Christopher Global

There are times when the most challenging part about being a project leader is the culture created by the person you report to. What's happening in today's tech environment is most recruits are heavy in tech and not many other skills outside of that. Tech doesn't run every project. In some companies, their tech team doesn't speak or play well with all departments. In these environments, tech can seem uncollaborative when a team wants to move forward.

A project or a program manager's skill domain is communication. Tech environments force PMs to dabble heavily in tech conversation. Naturally, if the PM spends minimal time in their skill domain, you start questioning how well they are doing their job. Most PM's primary struggle is not having enough time in their day for tech talk and communication.

When you have a technologist that sits as your manager, you wonder how well the technologist is at supporting PM-related problems. For instance, resourcing challenges cannot be resolved with cross-functional communication. The proper skills are relationship management and coordination, neither of which a solo performing technologist has significantly developed over their career. Project program management is an art, not a science. There are no simple fixes to people!

In today's tech environment, solo developers are promoted over PMs into manager-level roles. Have you noticed the misfit with a hard-skill career managing a soft-skill career? Why do you think people who work in sales don't like to transition into products? PMs who report to a technologist struggle with reporting to a leader who does not understand the PM's effort but has every answer to a problem that is not theirs. This is quite a trap to be in! My advice to any project leader is to always make a mentor in a seasoned project program leader who succeeded in your role.