PM can be a SME( Max chances are there that PM is a SME)
But other will not always true as SME mostly not having Project management Expertise. Saving Changes...
saurabh mahajanPMP, ITIL, PRINCE2| vodafonePune, Maharashtra, India
Certainly a PM can be SME. He can give expert inputs on various project mgmt aspects like communication, stakeholders, schedule, finance. But vice a versa and SME can be a PM only if he can exhibit good knowledge and expertise in project mgmt field and not only his domain of expertise. for e.g a PM can surely give inputs in testing a banking application from his past experience on similar project, but an SME on testing might it find it difficult to do the PM job Saving Changes...
Whether or not it's a good idea for a PM or CME to play their opposite role depends on the skills of the individual and the organization where he or she works. Sometimes if the company is small and has limited funds, there isn't much choice anyway. Even for a larger company, it could work if the skill set is there. I've known many PMs that were great at their jobs that had zero technical skills, so they had to surround themselves with CMEs. However, I've also seen some PMs that came from engineering backgrounds that can easily play the CME role on a project. The same goes for engineering CMEs. Some have no management or organizational abilities and others are very good at it. It just depends on the person in my experience. One thing each should do is recognize when it's time to throw in the towel and call in the appropriate resource. Saving Changes...
There is nothing bad idea about having PM as SME Or Domain Expert.
There certain factors like project management responsibilities may not allow PM to play both roles efficiently. There are certain situation, where team members need urgent domain support and SMEs to be present but it may possible that PM is busy in management meetings. So keeping this in mind, PM has to delegate this task to team and supervise the efforts.
PM being a SME can always still have last say on requirements.
In smaller companies, or smaller organizations within the company, this may be necessary. If you are the only SME or the only available SME, then the situation may be unavoidable. While the dual role provides a greater degree of control of the project, it adds some complications. The separation of SME and PM roles is natural in helping provide some checks and balances with respect to stakeholders, estimates, risk assessment, acceptance, etc.
For an example that we all can relate to, consider this situation. You are the only PM in the company and the CEO wants to upgrade the Project Management software, Now the PM is the SME and also a stakeholder. Yikes! Better not get this one wrong. Saving Changes...
Henry HattenrathProject Consultant| Tectonic Engineering MSA LLCNew York, Ny, United States
In project management, the Project Manager (PM) and the Subject Matter Expert (SME) roles are separate and distinct roles in the Project Management Plan (PMP). Like seen in team sports dual roles - Player – Coach role or Coach – Player role are rare and they are rarely successful. Participants on projects with dual roles will cloud responsibilities, decrease objectivity, and in turn erode confidence in reporting progress, assessing performance and in making decisions.
By the PMP, the PM is expecting technical input from the SMEs assigned to his project, and the SMEs are expecting the PM to be accountable for overall management and reporting of the project throughout the life cycle. The PM is the solely responsible person for initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and closing the project within the objectives, benefits, scope, schedule, quality and safety and other metrics defined in the PMP.
However, PMs with SME experience may increase the potential for success with the project team members. The SME experience will help the PM be more pro-active in identifying and mitigating risks, implementing Lessons Learned, anticipating and resolving problems, recognizing and facilitating discussions on interfaces and integration, defining and improving processes and procedures, and in foreseeing and establishing actions for decisions.
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Thilo WackHead of Existing Product and Test Lab| optimedTholey-Hasborn, Germany
From my perspective I would not recommend it, but I guess it happens a lot, for different reasons. First some organizations are too small to have SMEs for all necessary topics and second a lot of PMs come from the ranks of SMEs. Especially in the latter case problems are guaranteed in my opinion. The PM (or line manager, no real difference here) will feel more expert than the team members for much longer than his initial margin actually lasts. This will result in micromanaging and reduce performance by bad decisions and demotivated teams. Saving Changes...
Gopal SahaiCorporate Trainer| Self employedNew Delhi, Delhi, India
One of the T&T that we learnt in PMP is Expert Judgement. So while it additionally helps the expertise and project management skills to be trapped in the same body, but I personally believe (and have practised) that Project Management is a different role altogether.
Having an expertise to manage a project and to ensure it meets its desired objectives, cannot be restricted to having domain expertise as well. For instance, how many domain knowledge can a person carry if projects are to be managed across industry domains.
As a project manager, I would need to be able to acquire the project team members or have the right interpersonal skills to be able to manage the SMEs to obtain the required expertise. So in effect, as a PM, my expertise needs to be specialised for project ''management'' activities, whereas a domain expert needs to have her expertise in the specific domain area. To the best possible extent, a dual role will only create additional confusions (though it also depends how efficiently can one put on different hats #edwarddebono). Saving Changes...
