http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2006/06/project-managers-and-technology.html Management, especially good management, is hard to do. This blog is for people who want to think about how they manage people, projects, and risk. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:31:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2006/06/project-managers-and-technology.html/comment-page-1#comment-393 Asher Sterkin Thu, 06 Jul 2006 00:04:25 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8050#comment-393 From my personal experience of being architect-PM I can say it also depends on the size of the project and its novelty. For a small small-size research kind of project having one person who assumes the both responsibilities is quite a norm (and very often is impossible otherwise). For a large scale, "give me this feature", kind of project a single person style does not scale up well and you usually need to separate these two responsibilities. From my personal experience of being architect-PM I can say it also depends on the size of the project and its novelty. For a small small-size research kind of project having one person who assumes the both responsibilities is quite a norm (and very often is impossible otherwise). For a large scale, “give me this feature”, kind of project a single person style does not scale up well and you usually need to separate these two responsibilities.

]]> http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2006/06/project-managers-and-technology.html/comment-page-1#comment-394 Kenneth P. Katz Mon, 03 Jul 2006 20:42:11 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8050#comment-394 This is one of the great controversies of the project management field. Does a PM have to be a subject matter expert to be successful. In my case, I believe that I am a successful PM in the software field that certainly has no skills in writing software. However, I do have a strong background in engineering, which means that developing technological systems is something about which I know. From that background to managing software development has not been a great leap. Needless to say, once in a field it is important to develop some familiarity with the field if not expertise. This is one of the great controversies of the project management field. Does a PM have to be a subject matter expert to be successful.
In my case, I believe that I am a successful PM in the software field that certainly has no skills in writing software. However, I do have a strong background in engineering, which means that developing technological systems is something about which I know. From that background to managing software development has not been a great leap. Needless to say, once in a field it is important to develop some familiarity with the field if not expertise.

]]> http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2006/06/project-managers-and-technology.html/comment-page-1#comment-395 Jerry Mon, 03 Jul 2006 18:36:35 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8050#comment-395 Nice post Johanna. I think you do a great job of painting the two extremes of the situation and thereby framing the discussion. There is actually a related thread over on the Software Requirements Message board (http://www.requirements.seilevel.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=281) that is tackling this topic from the perspective of Software Product Managers rather than Project Managers. Nice post Johanna. I think you do a great job of painting the two extremes of the situation and thereby framing the discussion.
There is actually a related thread over on the Software Requirements Message board (http://www.requirements.seilevel.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=281) that is tackling this topic from the perspective of Software Product Managers rather than Project Managers.

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