Reply to: Quality of IT Project Managers

[XLMonkey]

A good mix of responses in here and I'm reassured by some of these!

It's clear now from the posts that some of the project managers I've been working with were just in it for the meetings, tea and jammie dodgers!

Yup, I resemble that remark. Been cadging cuppas and bisuits in a shiny suit for longer than I can remember.

There's a real issue about professionalism in project management (and, to an extent, in the IT industry as a whole). In other specialism (e.g. engineering, construction), there's an established set of professional qualifications and practical experience that you have to have in order to be called a project manager. In IT, almost any fool can call themself a project manager - and they usually do.

However, I don't think that the problem is going to go away very easily - it has to be driven by the clients themselves demanding higher standards of professionalism (and refusing to employ people who don't meet them).

[bobhope]

The Peter Priciple explains why there are so many crap project managers

"In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."

I thought that had been replaced by the dilbert principle: i.e. "promote their least-competent employees to management (generally middle management), in order to limit the amount of damage that they're capable of doing."

[shoes]

95% of all people in any job are bad at it. Most of the contract roles that come about wouldn't have done so were it not for the incompetence of those in 'management' roles, so let's have more of it I say. It can be frustrating when you're confronted with it day in day out but don't forget if it wasn't there then neither would you be.

[Moscow Mule]

The Peter Priciple explains why there are so many crap project managers

"In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."

[bored]

Part of the reason why some project managers aren't qualified is that promotion to management is seen as a reward for dedication/service for the company and good technical performers are promoted to roles they're not fit for.

Still, I must be lucky as the managers I worked with were all very reasonable.

[miffy]

A good mix of responses in here and I'm reassured by some of these!

It's clear now from the posts that some of the project managers I've been working with were just in it for the meetings, tea and jammie dodgers!

[Muttley08]

I agree with Mal 100% there. You need enough technical engagement to make sure the technical experts are getting what they need and doing what they're supposed to. Much more and you'll cramp their style or muck things up; much less and you're liable to lose the plot or get ripped off.

What he said ^ (and Mal) - and very concisely put as well.

Question is, has Miffy been told to get a wriggle on, and is a bit miffed by it???

[thunderlizard]

I agree with Mal 100% there. You need enough technical engagement to make sure the technical experts are getting what they need and doing what they're supposed to. Much more and you'll cramp their style or muck things up; much less and you're liable to lose the plot or get ripped off.

[malvolio]

The PM is there to keep the expenditure aligned to the budget, keep the client sweet and keep the work on track with the requirement definition. That's it.

How they do it is up to them. Sometimes you have to use politics, sometimes you have to bully. Most times I prefer to set the parameters and let the experts do their thing: despite well over 20 years in a whole range of technical roles, I cannot add any real value any more (although I will spot a techie bulltulipter at a mile and a half).

But without the PM there is no Project. Someone has to fill the role, even if it's part time. For £10k of work any fool can do it. But for £200m...??

[Xenophon]

You want to change your angle to avoid that kind of thing.

[TheFaQQer]

I am the only good one I have come across.

You want to change your angle to avoid that kind of thing.

[KathyWoolfe]

Though funny enough, also only ever had two decent PM's who meet most of these criteria in 10 odd years.

First one bearly knew how to turn on his pc, other (current) knows his lingo and theory but could not code "Hello World" to save his life

The worst ones I find are the techies who worked up though the IT ranks

I agree.
Though the worst PM I ever had had the man management capabilities of a housebrick. He agreed with the user to produce some work without consulting the people doing the work and wouldn't then accept that the person assigned the job (i.e. me) couldn't produce the work on the deadline specified by him.

Give me a PM who hasn't necessarily got the technical skills to insist on a "hands on" approach but will rely on those people he has hired to do the work to produce the goods.

[Francko]

http://www.developer.com/java/ent/article.php/3526491

That's quite an interesting article.

"The project management role is generally responsible for status reports, which are frankly more tools about instilling a sense of urgency and demanding definite answers "

I feel that many people perform worse when they have a sense of urgency. Yet this seems completely unknown to most project managers. I can't remember the name of the football coach who in the past, when there were not electronic display on the pitch, did never tell the team how long is missing to the end of the game. Apparently, this turned out to guarantee better performance in the last minutes where usually the players try to score with unlikely shoots from midfield.

"Ultimately getting into a project management role can be easy, in the case where no one is really filling that role or where there's a structured mentoring process"

That might explain the average low quality. There is no selection at induction phase. The ones who are available are taken on board to start without any screening.

"Occasionally, getting started as a project manager is done completely by accident"

Again.

[Xenophon]

I have been in project manager roles and contracts for 8 years and I am the only good one I have come across.

[Francko]

From the quality of people I've rubbed shoulders with (excluding the two really good chaps I've worked alongside) I fail to see what value they add to any technical piece of work if I'm expected to do the majority of the paperwork myself?

I expressed this point of view several times on here but all the time I have been accused of being a code monkey with no social skill and no business knowledge. That's not the case unfortunately. I had to actually do project management myself in many cases, despite I don't enjoy it neither I have any interest on it, because of their complete lack of skills. So in a few words, I totally agree. Project management is a great skill to have and an indispensable for the successful outcome of the project but most of the project managers are unskilled fraudsters vaporware salesmen who bring no value to the chain. I think it's important to put the accent on the "most of them" phrase and not on the project manager function on its own.