Senior JD.com Project Manager Tian Yanyun Shares Practical Project Management Insights

Senior project manager Tian Yanyun from JD.com’s R&D Management Department reflects on the essential role of project managers as the "captain" steering large‑scale initiatives, emphasizing holistic oversight, cross‑department coordination, and balanced decision‑making.

Q1: The most memorable project was the Thailand Phase 1, which involved aligning twelve first‑level R&D departments, standardizing management practices, and achieving launch within business timelines despite lacking formal administrative authority.

Q2: To drive collaboration across R&D, product, and business teams, Tian stresses three methods: (1) clearly establishing project importance, (2) breaking work into detailed tasks with accountable owners, and (3) strengthening communication channels to ensure consistent information.

Q3: When a new requirement arrives, the team first analyses affected departments and systems, notifies relevant product managers or R&D leaders, forms a core product team for requirement refinement, and then gathers development and testing resources for further detailed work.

Q4: Feasibility studies are crucial; about 30% of projects pause after feasibility, another 30% adjust goals or solutions. Feasibility is evaluated in two stages—business feasibility and solution feasibility—followed by cost‑benefit analysis to decide continuation.

Q5: Post‑launch, the project manager oversees trial operation, online acceptance, rapid issue resolution, and finally project closure, including a comprehensive project summary to capture lessons learned for future initiatives.

Q6: Managing projects as a portfolio (project set) yields unified strategic alignment, higher resource utilization, and more accurate internal control, especially given JD’s high volume of over 900 projects annually.

Q7: In the VUCA era, Tian advises embracing change, continuously learning, and leveraging increasingly intelligent tools while maintaining enthusiasm to meet evolving challenges.

Q8: After eight years as a project manager, Tian values systematic progress, cross‑functional collaboration, and the sense of achievement that comes from guiding diverse teams toward shared goals.