Are project managers relevant anymore?

“I am on the fence about whether your role should exist”, said to me a well-meaning and highly-regarded engineering manager in my first 1:1 with him. I had started at the company 3 days ago. Suffice to say, I’d received friendlier welcomes at a morgue.

I was able to adjust my open-ended role to alleviate his concerns and make substantive contributions with him as time progressed. I did realize, however, that the conventional project manager role is a relic of a bygone era, open to misunderstanding and mission creep and therefore is ripe for re-imagination.

From this experience came lessons about the role of project management in today’s fast-paced and agile workplace. What follows are some questions companies should consider as they use this role.

• Why is this role being recruited for?

Too often companies bring on project managers when they have delivery issues, without focusing on what specific tasks the PM would fulfill. The PM may run, or own, the project, but rarely has any supervisory authority over the team. So expectations that a PM can be inserted into an existing recipe and change the flavor overnight often remain unmet. Honing the role to achieve specific goals is a vital ingredient for success, both for the role and the program overall. Qualified candidates will ride above your needs, but having a floor is a must.

• Are roles and responsibilities defined?

Any PM is only as good as the resources available and how well they are utilized. Even the best manager cannot help matters if a web development team misses goals due to inadequate UX or lack of CSS designers. Strategic gaps between senior management are even harder to surmount. I’ve seen PMs get blamed for sub-optimal delivery, while the root cultural issues remain unattended.

• Is this purely a reporting job?

A modern shop has roles like product managers, technical leads and Scrummasters, who own some of the management of the products and processes. A PM with the right skills and focus can help liaise with stakeholders, set expectations and convey hard messages. Unfortunately, PMs are often reduced to note-takers and creators of busywork for the team. With the waterfall process drying up, today’s PMs will need to augment conventional tools like gantt charts and project schedules to add value. Otherwise, a PM may suck time from hands-on workers without helping the project move forward.

• Can they own some other roles?

To address the previous point, a PM can shadow other positions like solution engineers, engineering managers and testers. Folks performing these roles are typically busy, and a PM who can speak to these roles from time to time can be a great asset. This will not only help cut down the noise for these resources, but enable the PM to actually understand the inner workings of the product they will deliver. Nothing beats appreciating the whole composition rather than confining yourself to a few notes.

• What are engineering’s expectations from the PM?

Given my background, this point is a must for me to make. The PM could be seen by engineers as a constant interruptor, dispenser of meetings and the reason behind emails that have half the company copied on them. Any good hiring manager would therefore do well to ask engineering to list the non-technical tasks that take time away from heads-down work. This will not only enable you to hire the right PM, but also help tailor the best relationship with the engineers.

• Can they reduce the time spent in meetings?

The best contribution a PM can make is by reducing the number and length of meetings that require entire teams to be present. A PM who can infer and extract pertinent info, and verify it without protracted meetings is always valued. As devices of torture, long meetings are only slightly more humane than dull guillotines. The PM should be hired so that the necessary execution and visibility exists, rather than overpopulating the team with PMs who then try to deluge the team with reporting and meetings, thereby reducing throughput.