🏎️ Make decisions and launch solutions faster

👋🏾 Welcome to The Program Playground newsletter!

I’m Jara, a Senior Program Manager. I created The Program Playground to help you go from an idea to a ready-to-launch program. In this newsletter, you'll find tips, tricks, and best practices to help you build programs, and maximize your impact on your audience.

Here’s this week’s TL;DR

• Make decisions and launch solutions faster

• How to use FigJam’s Organize feature to make more sense of open thoughts

🚀 Be quick, be great.

Quick decision-making and problem-solving is a big part of program management, especially as it ties into maintaining a competitive edge, boosting productivity, and building stakeholder confidence.

So how can you make sure you’re facilitating quick and impactful actions?

You’ve probably seen the Eisenhower Matrix before:

But here are some other things to consider:

You’re the expert

As a program manager, you know your program in and out. Which means you know exactly what needs to be solved. So solve it! Don't let friction points pile up and put you in a place of analysis paralysis.

Urgency is good

What happens if you only give yourself a week to resolve a problem? Timebound problem solving encourages swift decision making, rather than sitting on your hands waiting for the perfect time to launch.

To be super, super clear: There’s a difference between a sloppy rush job and executing a well-thought plan based on data and company priorities.

Small wins are still wins

If only 60% of the problem was resolved, that’s still 60% better than last week. Continue with the momentum and you’ll have this resolved in a smooth two weeks.

As they say, just do it.

🗂️ Organize your scattered thoughts with FigJam stickies

I’m a big fan of digital whiteboarding and frequently use Figma’s collaboration tool, FigJam, for ideation and planning. Over the past two years, I’ve been adding, dragging, and organizing sticky notes not only for developing more effective programs, but personal use as well.

The other day, for the first time ever, I received a pop-up notification from FigJam stating: “That’s a lot of stickies!”

Dang, ok…?

BUT, they did offer me a solution: Sort stickies

Not only did they sort my sticky notes, but they also organized them into sections and assigned themes to each one. Does this feature render my Figma Thematic Grouping template obsolete? Perhaps, lol.

Anyway, while this tool is still in beta, it’s great for quick grouping and high-level reviews. I’m the first one to say I love an automation, but remember, as a program manager, it's important to understand your program and continue to thoroughly read through your feedback.

Here’s what my organization looked like in the end (on the right):

Thank you for reading! 🙏🏽

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