State of the Market

[Old Greg]

PMs who are not subject matter experts in whatever the project is in are a waste of space.

They're just really expensive admins.

Agreed. I am a subject matter expert.

Also I don't work in software development projects, so maybe that's a different kettle of fish as well when it comes to PMs.

[eek]

Agreed. I am a subject matter expert.

Also I don't work in software development projects, so maybe that's a different kettle of fish as well when it comes to PMs.

Don't think it's that different you will get way more value out of a PM running an ERP project if he was the war wounds of a previous ERP project to base the plan on.

[Old Greg]

Don't think it's that different you will get way more value out of a PM running an ERP project if he was the war wounds of a previous ERP project to base the plan on.

I'll take your word for it - not my area.

[kaiser78]

PMs who are not subject matter experts in whatever the project is in are a waste of space.

They're just really expensive admins.

Same can be said for developers, architects, testers too...

[founder]

For the past several months this particular agency has been posting few jobs (10 today) everyday the rate are quite high for the current market.
Looks like fake jobs ads to me. Wondering if anyone had at least an interview through this agency.

What do they get from their fake job ads?

[eek]

What do they get from their fake job ads?

Lots, information is money....

[Old Greg]

Same can be said for developers, architects, testers too...

And I think contractors who are specialist in disciplines but not in industries are going to struggle as time goes on. I'm a specialist in healthcare (not pharma) and work in a range of roles across a range of project types including non-IT clinical service transformation projects. It's very hard to outsource overseas and it's very hard for a generalist to break in without understanding the business. But if what you offer is Specialist in Skill x, y, z, that is more likely IMO to be a struggle in the future.

[jayn200]

Same can be said for developers, architects, testers too...

Yeah true but they can get away with less industry/product knowledge whereas with a PM it becomes very very apparent when all they know is how to work a few PM tools like a gantt chart. For example of you can't identify when a resource says it's going to take twice as long to do a particular task if that's reasonable or not. You also need to be able to understand the client and not always redirect to a ba or some other project resource.
It doesn't mean they need to be engineers or whatever... But they need some reasonable subject matter experience in that industry or project or whatever the subject matter is they are responsible for delivering and it would be good if they at least understood the technical components at a very high level that they're expect to deliver. Again not to the level of knowledge an engineer but enough to at least communicate with both internal team and external clients.

The career PMs who bounce around multiple industries/subjects or even if they stay in one but don't bother to learn anything are the types of PMs I think everyone complains about.

Those career PMs can survive if they are given existing resources to oversee who are experienced and work together well but they don't really add much either.

[The Bona Fide]

Yeah true but they can get away with less industry/product knowledge whereas with a PM it becomes very very apparent when all they know is how to work a few PM tools like a gantt chart. For example of you can't identify when a resource says it's going to take twice as long to do a particular task if that's reasonable or not. You also need to be able to understand the client and not always redirect to a ba or some other project resource.
It doesn't mean they need to be engineers or whatever... But they need some reasonable subject matter experience in that industry or project or whatever the subject matter is they are responsible for delivering and it would be good if they at least understood the technical components at a very high level that they're expect to deliver. Again not to the level of knowledge an engineer but enough to at least communicate with both internal team and external clients.

The career PMs who bounce around multiple industries/subjects or even if they stay in one but don't bother to learn anything are the types of PMs I think everyone complains about.

Those career PMs can survive if they are given existing resources to oversee who are experienced and work together well but they don't really add much either.

Can't remember the last time I even saw a Gantt chart!

Yes, I'd certainly echo those comments. My current PM certainly is multi faceted with me assuming the roles of scrum master and line manager on top of my PMing duties. I'm not only interfacing with the usual stakeholders but also serve as a link between the enterprise architects and my team so having little or no IT knowledge isn't going to fly - though, to be honest, the edicts they issue tend to go right over my head. The latest one being the use of a tool called Git Kraken as a GUI for git source control. When I was preparing my Monday morning address to my team the other day I was thinking about how I could bring a bit of levity to the proceedings and point out that it's not just a play on words (Get Cracking) but also references a mythical beast from the Greek classical era. And so went my spiel but no sooner had I opened my mouth than all I heard in unison from the assembled company was "Already! Release the Kraken!". Bloody millenials, can't teach them anything.

[_V_]

Can't remember the last time I even saw a Gantt chart!

Yes, I'd certainly echo those comments. My current PM certainly is multi faceted with me assuming the roles of scrum master and line manager on top of my PMing duties. I'm not only interfacing with the usual stakeholders but also serve as a link between the enterprise architects and my team so having little or no IT knowledge isn't going to fly - though, to be honest, the edicts they issue tend to go right over my head. The latest one being the use of a tool called Git Kraken as a GUI for git source control. When I was preparing my Monday morning address to my team the other day I was thinking about how I could bring a bit of levity to the proceedings and point out that it's not just a play on words (Get Cracking) but also references a mythical beast from the Greek classical era. And so went my spiel but no sooner had I opened my mouth than all I heard in unison from the assembled company was "Already! Release the Kraken!". Bloody millenials, can't teach them anything.

Better than SourceTree I am told by some techo geezers.