[AccessD] Project Management Path

McGillivray, Don [IT] Donald.A.McGillivray at sprint.com
Fri Apr 4 15:20:05 CDT 2008


Arthur,

I'm no expert in the PM field, but in my position with a fortune 100 telecom company, I have had to interact with quite a few.  I don't know if my experience in this area is typical of organizations this size, or just how it is in ours, but many of the PMs I've dealt with know next to nothing about technology.  They do understand how to navigate the absurdly convoluted systems that constitute our "change management process."  They're usually pretty good at collecting facts, determining who is responsible for which pieces of the puzzle, and getting everybody working together in a mostly coordinated way.  They keep meetings focused and on track, and take and disseminate notes of everything (and I mean EVERYthing) that transpires on their projects.

The most common problem arising as a result of their lack of technical expertise is having some critical piece turn up missing at the eleventh hour - one that all the experts on the team considered so obvious as to not merit a mention, but which the PM didn't have knowledge enough to anticipate.  Still, despite their relative lack of technical expertise, I have found most of them to be quite effective at what they do.  I can only imagine how much better they could do their jobs if they brought to the table the kind of experience that you possess.

Best of luck to you with this transition . . .

Don McGillivray





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