An opinion on what industry values in a Project Manager
Anonymous
I am into Project Management for past 4 yrs now in the field of Infrastructure services. I was directly involved into project management after my graduation (Engineering). Because of lack of industry experience I have not been much good into technical side of IT. Although during this period I have been able to deliver projects but then for technical aspects most of the times the onus was on the technical team and I felt a bit down that I did not have much info on technical things. But that has never done me any harm till date on any projects and I have managed them well which a PM should be able to do and all the clients and my company is satisfied. But I sometimes feel and have this question. How do I have a chance in growth and switching jobs when I have been in just project management and not done any technical work. Is there any point to worry on this in terms of future growth in industry or if I am good at managing projects (and working on technical aspects with technical team) I should do well as companies understand that PMs do not need to know Technical - bit of knowledge is ok but what they need is to drive respective team and get the work done.
Appreciate your honest response. Saving Changes...
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Anonymous
I am not a particularly technical person. I understand how to wire my stereo up to my TV, and in a bind I can follow instructions enough to set up and maintain a router at home.
I've probably gone a round about way of getting into project management - from project administration, into business analysis and PMO, then into project management. I use my business analysis skills to understand some of the more technical things I've been working on. It's not that I understand the specific details of whats going on around me, it's more that I understand the concept and can translate it from "geek speak" (excuse the expression everyone) into regular person speak.
As a PM, I've found that I have to rely on the project SME's more because its harder to cover off every aspect of what my project is doing. I have been lucky and had excellent SME's who have outlined the risks, issues, and dependencies really well. This has the very nice flow on effect of allowing me to focus on building a really clear picture of the dangers to the project deliverable and means that I have had time to get an understanding the basic technical process that they are delivering.
Personally I would recommend that all PM's who are interested in understanding their projects in more detail should sit with some of their BA's to work through a requirements or specification document. If you really want to get into the nitty gritty of it, then find some time and sit with an SME to work through a high level outline of the technical delivery.
I have a career idol who has reminded me many times that PM's don't have to be technical all the time. So long as you have the ability to put information together to show a full picture of your project, the guts to take responsibility for the project and stand behind your team (even if they are wrong), and the determination to stand up and deliver, then you can be a good PM. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks a lot for your valuable inputs Saving Changes...
