Wandering through Projects

Ever Thought Why They Hate You? (Part 2)

This is a continuation of my previous post about why PMs are being hated.

There are good project managers as well as not so good project managers, just like good programmers and not so good programmers. If you are a project manager, you can’t always be someone that other’s would like, even if you work so hard to please them. However, if you could step back you might be able to figure out what your team needs from you, and probably might be able to avoid being hated. Following tips might help you to become part of your project team in a better way.

How to Avoid Being Hated?

Estimate with multiple people separately, and then meet to review and revise:
A reliable estimation can be gathered through a variety of people estimating the project. Estimating with different levels of experienced people from relevant disciplines (developers, QA’s, BA’s), domain specialists, and technical experts can create realistic estimations with pragmatic deliverables. Unfortunately it is not always pragmatic to estimate this way. However, consulting at least few team members and considering the team’s skill levels, can make the estimation bit accurate. Also project managers must be mindful that it is just an estimation and estimation only. In fact, it is actually a guesstimation.

Tailor the process and tools for each project and scenarios:
There is no universal solution when it comes to project management. The same process and tools which has used for previous projects might not be suitable for another project. Also some teams might prefer different set of tools that they are comfortable and productive. Value team members’ opinion when selecting a process and tools, be flexible and welcome new ideas, and don’t be afraid to customize those process and tools to go well with your project and the team.

Be part of the team:
Develop social networking skills, blend with the team as much as possible and have casual conversations whenever possible. It helps to eliminate most of the team conflicts, foresee issues and to be part of the team naturally.

Share the credit and take the blame:
Never accept credits yourself. Always share or give your teammates their due credits. It helps to gain trust, as well as a motivated team that would be more flexible to work with. When things go wrong don’t try to find the responsible person, and never pass the blame to the team, instead accept the blame yourself and focus on resolving the problem.

Develop and enhance the project management skills:
Enhance communication, negotiation, people skills and all other skills which help to manage a project successfully. Understand differences in working styles and personality of your teammates. Give them necessary freedom to carry out their activities. Trust your team and their opinion. If you do not agree or accept, give proper reasons. Communicate regularly with everyone and maintain transparency.

Photo Credits lastlemon.com

Ever Thought Why They Hate You? (Part 1)

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Do you love project managers or hate them? Whichever side it is, if you are in a project you have to work with a project manager. To see the reasons behind this hatred, I gathered few thoughts from developers who hate project managers. This list only applies to the project managers who’ve being hated and not for each and every one of them.

So, Why Developers Hate Project Managers?

Because they suck in estimations!
Project managers don’t consult or rather don’t trust to consult the team when estimating and planning projects and changes. Instead, they consult tech leads, previous estimations, and sometimes they estimate by themselves. Without considering the capacity or the skill levels, project managers form unrealistic plans that pressurize teams towards idealistic plans.

Because they think projects and project management is all about process and tools!
Project managers assume the process and tools is their silver bullet and stubborn enough to refuse tailoring for different projects, teams, and scenarios. It leads to an unmotivated, conflicted team that struggles to work with a process or a tool which doesn’t serve their needs.

Because they think they own the project and the team too!
Many project managers don’t think themselves as part of the team, prefer to communicate via formal channels, and refuse to blend with the team or to have a friendly relationship with teammates. Many teams spend long working hours, late nights, and weekends alone. Being there for the team, supporting morally during those tough times to get the tasks done is not on PMs’ to-do list.

Because they take the credit and pass the blame to the team!
No matter what the team has gone through to deliver the promised features, they won’t get any credits for their valued contributions. But when it comes to mistakes, the blame goes to the team or to individuals. Sometimes customers don’t know the team members who put their 200% to the project but certainly, the names would popup if anyone made a mistake.

Because they are not technically savvy and don’t contribute to solve the problems!
Developers are typically not comfortable sharing technical matters with project managers who lack programming experience for obvious reasons. In such cases, instead of helping the team, project managers squeeze the team to find a faster solution. Most people make mistakes when they are in a stress situation.

Because they lack basic skills needed for project management!
Typically, project managers say “yes” to all customer requests without negotiating. When it comes to risk analysis, they don’t consider much about developers’ guts on project risks. Project management is not just about pleasing the customer and delivering the project. There are more to it, such as leading the team, communicating with stakeholders, making realistic plans, negotiating, handling critical situations, analyzing risks, and solving problems are part of it. However, some project managers lack at least few of these basic skills.