Jonathan LeeBusiness Development Manager| Symphony Communication Services LLCSingapore, Singapore, Singapore
A bit of a subjective question, but how granular should the involvement of a Project Manager be? Completely on board with being a Servant Leader, but at the same time have also been told to dive too deep and lose sight of the bigger picture as well, not to mention avoiding over-stretching and having faith in the team.
Thoughts? Probably differs from one approach/framework to the next. Saving Changes...
Domain knowledge is one thing - you have to have that to be an effective, credible PM. However, outside of exceptional situations (e.g. all hands on deck!), I wouldn't expect a PM to be actually producing the core deliverables of the project as that might result in their neglecting their primary role.
Kiron
Yes , I agree with Kiron. Domain Knowledge is utmost Important and basic idea on the Processes, Regulations that are related to Projetc/s apart from managing the team. Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
There are more ways to help than "do the work" and, by the way managing a project is "work" - just as much as creating software is work, doing stress calculations is work and detailing ventilation configurations is work.
In the leader (PM) role you mentor, encourage, guide, motivate, communicate, coordinate, remove hurdles, get support, integrate ...
These management activities do not involve the technical aspects of the "work" but they sure are work and it does help deliver the objective.
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1 reply by Adrian Carlogea
Jul 23, 2020 8:43 AM
Adrian Carlogea
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In my opinion mentoring and guiding do fall under the technical aspects of the work.
How can you mentor and guide the work of an engineer if you are not an engineer yourself and and/or unable to understand his/her work.
A mentor is someone that has experience in a certain field and shares that experience with less experienced people. The team members however primarily care about the work related experience, this is the most important.
Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Jul 14, 2020 5:24 AM
Replying to Adrian Carlogea
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Hi Anton,
Many PMs would not tell you "this is not my job" but they would tell you "I have no knowledge about your work so I can't help you". This is where the team members would no longer consider the PM as being their leader but just the guy who asks them about the status of their tasks.
I agree with you that the PM should be as hands-on as needed but in general he should avoid as much as possible doing the actual work. The leader should be able to do some of the work of his team but as much as possible he should guide others rather than doing the work himself. Only when there is no other alternative the leader should complete actual tasks.
Totally agree and this is why I said that a PM must do what is needed to support the team within reason. The idea behind a hands-on leader is not to do their work for them but to support where/when it is needed.
The teams in a bit of a crunch and they need help? The PM does not know anything? The correct way is to say ' Hey guys I have no idea how to do this but if you tell me what you need I can try to help'. Hands-on does not, and should not imply an SME, it should imply the willingness to roll up sleeves to help in time of need.
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1 reply by Thomas Walenta
Jul 15, 2020 6:39 AM
Thomas Walenta
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Fully agree with you, Anton.
Every team in 'a crunch', not knowing what to do, or with high emotions needs someone to calm it down, order a Pizza, or just question perspectives.
My most impressive experience was when a IBM global VP flew in to Germany to tackle an escalation of a global client about a datacenter outage. He arrived in the afternoon, gathered the team, asked a lot of questions, never blaming, sketched out a picture about what happened. Next morning, he personally explained it to the client in every detail and apologized, and showed a way forward. The client was satisfied, the team baffled.
I thought to myself, wow, this is leadership. And the client stayed with us for further 10+ years.
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Jul 15, 2020 12:52 AM
Replying to Anton Oosthuizen
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Totally agree and this is why I said that a PM must do what is needed to support the team within reason. The idea behind a hands-on leader is not to do their work for them but to support where/when it is needed.
The teams in a bit of a crunch and they need help? The PM does not know anything? The correct way is to say ' Hey guys I have no idea how to do this but if you tell me what you need I can try to help'. Hands-on does not, and should not imply an SME, it should imply the willingness to roll up sleeves to help in time of need.
Fully agree with you, Anton.
Every team in 'a crunch', not knowing what to do, or with high emotions needs someone to calm it down, order a Pizza, or just question perspectives.
My most impressive experience was when a IBM global VP flew in to Germany to tackle an escalation of a global client about a datacenter outage. He arrived in the afternoon, gathered the team, asked a lot of questions, never blaming, sketched out a picture about what happened. Next morning, he personally explained it to the client in every detail and apologized, and showed a way forward. The client was satisfied, the team baffled.
I thought to myself, wow, this is leadership. And the client stayed with us for further 10+ years. Saving Changes...
Jonathan LeeBusiness Development Manager| Symphony Communication Services LLCSingapore, Singapore, Singapore
Thanks everyone, for your insights! Really fascinating perspectives! I suppose the context matters tremendously, as well as the culture of the organization / industry. Saving Changes...
There are more ways to help than "do the work" and, by the way managing a project is "work" - just as much as creating software is work, doing stress calculations is work and detailing ventilation configurations is work.
In the leader (PM) role you mentor, encourage, guide, motivate, communicate, coordinate, remove hurdles, get support, integrate ...
These management activities do not involve the technical aspects of the "work" but they sure are work and it does help deliver the objective.
In my opinion mentoring and guiding do fall under the technical aspects of the work.
How can you mentor and guide the work of an engineer if you are not an engineer yourself and and/or unable to understand his/her work.
A mentor is someone that has experience in a certain field and shares that experience with less experienced people. The team members however primarily care about the work related experience, this is the most important. Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Mentoring is not about providing technical support, its not about providing engineering guidance to an engineer. Its not about calculating stresses on a structural component, or energy requirements, or chemical compositions. Although mentoring can be whatever the parties choose it to be, in my experience its more about helping or showing people how to deal with people, with situations, its about encouragement, motivation, its about career planning, its about dealing with life.
I have mentored engineers, administrators, tradesman, teenagers. Not as a technical specialist but as a mature, experienced person with a few miles on my odometer. Saving Changes...
