How much of being a project manager is common sense / street smarts / EQ and how much is tech savvy?
Aug.07, 2011 in
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Not just IT projects, but all kinds. Is years of experience a prerequisite? Or can you get by if you know the subject backwards? Or do you need sound managerial skills? Why would a person with these skills / abilities go for the uncertainty and heartburn of project execution, instead of holding down a line manager’s job? In short, what does it take, and what makes ‘em tick?
Tags: common sense, eq, experience, heartburn, JOB, Manager, managerial skills, person, prerequisite, project, project execution, sense, sound, street, street smarts, Tech, uncertainty
August 7th, 2011 at 4:36 am
You need sound managerial skills, the ability to come up with a project plan and the ability to line up resources and remove obstacles that would delay the project.
Being technically savvy helps, but it isn’t a large part of it, probably 20-25% tops. Project managers do not make good programmers any more than programmers make good project managers. And since I program I don’t have any ax to grind there. I would be horrible at project management, don’t have the temperament for it. The worst project I ever worked on was one run by a programmer. It failed.
You do need to understand the business the project is for, or have a good functional design analyst working for you that does.
Project management is pretty lucrative, you are usually talking director level $100K or better jobs. You are right though, there is more risk involved than being a line manager.
On the other hand, you are actually creating something, which is kind of a rush in itself, and you are constantly doing new things.
-Dio
personal experience
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August 7th, 2011 at 7:36 am
Fifty Fifty.
personal experience
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