(^70) 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know
We Have Met the Enemy...and He Is Us
Barbee Davis, MA, PHR, PMP
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
CARToonIST WAlT KEllEy, who inked the long-running comic strip Pogo,
is famous for the quote, “We have met the enemy...and he is us.” Nowhere is
this sentiment more accurate than when describing a software project man-
ager who is new to the software development process. Here’s how to avoid
having “the enemy” be you:
• As a project manager, you expect your team members to estimate the
amount of time it will take them to complete a specific task. It is detri-
mental to the schedule if they go too far over the budgeted time. One of
your tasks on the project is to hold meetings to drive team communica-
tion. You need to demonstrate the ability to estimate and deliver the meet-
ings as meticulously as you expect your developers to estimate and deliver
their code.
When your meetings run long, you are stealing the precious program-
ming time developers count on to meet your project schedule deadlines.
• If your project team spoke a foreign language, you would take some les-
sons and get a translator. Your developers do not speak your language.
Buy a book, take a class, make Google your friend, and find a developer
who has the gift to explain complex things in a simple way. You cannot
bluff your way through this project without learning some of the concepts,
terms, and challenges your team faces.
• Regardless of the perfect methodology you used to build toasters and cars,
develop pharmaceuticals, or even construct skyscrapers, it won’t work
here. Let the trusted members of your team explain about agile method-
ologies. They aren’t new or risky. But they are your best chance at having
a working product at the end of your project.