Meet The Clouders – Our unique approach to Product Delivery

Welcome to our ‘Meet The Clouders’ series. Today, we’ll be talking to Joanna Kraśnicka, who is 10Clouds’ Product Delivery Management Leader. Joanna has more than 10 years of experience in the project management environment. She’s worked on projects connected with the implementation and development of gamification platforms, building a brand strategy, building e-learning platforms and more. She’s also a team leader, so she’s responsible for team strategy and development.

Welcome, Joanna.

At 10Clouds, we have a unique approach to product management. Could you tell us more about what this involves?

At 10Clouds, our agile project management approach revolves around a product-centric philosophy, prioritizing delivering valuable products throughout their lifecycle.

By blending established frameworks like Scrum and Kanban with our best practices in external collaboration and remote work, we empower clients to control the delivery process and respond swiftly to changes.

Our unique 10C Agile Delivery Method emphasizes product value from start to finish, resulting in higher successful delivery rates, shorter time to market, and increased customer satisfaction. We’ve seen the success of this method among our clients, including Quesmed, Datacapt and Samsara.

We’ve moved away from Project Management in favor of Product Delivery Management. Could you tell us more about why?

A couple of years ago, we shifted gears from traditional Project Management to a more dynamic approach called Product Delivery Management. This change reflects how we collaborate with clients on a deeper level, moving beyond just project delivery to co-create products together. It's about being flexible, taking ownership, and focusing on delivering real value at every step.

We introduced the role of Product Delivery Manager to champion these values, and it's not your typical project management gig.

It's more like wearing multiple hats – part project manager, part scrum master, part product owner – all in one.

You’ve now been at 10Clouds for more than 7 years. How have you developed during your time here?

I started at 10Clouds as a Project Manager after working as a Product Owner in a big media company. When I saw the need for better team organization, I became 10Clouds’ first Resourcing Manager. I love sorting out processes, so this role was a perfect fit. I did both resourcing and project management for three years, and I enjoy working with different teams across the company.

About four years ago, we started the gradual shift from Project Management to Product Delivery Management (PDM). In early 2021, all our Project Managers officially became Product Delivery Managers and we appointed a new Head to lead our team. At this stage, I transferred fully into the Projects team.

For the past four years, I've been fully focused on Product Delivery Management and became a team leader within the broader team. It's been amazing to watch the PDM team grow and learn from our department heads. We've worked with a wide range of clients, tailoring our approach to each one, no matter their industry or size.

At some point in our PDM team, we decided to create two competency paths: the product team and the team focused on improving agile processes, which I was part of. Along with our Senior Agile Coaches, we supported customers throughout the software product lifecycle (from discovery through development and maintenance), developed new services related to Agile Coaching, and defined and maintained 10Clouds Agile product management standards, tools, and knowledge base.

Now, I’m a Product Delivery Management Leader, overseeing the whole PDM Team. I'm involved in OKRs and making sure all the delivery departments work closely with the PDM team, who are of course the main liaisons with our clients.

You're also responsible for the Project Health process. Could you tell us a bit more about it?

In all our projects, we aim to be transparent and proactive in risk management, which is why we follow a set of lightweight standards and practices. This ensures our clients have peace of mind about the project's progress and future.

The Project Health process covers all our projects and includes metrics such as:

• Delivery Health: scope, budget, time
• Client satisfaction
• Team satisfaction
• Risks

If any issues arise, the PDM and Account Manager, along with the assigned Project Owner from the 10Clouds management team, discuss and implement the necessary actions.

What qualities do you believe a great Product Delivery Manager should possess?

A great Product Delivery Manager should possess a blend of technical understanding, strong organizational abilities, and a knack for building efficient processes. They should be adept at identifying opportunities within client budgets and requirements, while also being skilled at implementing effective processes within their organization.

You also need to be highly perceptive to people and events, picking up on and reading between the lines because the success of the project depends on it. Excellent communication skills are essential, including transparency. It's not just about one-sided communication; you should also encourage others to communicate effectively, understand each other, and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Adapting to market needs is crucial. We grow by incorporating the latest trends in product and project management and by closely monitoring the markets our clients navigate.

The past three years have been transformative. The rapid development of AI has significantly impacted our clients and their businesses.

In the PDM team, I led efforts to help other PDMs quickly learn and integrate essential AI tools into our daily work. Our goal was to accelerate our processes and gain experience in working with AI, which our specialists began to use. Additionally, more clients approached us with ideas for using AI in their products.

We constantly observe the market, track changes, and stay updated on the latest trends. Our clients can trust that we will understand their needs and actively seek opportunities for product development in line with market dynamics.

What advice would you give to someone considering starting a career as a PDM?

You need to prepare yourself for huge multitasking and effective planning of your day - changing of tasks and context throughout the day is super common. If you’re the type of person who likes to focus on your tasks for long periods, this is not the role for you.

You also have to be open to constant learning, as IT is currently always evolving.

Thank you Joanna.

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