Hi, I am PM in a new industry. Because of the special expertise that is required, I got asked by some one the specialist how a PM would help while they would work with each other. I am keen to see what will be your view. Thanks Saving Changes...
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Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Xiaozhu,
In most projects, there are specialists or subject matter experts working in their areas of expertise. In order to collaborate, communicate and integrate among each other and follow a common target, they need to spend some time and effort on building trust, enabling communication and aligning within the team. Also, external requests, from customers, executive management or even other stakeholders might approach the team and might distract them from their technical tasks.
A project manager is there to enable the team with their internal and external communications. A PM recognizes issues (impediments) and tries to solve them, a PM looks ahead and brings security to the team and customer by planning, estimating and integrating work and results. As a PM I often served as a translator between cultures (e.g. business people and technical people), which is an aspect of integration.
A PM is not the best specialist and cannot be such if there are a diversity of specialities. As a rule of thumb, a team of 8 grants a fulltime PM among them, so PM efforts are 1/8 or 15% of all project efforts. If you have a team with less members, they might be able to handle PM tasks among themselves. If you have a larger team like I once had 120 people when I assigned team leads to break down the size of individual groups.
SMEs need respect and they will respect anyone who helps them to concentrate on their task.
Use the analogy of a conductor in an orchestra. Conductors have a solid music background but are usually not experts in any one musical instrument and are not expected to jump into any one musical area to play but are crucial at creating a musical whole which is greater than the sum of the individual parts.
If you review the knowledge areas in the PMBOK framework, you'll find that there are multiple activities which a PM needs to take care of while the team is "doing the work".
Kiron
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1 reply by XIAOZHU HUANG
Nov 18, 2021 7:08 PM
XIAOZHU HUANG
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Thanks - really like this analogy - enjoy being the conductor
In most projects, there are specialists or subject matter experts working in their areas of expertise. In order to collaborate, communicate and integrate among each other and follow a common target, they need to spend some time and effort on building trust, enabling communication and aligning within the team. Also, external requests, from customers, executive management or even other stakeholders might approach the team and might distract them from their technical tasks.
A project manager is there to enable the team with their internal and external communications. A PM recognizes issues (impediments) and tries to solve them, a PM looks ahead and brings security to the team and customer by planning, estimating and integrating work and results. As a PM I often served as a translator between cultures (e.g. business people and technical people), which is an aspect of integration.
A PM is not the best specialist and cannot be such if there are a diversity of specialities. As a rule of thumb, a team of 8 grants a fulltime PM among them, so PM efforts are 1/8 or 15% of all project efforts. If you have a team with less members, they might be able to handle PM tasks among themselves. If you have a larger team like I once had 120 people when I assigned team leads to break down the size of individual groups.
SMEs need respect and they will respect anyone who helps them to concentrate on their task.
Thomas
Thanks - very well explained thoughts Saving Changes...
Use the analogy of a conductor in an orchestra. Conductors have a solid music background but are usually not experts in any one musical instrument and are not expected to jump into any one musical area to play but are crucial at creating a musical whole which is greater than the sum of the individual parts.
If you review the knowledge areas in the PMBOK framework, you'll find that there are multiple activities which a PM needs to take care of while the team is "doing the work".
Kiron
Thanks - really like this analogy - enjoy being the conductor Saving Changes...
In my perspective ，as a PM, integrating all works groups and eliminating cross-function barriers are the responsibilities, which can ensure projects or work package going smoothly. What's more, PM also need to collaborate with team members to analyse the deviation and decrease the impact on projects. To be a effective and experienced PM is not easy, every day is full of challenge! Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Just to put an example, myself as lot of others, I am working and I have worked in lot of diferent domains including it when I am working in my actual work place. I mean, I have to perform as project/program manager for initiatives in lot of diferent domains like R&D, manufacturing, marketing, software/IT only, etc. The key is to perform a critical activity mostly forgotten for lot of project managers: perform elicitation about the whole domain before you start working into the initiative. You have to understand the domain, you have to understand the process in the domain, you have to undrstand the stakeholders which are actors in that domain. All this stuff must be done before you start. Today, you have lot of information outside there. Saving Changes...
One of the most basic benefits to a PM even when teams already work together well is that someone ensures there is a clearly defined plan.
Have you ever thought you understood something perfectly in your own mind, but then when you tried to explain it to someone else, suddenly it didn't seem as clear as you thought?
When you manage a plan in your head, it's easy to skip parts that seem intuitive to you. Your brain fills those gaps. To someone else, the part you skipped may be important. When you write it down and review the plan with the team, others will point out things you missed or when the plans of one team don't work for other teams.
By going through the process of documenting the important things, you add a lot of clarity, and end up with a better plan, even though the plan will change over time.
To use the orchestra metaphor, the PM not only keeps all the players synchronized but they also make sure everyone has the right sheet music, and understands how to read it before starting to play. Saving Changes...
