Project Management Matters
I have to agree with Tom, project management is an important discipline. Project managers come in all flavors from the experienced to the inexperienced. Being a SME is not necessarily a qualification for being a Project Manager, but it does help.Software Project Managers are not equal to Construction or Petroleum Industry Project Managers. Critical skills are mandatory in the heavy industry environment. Software projects can be over managed and slowed to a crawl by detailed project management emphasis, very true. There are analogies here that I would relate the depth of project management to the software development methodology and the development lifecycle. Sometimes, a project manager does not need to do as much as others. In certain industries, 80% of the project manager's time is spent in communication efforts; enabling the project team; reducing friction; interfacing with other managers; solving interpersonal problems: in short, they take a lot of pressure that would otherwise be dumped on the team. Project Managers are important team members, but they do have to be competent.
