PM Skillset

Well, again, different point of views.

Wait. You don't agree with me that you are wrong? ;)

You make me feel you are looking for a way to make me disagree with you - You got it: I disagree with you on this :-)

I agree with you on this.

Rami & Steven,

Thanks for your views. You both have put it in right way.
Here's my view.
If the PM has technical skills, it is better. The downside of it at times PM gets into the technical details and may lose focus on managing the project. If she/he is not technical but has strong technical team, PM may manage it better (not poking his nose with the technical team ;) ). As I understand, the environment also plays major role in deciding if the PM should have technical knowledge or not. What do you think about this?
Any other views from others?

I would be interested in Badrinathan's idea of "technical skills". The thread seem to swing towards industry or domain.

Technical skills can mean so much:
* Does it refer to project management technical skills?
* Does it refer to industry technical skills?
* Does it refer to product technical skills?

As an example, I am currently managing teams of Siebel CRM developers as part of Health Information Exchange call centers.

* I have a lot of project management technical skills: scheduling tools, estimating techniques, dashboard reporting
* I have a lot of health care technical skills: industry-specific standards, regulations and challenges
* I have a lot of software development technical skills: SDLC, development solutions, and configuration management
* I have very little Siebel CRM technical skills

Do I feel that my lack of Siebel CRM technical skills impacts my ability to manage the team? Absolutely. Siebel is an ERP-type application that imposes processes on the development team. You need to understand these processes to be efficient.

Did I need those skills to start as the development team manager? No. I had sufficient management and other technical skills to allow me to be effective.

Badri,

I believe the PM should have enough technical skills (Not 100% Maybe) but he should not micromanage. If the PM has enough technical skills he need not neccessary interfere with everything because I would assume that a skillful PM would know that he should not micromanage. On the other hand, it will assist the PM in evaluating things more precisely especially risks when he has the right technical skills. This is my opinion based on my own experience. I am a civil engineer and I specialize in construction management so if you assign me to manage an IT project, I will manage it but not as efficient as I would if I had IT experience. One more thing worth mentioning, major part of the PM's influence is Expertise and ability to resolve conflict and this will increase his team respect and trust in him so what if a PM was in a situation to resolve a technical conflict or was asked by the client or his team something technical, do you think it is a good idea for him to amswer: I do not know, I am only here to manage ? Again, this is my opinion based on years of experience.

The IT aphorism doesn't work.

There are so many technologies and languages and software that the PM is rarely if ever a subject matter expert in the project they lead. That's why there are BAs and Architects.

The best talent can operate without needing perfect knowledge. When you model risk for instance, it's not a solo endeavor. You facilitate that work.