[AccessD] Project Management Path

Arthur,

Like other I can offer my thoughts based on years of hanging around corporate projects.

1: Understand that a manager manages projects.  By this I mean you don't have to be a technical wizard on every aspect so long as you understand the overall big picture.  Employee the folks who are the wizards and then ensure they all work together seamlessly and keep you informed on progress, budget, risks and issues.  It may mean taking off your developer hat and letting the youn' uns do it their way.

2: People are usually the most complex and risky part of any project.  Having one of your IT leads suddenly find out he/she is getting divorced and has lost the house and kids can really throw your schedule, budget and productivity in ways you didn't plan for.  This kind of madness is can just pop up out of nowhere and you need to be prepared to deal with it.  People die, have affairs, have personal issues, get arrested etc.  fun fun fun.

3: You need to be a benevolent dictator. By this I mean you have to run the show and control it.  You own this and the buck stops with you.  Don't let the teams develop into little kingdoms that end up fighting each other, rather than moving towards the team goal - this may mean getting rid of disruptive, unhelpful or unproductive people.  Make sure you have a clear goal, and a clear path to that goal.

4: Choose the best people and delegate tasks based on that choice.  Again, you don't have to know everything, but make sure your IT leads keep you informed.

5: Keep lines of communication open with all stakeholders and customers.  It is better to work together to solve problems that start blaming folks.

6: Have a clear objective and plan *BEFORE* you do anything. Even for seemingly trivial things this can save you a lot of grief as assumptions and other traps are often revealed when folks ask questions during these planning sessions.  Be especially careful when dealing with 'fluffy' details like. "I am going to make the background a nice blue", or "Make it a modern looking site" - These statements mean different things to different folks.  get samples and get consensus and then go ahead.

7: If you don't understand or know, then ask someone to explain it to you.  It is far cheaper and easier to say "I don't understand that, please explain" then to get a result you were not expecting.  Again, clear documentation at the start will be a definate plus with this sort of thing.

8: Be approachable.  When things go wrong consider saying "How are we going to fix this", rather than "What are you going to do about it".  Take ownership of the team and support them through the problems.

anyway... there are probably a 1000 others, but you get the idea.  Good luck and make sure you enjoy what you do.

Cheers and regards
Darryl.






-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: Saturday, 5 April 2008 6:05 AM
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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