This is a topic that I am often asked about: Technical project management. People often ask me if they need technical skills in order to manage IT projects. I would respond that you need to have a foundation of technical knowledge in any industry or technology you are trying to manage projects.
Recently, I noticed an interesting comment on a post titled “Project Management Career Paths and Technical Skills”.
“I don’t understand how people can manage technical projects without any technical knowledge. I have seen many PM ask for project schedule from TL. During meetings, they don’t understand technical requirements, and completely depend on TL. Anyone can give the task to a subordinate if they have power. This is not a skill. It’s just misuse of power and creating a hostile team environment. It is difficult to acquire technical knowledge. They are finally f**king by people with sucking skills. I was a PM with strong technical skills. Any technical decision can be made with the support of the team. If you have technical knowledge, you can participate in team meetings. Learn from others. Because they are hardworking, their team feels confident. According to me, there should not be a PM without technical skills. How can a PM be so busy with large projects when a technical CEO (Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Lary Page, etc.) can lead a billion-dollar company? These people are called softskills, but many large companies f**k them. I would call them sucking skills people. Therefore, there should not be a non-technical person in the lead position. The IT industry will then be more productive and motivated. Sorry for using some abusive words, but they are necessary here. – Dipak
This seems to be more of a general comment about the topic than a reply to the post or other comments. It is easy to see that this individual has had very negative experiences with technical managers who were responsible for managing technical projects. These situations can quickly turn bad, and the following reasons are discussed in the post and comments.
“You cannot substitute someone without technical expertise in our domain and have them succeed out of the gate?”. Someone with a background in system engineering may be able get up to speed in a matter of months.
I have also seen project managers from both the government side and the contractor side that cause more harm than good because they think they are technical enough to step over the toes and lead engineers and developers. – Josh”
What would you say to Dipak? Or just about technical skills for project managers. Please share your thoughts in the comments.
