusing on others — their needs, problems, ambitions and growth opportunities.

Enterprise Collaboration Program Manager (ITMAGINATION Sp. z o.o. — 2 years)

ITMAGINATION Sp. z. o.o. had 35 people at the time. Due to my previous Microsoft SharePoint experience and the successful finalization of the project for Dom Inwestycyny Xelion S.A., the management board proposed that I create a completely new department, which we called “Enterprise Collaboration.” I hesitated for two days, and then agreed to the offer.

Soon I became the man-orchestra, running a “company within a company,” responsible for all aspects of the business: recruiting and training employees (I employed .NET programmers, teaching them Microsoft SharePoint), acquiring new customers (sales conversations and marketing), developing commercial offers, negotiating contracts with customers and employees, coordinating projects, conducting business analyses, making strategic partnerships (Nintex, Microsoft) and taking care of the financial liquidity of my department. It took some time to find a project manager and team leader who could do some of the analyses and take over some of these responsibilities.

My superior, CEO of ITMAGINATION Sp. z.o.o., was an extremely demanding boss. I felt like I had been thrown into the water in a tied sack. I could get over myself and learn to swim or drown. It was only years later that I realized how much I learned thanks to him.

Working 10 hours a day, I managed to survive, build a team of 15 and acquire many recognizable customers like Japan American Tobacco, Bayer, General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways in Poland, Eiffage Construction, Roche, and Pratt & Whitney, just to name a few.

After two years, I felt burned out. I finally wanted to “work on my own.” Together with a colleague, a quality assurance manager, I decided to leave ITMAGINATION Sp. z.o.o. and use the experience to start my own IT company. ITMAGINATION Sp. z.o.o. had more than 250 employees at that time.

I was sure I knew everything, and that I could repeat my success without any problems. After all, I had all the required business and technical skills, right?

I still had no product focus. I did not know that the most difficult challenge was still ahead of me. But that’s another story for another time.

Part 2 will be published shortly. Follow me to stay connected.