Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
One reason some technical people view project management as needless bureaucracy is that technical and project management errors are vastly different. In most cases a technical error can be quickly fixed with just a few keystrokes. However, any mistake a PM makes (such as not identifying a stakeholder) will often have dire consequences for the project. For example, failing to include a single stakeholder’s requirements might lead to the creation of an unusable product and the waste of many years and millions of dollars.
This difference in the impact of technical and project management errors requires PMs to rigorously focus on process and detail, whereas technologists generally don’t worry about errors because they can easily fix any that occur. Explaining this to your technical teams might go a long way to getting them to comply with project management processes.
Deepesh RammoorthyICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood ServiceTarneit, Vic, Australia
The PM can definitely guide the Technical resources around the following :-
Budget - Is the solution and the time required to create/procure/implement the solution within budget.
Scope :- explain the product and the project scope. As part of Product scope Technical resources need to complete
System Support Plans, Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Plans/ Solution Architecture/User Requirements Specifications/Design and Testing specifications and PM needs to ensure that these are complete, signed off and accepted by the customer
As part of project scope, PM needs to involve the Technical resources to develop the Project Management Plan , to know what the team are doing on a daily basis (As an observer in Agile Daily stand-ups, through weekly team meetings , monthly reports etc
Schedule :- PM needs to get information on WHEN technical team members will deliver critical scope items on the project
Risk - Technical Resources on the project need to highlight all technical risks that are expected to affect the project
Quality - PM needs to ensure that the Technical Resources complete the adequate documentation , development and testing to the quality that is expected by the organization, the regulators, the steering committee.
Therefore both these roles need to perform to the best of their capabilities and really need to work together
The PM needs to be the Servant Leader paving the way for exceptional Technical Delivery but at the same time , make sure that the delivery is aligned within the Project Constraints. Saving Changes...
