[AccessD] Project Management Path

Project Manager has more to do with Manager than Project.  Understanding
enough about the technology so that you can have it explained to you by the
techs - I think you've got that.  Standing between the users and the
developers. Resolving conflicts, motivating your team, etc., etc.  - not
much to do with software.  Plus, you'll have to do something I'm unqualified
to do - get a regular job in a company that has enough programmers to need
to project manager.  I'm pretty much unemployable now - not having had an
honest job since 1980.

But you've got the resume for the job.  Plenty of war stories.  

Rocky



 	
	

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 12:05 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving; Discussion of Hardware
and Software issues
Subject: [AccessD] Project Management Path

At my ripe old age, I am pondering becoming a manager of software projects
rather than a developer of same. I have occasionally led a team of
developers toward a project goal, but more often been the principal
developer of a project. I am wondering how to make the leap. While realizing
that this is a list for developers, I also think that this might be the best
place to ask this question.

I know a lot about Access.
I know a little about .NET.
I know a fair amount about PHP and Python Ruby and Ruby on Rails.
I know a little about some strange languages used by very few, including
OCaml.

I have only occasionally been team-lead in a multi-developer project. I
think I did pretty well in them.

So how does one go from Developer to Manager of Developers? I think that I'm
growing too old to be there in the trenches of develpment, and yet that's
what I love and know best. But I think that the young recent graduates have
the "stay up until it works" enthusiasm that I no longer have, although
that's not always true; I've recently spent 40 hours solid at the box
solving a particularly difficult problem, and couldn't quit until I finally
cornered the ornery pig and wrestled him down. But perhaps a younger,
brighter person could have wrestled said pig down much more quickly than I,
which leads to a rather sickening and embarrassing conclusion (following the
Peter Principle): the best thing to do with Arthur is promote him.

So, how to become a manager of programmers who are far more gifted in
languages that I know a little about? How does one go from Here to There?
How do I admit in my resume that I know a fair amount about the abstract
language of programming but perhaps nothing at all about the language your
project is using?

What are the credentials of a Project Manager? I am particularly interested
in asking this question here, since you are all programmers, which perhaps
turns the question into "What values would you desire in your project
manager?".

One could trivialize this question into, "Just learn MS-Project" but that is
hardly the point. Any fool can write a critical path. That's not the issue
at all. As I see it (and admittedly I know nothing about the subject), there
are two issues|perspectives:

1. Tell the team what needs to be done and how quickly.
2. Tell the superiors why it cannot possibly happen in said time-frame +
expense-dollars.

On both sides, I am guaranteed to meet resistance. Developers will say,
"Impossible!" Superiors will say, "Impossible!" And the job of managing a
software project is to get each team to bend a little.

Of course, I know nothing about this profession, which was the whole point
of this message. I'm looking for direction, courses to take, casual advice,
and so on. I actually dare to presume that I could be fairly good at this
profession, but perhaps not. Perhaps I'm an in-the-trenches guy not destined
to coach the team. That could be.
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