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Should Project Managers be subject matter experts?

This question reflects a debate I had with a client recently.  Is it more important for a PM to have skills and experience in managing projects, or to have a deep understanding of the business issues that the project addresses?

Perhaps there is a balance to be struck, but in my own organisation (a global manufacturing company) I feel we have veered far to much in favour of the latter.  As a consequence, specialist PMs are rarer and/or underrated, and there is an unspoken but widely held view that if you are a capable manager you should be able to manage a project.

Related to (and implicit in) this question: how do you assess the ability of the PM and his team when auditing a project?  What criteria do you use?
Posted by Grafthomond on August 31, 2011 10:26AM
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RE: Should Project Managers be subject matter experts?

For very large projects, additional risk is introduced if the project manager has more expertise than the project team.  They will find themselves doing the work, and no one will be monitoring and controlling the project, communicating to the team, assuring risks and issues are identified and managed, or any of the other disciplines the PM should be responsible for. 

This is not an insurmountable risk, but is one which should be carefully considered.

It is beneficial to have a PM with industry experience and broad understanding, as long as that PM disciplines themselves to focus on their PM disciplines.

If the PM really is the expert, they need to place themselves as a partial resource in the execution of the project's scope and as a partial resource as PM, or better yet, become the project architect and bring in a PM with general understanding.

This can be even worse if the program manager is the expert, since strategic decisions and financial decisions for the enterprise will also be jeopardized if their attention is split.

You are correct that this is a matter of considerable debate, and it is because the roles of project manager and project architect are not well enough defined and people are consequently not able to express the difference in a way that is understood by sponsors and stakeholders.
Visionary at 8/31/2011 5:47:55 PM
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(1 ratings)

RE: Should Project Managers be subject matter experts?

For very large projects, additional risk is introduced if the project manager has more expertise than the project team.  They will find themselves doing the work, and no one will be monitoring and controlling the project, communicating to the team, assuring risks and issues are identified and managed, or any of the other disciplines the PM should be responsible for. 

This is not an insurmountable risk, but is one which should be carefully considered.

It is beneficial to have a PM with industry experience and broad understanding, as long as that PM disciplines themselves to focus on their PM disciplines.

If the PM really is the expert, they need to place themselves as a partial resource in the execution of the project's scope and as a partial resource as PM, or better yet, become the project architect and bring in a PM with general understanding.

This can be even worse if the program manager is the expert, since strategic decisions and financial decisions for the enterprise will also be jeopardized if their attention is split.

You are correct that this is a matter of considerable debate, and it is because the roles of project manager and project architect are not well enough defined and people are consequently not able to express the difference in a way that is understood by sponsors and stakeholders.
Visionary at 8/31/2011 5:47:55 PM
You must sign in to rate content.
(1 ratings)

RE: Should Project Managers be subject matter experts?

For very large projects, additional risk is introduced if the project manager has more expertise than the project team.  They will find themselves doing the work, and no one will be monitoring and controlling the project, communicating to the team, assuring risks and issues are identified and managed, or any of the other disciplines the PM should be responsible for. 

This is not an insurmountable risk, but is one which should be carefully considered.

It is beneficial to have a PM with industry experience and broad understanding, as long as that PM disciplines themselves to focus on their PM disciplines.

If the PM really is the expert, they need to place themselves as a partial resource in the execution of the project's scope and as a partial resource as PM, or better yet, become the project architect and bring in a PM with general understanding.

This can be even worse if the program manager is the expert, since strategic decisions and financial decisions for the enterprise will also be jeopardized if their attention is split.

You are correct that this is a matter of considerable debate, and it is because the roles of project manager and project architect are not well enough defined and people are consequently not able to express the difference in a way that is understood by sponsors and stakeholders.
Visionary at 8/31/2011 5:47:55 PM
You must sign in to rate content.
(1 ratings)

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