Having managed IT projects for over a decade now, and ringing the bell on the PMP, I have come to appreciate my non-agile experience, as a lost art. Here are a few hot-sports-opinions I have developed over the years about PM’ing projects in professonal services firms.
IT middle-managers tend to mis-identify IT contractors and outside project augmentation as “consultants”, and it means they have probably never worked with a top-notch consultant. In tech, Contractors deliver to defined requirements (that is, whenever companies bother to define them). A consultant is subject-matter expertise and experience both wrapped-up in an advisory secret-weapon role, when you have good ones. They are not there to manage your project, though some can. No, best consultants are there to help you get your blueprint and scope properly-defined (in my experience). Any good PM can pick-up what a consultant is laying-down, and turn that into a proper Scope and WBS. You can always tell the good subject-matter experts who consult by their past work, and their rates. I have inhabited both the SME and PM role, and never at the same time. And if you want me to give you direction/advisement AND scope out your project AND do some or all of the work…you better not be shopping on-the-cheap.
“Expert” Project Managers working on major user-facing stuff, who obsesses on their spec’ed a RACI chart, are busy giving you an EVA during the final phase, and insist on a written a Charter before discusing any kind of Scope – they may be fantastic practitioners but they are likely not going to get your rollout done on-time and under-budget. In financial and legal IT, results and outcomes are the north-star. And results are often de-tethered from costs, when winning a major case or deploying a new SOX-compliant system is involved. And any process and data-driven PM should read the room, when working for those those kinds of Orgs.
Of leader styles in IT and Project Management, I tend to prefer servant-leaders. Extremely helpful and in the trenches with you, getting the work done. Removing obstacles. BUT there are risks and downsides to having only that leadership style: while constantly augmenting you and helping with logistical issues, helping you with tasks, a servant leader PM can lose focus on larger risks facing the project. They also can go blind to culture / environmental blind spots with how the project is going, and how stakeholders are measuring the results.
So…
…sometimes leading takes a backseat. Instead of Servant Leader mode, sometimes your leadership style must pivot to what I call: “Coach Mode”. You are there not to be the “I wouldn’t ask my team to do what I couldn’t do…” PM, but the “here’s the 59 yard line, and here’s a playbook we need to follow to get there” and you mentor / inspire / fight for team focus. You’re not doing some of the work in that WBS, but you sure as hell are motivating people and getting that 10,000 ft view that PMs sometimes need, to avoid stakeholder blind spots. A good modern PM, especially decent Agile ones, can pivot between these styles quickly depending on the context.
Another risk for SME style PMs, who may have a lot of technical experience before they became a PM: finishing tasks, and checking off items in the work tracking log, can harm your team’s energy. Sure you got a task deliverable done, but your subordinates can end up feeling side-lined or second-guessed. When all you care about is getting tasks done, you aren’t fully-managing the project resources propertly and you’re also not developing a great team to bring it home. So the Servant Leader style, while very important, needs the kinds of leaders who know when to take a step back, and ask: “in addition to ensuring the work is done, how can I make sure I don’t invalidate others’ judgement while also meeting our delivery timeline.” Taking a step back from being in the thick of the active work can empower your team, and leaves you free for the other high-touch challenges in a project (tracking budget and EV, managing crises, addressing grievances, etc).
I second this concept of leadership style pivots, for IT middle managers as well (of which I am one, when not managing projects): purely only helping your people do tasks all the time, isn’t always the leadership they need.
Project Managers want the best possible resource team members to deliver a projeect undertaking. And great Subject Matter Experts deserve great Project Managers who can make that leadership style pivot. Whether that SME is a consultant, or an engineer in your company, empower them and get out of their way. You’ll find you will hardly ever have to hold them responsible for a missed deadline or have to crash the Schedule for them. And in the end, your whole team iterate quickly and nail milestone after milestone.