Do you need a Technical Project Manager?
A good technical project manager will translate the real world needs of a project into functional features, and align these with a schedule and keep the project on budget.
“…I'm in charge of what now?”
You've been collecting feedback from customers and colleagues for months, or maybe years, and it's time to pull the trigger on the new project (let’s say it’s a website or a custom app). At this point the reality of the endeavor sinks in...
Where do I start?
How do I choose what makes it into the project from the the laundry list of "it'd be great if" features?
How do I determine which of these features are even doable?
Which can we afford to include?
Which can be achieved within our timeline?
Most importantly, how in the world do I get everyone to agree on the answers to these questions? Otherwise, we might end up in the same place 3 years from now!
Enter the Technical Project Manager.
At a minimum, a decent Technical PM will oversee a project to ensure that the requirements fall within a provided budget and timeline.
A good Technical PM will assess the requirements and then lead a sort-and-rank process to ensure that the most important features are incorporated into the deliverable.
A great Technical PM will not only facilitate discussions with internal stakeholders and external customers to achieve buy-in, but will also anticipate future needs and provide a plan for how to execute going forward.
In a word, it's all about balance.
Here's some things to keep top of mind when evaluating a potential Technical Project Manager:
They earn the trust of both technical and non-technical stakeholders
If you find at the end of an introductory meeting that you're unsure of how to gauge whether a candidate will be a good fit, or you’re left feeling intimidated by the technical details or terms discussed, then you already have your answer. First and foremost, it is critical that a technical project manager speaks clearly and is understood, regardless of the audience.
Technical aptitude is also very important. Not only do they need to communicate effectively with your IT or engineering staff, but they also need to quickly understand the underlying implications or work associated with a project’s requirements; or the inevitable changes that will occur over a project's lifetime.
Nevertheless, the ultimate success of a project relies on the balance between the two, and you can start to gauge that by assessing how clearly your technical and non-technical stakeholders understood what was discussed & how closely those perceptions align.They balance attention to detail with the big picture
A technical project manager can see both a forest and the trees. If a PM is too focused on the the details, they will lose sight of the needs of many of the stakeholders (and exhaust your budget in the process). By contrast, if a PM refuses to take a deep dive into the feasibility of each requirement, they will be blindsided by delays when foreseeable technical obstacles arise. This quality is harder to measure during an initial consultation, but can usually be spotted within the first couple meetings (we recommend having an early escape clause in project proposals for this very reason).
To put it succinctly, a person's capacity to navigate and manage the objectives set out in a meeting with your team are a good litmus test for their capacity to navigate and manage the objectives set out for a project.
If you find yourself heading up a project and aren’t sure whether you have the tools or training to see it to fruition, we’re here to help. Simply call us at 301-478-4251 or email hello@wimblystoke.com.