To the former, I'd say "no" as they are lacking sufficient domain expertise to be effective. They don't need to be a SME, nor should they be able to do the work of a team member, but they need to do more than just "talk the talk".
To the latter, I'd suggest it depends on what the PMO's mandate is. If it is just a supplier of PMs for organization technology projects, perhaps that is okay, but if it is expected to be a value delivery catalyst, it will be difficult for the leader to "connect the dots" without having some IT knowledge.
Kiron
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1 reply by Brandon Thompson
Aug 01, 2023 4:07 PM
Brandon Thompson
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Thanks for your thoughts Kiron. Regarding your second comment, the idea for the IT program management office (PMO) is to implement and support program and project management methodologies, processes, and acquisition strategies to enable the agency to deliver projects efficiently.
To the former, I'd say "no" as they are lacking sufficient domain expertise to be effective. They don't need to be a SME, nor should they be able to do the work of a team member, but they need to do more than just "talk the talk".
To the latter, I'd suggest it depends on what the PMO's mandate is. If it is just a supplier of PMs for organization technology projects, perhaps that is okay, but if it is expected to be a value delivery catalyst, it will be difficult for the leader to "connect the dots" without having some IT knowledge.
Kiron
Thanks for your thoughts Kiron. Regarding your second comment, the idea for the IT program management office (PMO) is to implement and support program and project management methodologies, processes, and acquisition strategies to enable the agency to deliver projects efficiently. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
I will talk about my personal experience. I have manage process which not was inside my domain of expertisse for years. Is the "ancient" debate about to be an specialist or a generalist. BUT I always made my work relating to a previous elicitation before to start working in the project. elicitation means to take knolwedge about the domain. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Brandon
In my humble opinion, for both I would say no. PMP gives you general knowledge but in order to be able to manage IT Projects or an IT PMO, you need to have minimum knowledge and experience in that domain in order to be able to help with problem solving, make sense of the estimates, timelines and so on. You don't need to be an expert, but having the minimum expertise and domain knowledge in a certain field is important in order to ne able to manage the project and team both effectively and efficiently.
I would agree that no prior knowledge is not an ideal situation. It is very true that there is a lot of PM that is very transferable from one domain to another. That's the basis of General Systems Theory. You still must know enough about the technology to understand how the general principles apply in a specific context. Just using a method because it worked elsewhere is a recipe for disaster.
I have led very successful R&D projects where I had no prior technical knowledge of the technology and even a few patents for things I (half) joke I can't even spell. That required an exceptional amount of effort on my part to study up on the subject, and the right team. Most IT projects are not big science projects where you have time for that. Saving Changes...
Even though a PMP holder is capable of managing an IT project, or a portfolio of IT programs and projects, working with team members specialists in the area, the specific knowledge of this segment of science would help significantly to make correct decisions, estimate schedules, and solve problems.
It can be considered an added value and would be a better fit for this role. Saving Changes...
A PMP will give you valuable insights into how to manage projects and the fundamentals of project management, but I personally believe that IT project management is in itself more complex than what a PMP offers. IT is a wide field ranging from infrastructure, software, support desk, SOC/NOC, and other areas. Each area has its own philosophy and its own way of managing projects. For example, software tends to benefit from more agile methods while help desk benefits from ITIL and SOC/NOC benefits from ISC^2 ideologies.
All in all, I think that a PMP gives you a very solid foundation for project management and for leading a PMO, but you will need IT specific certifications to be able to effectively manage projects within this space. As for technical knowledge, I do think that this helps but PMs typically do not code or program within IT and you are often not considered an IT SME. That said, a general knowledge of how your systems work goes a long way and it helps you understand what your engineers are talking about.
To round out your knowledge for IT, I would recommend looking into certifications offered by ITIL, ISACA, and ISC^2. Saving Changes...
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