Project Manager: Indicators for Separate or Combined Role

David Perkins

 

In my experience developing complex projects, the issue is not do we need a project manager but do we need a separate project manager and project engineer.  Before we get any further let us first define the terms project manager and project engineer.  The project manager is responsible for the business success of the project.  That is, did the project achieve marketability success within the constraints of time and money?  The project engineer is responsible for the technical success of the project.  That is, did the implementation achieve the characteristics of function, reliability, and performance necessary to satisfy the marketability factors?

 

It is important to observe this separation between business and technical decisions and to realize the required synergy between these roles to achieve success.  I have identified my top five indicators for either a dedicated project manager or a combined project manager and project engineer based upon these principles of business, technical, and the synergy between them.

 

The top 5 indicators to have a separate Project Manager:

  1. The project has a high maintenance customer.
  2. The project has an absentee customer.
  3. Business functionality is in a high state of change.
  4. The business case for the larger market beyond the project is evolving.
  5. The project needs protection from institutional interference.

 

The top 5 indicators to have a combined Project Manager and Project Engineer:

  1. The project team is small, less than 7 people.
  2. Project Management is allocated less than ¼ time effort.
  3. The project customer is very technical.
  4. The business position is well defined.
  5. Project Engineer is able to delegate to other engineers.

 

I have found these ten considerations to be leading indicators of the success of a project.  Of course most projects have a mixture of these indicators which will require us to apply our professional judgment to innovate a situational unique solution by adapting our processes.  You didn’t think it would be easy, did you?

 

Dave Perkins has worked as a project manager and/or project engineer in a multitude of domains including business intelligence (healthcare, travel), business processes (Call Center, SCM and CRM), command and control (satellites, unmanned vehicles, aviation), and signal routing and processing.