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What is a Technical Project Manager? Advantages of a TPM vs. PM

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Dean Jones Operations manager| Airbus Defence and Space Newport, Wls, United Kingdom
Way too often PMs with little to none technical expertise will get tossed into a technology project and then wriggle around confused or add to the chaos.

I believe that The TPM whom has successfully planned and delivered a technology related project will have experienced the challenges of complicated and relevant projects in the past.

Just my thoughts and would be great for you all to have an input.
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Pench Batta Enterprise Lean Agile DevOps Coach /SAFe Program Consultant (SPC6)| Capgemini, Inc. Bentonville, Ar, United States
I think, when we are executing a project, it is better to know about the technology. So that we can communicate the team in more technological terms. We can also understand what the team is talking about technology. We don't want to be admins but also active engagement with teams.
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Muthukrishnan Ramakrishnan Automation & Validation Engineer| Automation & Validation Solutions Taichung, Taichung, Taiwan
TPM involves all junior role in Project and building upon experience, a TPM become a PM
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1 reply by Anton Oosthuizen
Nov 01, 2018 9:12 AM
Anton Oosthuizen
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Sorry but that is just not true. Being a 'technical' PM is no reflection of your seniority. TPM is just a role invented to fill a gap between the technical team and a PM, or sometimes replacing the PM role. The essence of a TMP is that they have SME technical knowledge, not that they have lower PM knowledge.
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Anton Oosthuizen Senior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self Employed Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Nov 01, 2018 9:08 AM
Replying to Muthukrishnan Ramakrishnan
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TPM involves all junior role in Project and building upon experience, a TPM become a PM
Sorry but that is just not true. Being a 'technical' PM is no reflection of your seniority. TPM is just a role invented to fill a gap between the technical team and a PM, or sometimes replacing the PM role. The essence of a TMP is that they have SME technical knowledge, not that they have lower PM knowledge.
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David Mailhot Clinical Project Manager| ExecuPharm, Inc. Ledyard, Ct, United States
I agree with the basic premise, but I think it is helpful to take a step back. A project team is usually multidisciplinary.
While it is great for a PM to have knowledge and or experience in several areas, it is rare.
Also, the PM's role is not to "do" the technical role or to second guess the technical experts on the team. Just naming a technical expert a PM because you need a "leader" is just bad for our profession.
That being said, the more experience and /or knowledge the PM has in each of the disciplines and especially the overall business and project goal, the better in my experience.
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Anish Abraham Privacy Program Manager| University of Washington Auburn, Wa, United States
I agree with Drake on this.
In my experience, TPM assist the team in identifying root cause of many technical issues.
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