It has been a long time since I updated my blog. I have been working for over three years now—well, the rather awkward stage of three to five years of experience, where you are neither senior nor junior and do not quite fit anywhere. But I should have some insights. I am a technical engineer and also kind of a half project manager: I mainly do technical development but also some project management work. Today let me talk about whether a project manager should have a technical background (that is, those who move from technical roles to management roles).
A Project Manager Should Have a Technical Background
First, as a technical engineer, my view is: a project manager should have a technical background. I believe that to manage technical people or communicate with them, you need fairly professional technical knowledge; otherwise you cannot use “jargon” to communicate with them, let alone share a “common language”. Moreover, most technical people have strong personalities and their own ways of thinking. Without a technical background when communicating with them, your opinions will be very unconvincing, and you will easily be fooled by dominant technical people.
When you lack sufficient technical background and encounter a disagreement with technical staff, what should you do? First, do not use project schedule, project goals, or even your boss to pressure the technical side. Most technical people hate or even resent this approach, which may intensify conflict and cause future collaboration to fail. As a project manager, you are a manager and should understand how to lead people rather than simply give orders. Technical people are not machines and will not accurately execute your commands. So what do you do? First analyze why the technical side rejects your request:
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The resources (personnel and material) you provide cannot meet the specified deadline.
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Your project’s priority is not high enough, and they do not want to waste time on it.
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The project’s design is problematic—it feels like a product designed by an idiot.
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They do not like you and do not want to talk to you; please bother some other technical person.
When technical staff strongly object to your view, there is always a reason of their own. If you do not understand the reason for the rejection and keep talking and trying to persuade them, you have already aroused their resentment. Sometimes it is not that they completely reject the plan itself, nor that they do not want to cooperate with you, but that they have other concerns. You should guide them to voice those concerns and resolve them, so that both sides can cooperate better.