Can one be an effective IT project manager with little IT knowledge, background or inclination?
Anonymous
In your experience, can a person be effective at managing Software development projects, if he/she does not have background or understanding whatsoever in software development, its processes, concepts, terminologies?
If so, what kind of training/mentoring activities need to take place?
I've been asked to help and lead 2 colleagues to become IT PMs and form a PM group. They don't have the same back ground as I do (I'm a former software developer, they have office administrative background) and have not been able to follow conversations in our project meetings. I'm at a loss as to what to do to improve the situation.
They have been taking courses and reading training material relating to CAMP certificated. But from my experience, with a PMP cert., knowing the PMBOK is just the start of doing PM work in IT domain. I would say it's not even the critical part. I have a hard time articulating the less measurable soft skills requirements for the PM roles. What would you say is the required skills for being an effective PM?
I want to support my colleagues in their professional interest. But i think i'm staring at an impossible ask. I foresee that i'll end up doing the job of 3 people at some point, if i agree to lead this group. and that's just not sustainable for me.
I'd appreciate any input/advice/sharable experience you could provide. Thanks, -HP Saving Changes...
Radu SpataruSelf-employedYerevan, Yerevan, Armenia
For the efficiency of the Project, for sure Project Managers working on IT projects must have:
- some knowledge in IT domain overall,
- be proficient in at least 1 domain in IT (whatever it is).
Otherwise such projects are mostly based on senior IT experts and have less value from Project Management itself.
This is based on my personal experience: leading personally many IT project, and being involved in other projects led by PMs with or without IT experience. Saving Changes...
Rachel MProject Manager| NoneRichmond, Va, United States
If the PMs are willing to learn and have a good attitude anything is possible. I started out as a PM at a software/dev/3D company without any of that knowledge and boy did I learn quickly. 5 months in and no fires yet. Haha! Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thank you Radu.
Rachel, could you share you approach and experience in learning the domain? what kind of learning format did you use? what are you able to do now? I'd really appreciate it. Saving Changes...
Adela TataruSenior Project Manager| Self EmployedVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
If there is enough motivation and structure then I think having no IT knowledge should not be an impediment in such cases.
Everything can be learned. However you should not expect someone to become an expert quickly.
Also, as the mentor, you should find a way to empathize with the people you are coaching in PM and IT. For you everything seems easy, but as you have described above, it was a lot of experience to gain. So for them, being lost is normal. Make sure that they feel comfortable enough to ask questions when they do not understand something and be patient enough to explain it in non-technical terms.
I usually use day to day metaphors, so when I explain project management I try to explain it by taking the example of building a house. When I explain IT notions I also try to make it simple, for example using the visualization of Lego blocks does help people understand some technical aspects because they can actually see it in their head, it is something concrete they know.
If you are worried about taking too much work, develop a mentorship plan and define realistic/attainable objectives for each of your mentees for the next month, 3 months and 6 months. Make sure to give them the time to find the solutions by themselves and encourage them to self-educate through platforms such as edx, coursera etc that have many basic courses both in IT and PM. They do not have to start with PMBOK, which might seem a little daunting and too theoretical at times for someone who has never done project management before.
Define tasks and evaluate the workload for all of you and if you believe there is too much for yourself, either try to challenge your colleagues to take some of the more complex tasks or alert your manager about this and try to find a solution together. Maybe the solution resides in finding someone that will also take the same role as you do and you can share the work to be done. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
To answer the question: yes, absolutely.
I ran into a good definition of a project manager's role:
"In the real world high quality project managers are not people who understand and apply the latest sophisticated planning tools. Instead they are men and women who have the judgment and experience to manage conflicting stakeholders’ aims and objectives and act effectively in the face of a constant stream of unpredictable problems."
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1 reply by Peter Rapin
Mar 09, 2021 3:08 PM
Peter Rapin
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I like it.
Some of us rely on our technical expertise, some on managerial ability and others on the strength of their character. If all else fails you fall back on bullshit. With many of us its a combination of all four.
The key is to know your weaknesses and find ways to compensate.
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Mar 01, 2021 12:16 PM
Replying to Mayte Mata Sivera
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Lately software development is done without the need of a project manager.
However, I think that it will be challenging to lead project without any techy knowledge. Example, I came from IT world and I can't see myself leading a construction project, I will be lost in the meetings and for sure the building will fall down or I will miss the doors...
Mayte,
yes it will be challenging and you will learn a lot.
But if you run your IT projects well, you have a good chance to run any project well. Just give a try, be confident. And get a mentor.
Thomas Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Mar 09, 2021 2:10 PM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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To answer the question: yes, absolutely.
I ran into a good definition of a project manager's role:
"In the real world high quality project managers are not people who understand and apply the latest sophisticated planning tools. Instead they are men and women who have the judgment and experience to manage conflicting stakeholders’ aims and objectives and act effectively in the face of a constant stream of unpredictable problems."
I like it.
Some of us rely on our technical expertise, some on managerial ability and others on the strength of their character. If all else fails you fall back on bullshit. With many of us its a combination of all four.
The key is to know your weaknesses and find ways to compensate. Saving Changes...
I have seen some very nice points made here, and Peter summed it up quite nicely in his last reply.
I'll chime in with my bit of personal experience, having been thrown into an unknown field (construction) as assistant PM, and then switching fields again as operations manager for an industry I had no idea about. You have to have some combination of:
- A willingness to learn, to ask, and to take criticism
- A mentor/higher up that's willing to show you the technical ropes quickly when needed. In my case it was the project manager and a couple of contractors,
- Historical records,
- A can-do attitude,
- A humble, personable approach. You have no idea how people open up and give you the tools to make your job easier (even at their own expense) if you ask nicely to be taught,
- Time: it took me six months to a year to get almost as good as people with 3, 5 or more years of experience,
- The willingness to make things move, and to celebrate small wins, especially teaching moments that might have left you red in the face.
Besides this, the main point if your organization wants these PMs to get up to speed quickly is to provide technical experts on the project. If you don't have a PMO, you'd have to be their ad-hoc PMO if only by giving them a basic PM framework and/or access to historical records so they can start by emulating what has succeeded before.
