saurabh mahajanPMP, ITIL, PRINCE2| vodafonePune, Maharashtra, India
Logically Project Manager is not required to have good technical knowledge to manage a project but should be exceptionally good in project management field.
But in real world companies insists on having technical/domain expertise before hiring a project manager
This way a good manager with very good management skills is not selected for the position of project manager, but a technical expert with very less project management skills is considered fit for the project manager''s role.
Even in interview questions more related to technical aspects are asked rather than questions pertaining to management experience.
is it good or bad ? what repercussions it might have on project ? will this change ever ? Saving Changes...
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Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
While I fully disagree with that (technical skills prevail on management skills) it is a matter of market demand in the whole world. The PMI and the project management community will help to change it by demonstrating it in the field not in the paper or the numbers. Saving Changes...
Austin HundleySenior Consultant| Nordic ConsultingNashville, Tn, United States
You are specifically comparing a good PM with minor tech skills to a good technical expert with minor PM skills, so:
A PM with excellent management skills will always be more valuable and desirable than a technical expert with poor PM skills.
If you are a technical guru but have no communication, organizational, planning skills, you''re a burden to a project.
A good PM can always bring in a technical expert when needed. But a tech guru who cannot translate tech speak to business speak will be constantly fighting uphill battles with project sponsors, stakeholders, etc.
Keeping people on task, the project on time and on budget does not require heavy technical skills even in a technical environment.
Strong companies know this and the change will be driven by these other companies failing in their project efforts. The best rise to the top and the others fall to the side and get left behind.
Just my 2 cents Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
While I''d love the world to appreciate my project management skills for what they are, I don''t think I could manage the construction of a new bridge. It just isn''t my area of expertise, regardless of how ''project management-y'' it is. I think there will always be the need, in some domains, for a degree of subject matter expertise. Saving Changes...
