Technology is developing, times are advancing, projects are becoming more and more complex, and more and more technical personnel are facing technological transformation. So, how to successfully transform has become a new challenge faced by many technical personnel.
First of all, we must understand why we need technical personnel to transform into project managers? Can’t project managers be trained directly?
The answer is obvious. The arrival of the Internet era has changed and innovated many aspects of our life, work, study and so on. Technology is no longer just a simple support business. New technologies such as big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence , Internet of Things, 5G and other new technologies are leading the rapid development of this era. Technology has moved from behind the scenes to the stage, and is becoming more and more important. More and more links require technicians to take the lead, and technology has become the dominant force of our era.
The voice and participation of technical personnel are getting higher and higher, and the proportion of technical personnel in the project is also increasing. It is difficult for a project manager who only understands business but not technology to understand the needs of the project, let alone keep up with the pace of the project.
In this context, technical personnel have been given a new historical mission, and the technical personnel team has become the cradle of excellent project managers. More and more companies have paved new promotion channels for technical personnel, and the "management sequence" came into being. Students, technical personnel have technical thinking logic that is difficult for project managers to master, technical personnel can better transform business scenarios into technical scenarios, technical personnel and project members inherently have a common language, etc.
Of course, this does not mean that technical personnel are born project managers. In the process of transformation, technical personnel also face challenges of entrustment. The author has served in many bank technology departments and group digital transformation departments, and found the three most prominent problems in the transformation of technical personnel.
First, I like to do things myself, and team management is a mess.
Second, excessive focus on technical details and disregard of the project business scope.
Third, they like to work in silence and forget about communication and management.
(1) Project managers who like to do things personally and have a mess of team management
Technical transformation usually have strong capabilities in technology, and are even outstanding. This advantage in technical ability may bring obvious influence to a person as an ordinary employee. However, when this person becomes a project manager, it actually becomes an obstacle to his leadership work.
Because he may often use his own technical level to measure other people in the team. He feels that this task is difficult for Zhang San to handle well, and that task Li Si will definitely make a mistake, so he is worried about leaving the task to others, or leaving it to others. And because they see something going wrong, they can't help but reach out and do it themselves, taking back the tasks assigned to team members and doing them themselves. If this happens for a long time, team members will lose their fighting spirit and the courage to innovate.
(2) Paying too much attention to technical details and ignoring business scope management
Originally used to talking to code, it is difficult for technical staff to separate themselves from technical details after the transformation. They still pay attention to technical details, as small as notes on code, as large as From architectural redundancy to architectural redundancy, we have to deal with each issue one by one.
Sometimes in pursuit of technical perfection, cost and business scope are often ignored. A good project manager should focus on the overall situation and find a balance between cost control and scope control based on technology and business scope.
(3) Like to work in silence and forget about communication and management
Most technical staff are introverted, like to work in silence and lack active communication . If the progress is a little slow, I will arrange overtime to catch up on the work, and I will always work hard to make small adjustments. It's okay to be a member of the technical staff, but once you transition to a project manager, you need to know that there may be great risks hidden behind these small changes, and the good-guy way of doing things is likely to lead the project into the abyss.Communication management is prioritized last, and when problems are encountered, they are busy solving them first and then think of reporting them. These are taboos for project managers.
The transformation of technical personnel into project managers is a huge adjustment in itself, requiring technical personnel to make major changes in psychology, skills, and management ideas. In addition to the three outstanding problems mentioned above, also has many other problems. For example, technical personnel in the transformation process will worry about losing their years of eating skills and lack of self-confidence. They will also worry about the brothers who have fought side by side with them talking behind their backs. Make irresponsible remarks and have a sensitive mind. Sometimes I even regret the transition. Not only am I busier than before and work more overtime, but I also get scolded more. Therefore, in an organization, the transformation of technical personnel into project managers requires all-round protection. In addition to the institutional system, higher management should also have more humanistic care.
The key to successfully transforming into a project manager requires "one firmness and three changes."
The road to transformation is difficult and requires firm will. Firm faith will help you overcome one difficulty after another. To change our thinking, firstly we need to shift from focusing on technology to focusing on business, secondly we need to shift from focusing on things to focusing on people, and thirdly we need to shift from focusing on individuals to focusing on teams . Only by doing these three changes can we help those who have just transformed. Quick entry for project managers.
Transformation 1: From focusing on technology itself to focusing on business
Business is the core goal of the project. The fundamental result of the project is also the business itself. Business is also the core driving force for organizational development. All technologies are developed around business. Technology is the foundation but business is the direction. It’s easy to get caught up in one aspect of technology and lose sight of the overall business.
The project manager needs to give the team a direction, and this direction is business. If the team has no direction, all efforts may go in the wrong direction. Therefore, the transformation of technical personnel requires more efforts to familiarize themselves with the business, communicate more with business departments, look at specific business data, discover value from the data, use data to guide the team, use data to adjust the team, and use data to motivate the team. Whether it's "KPI" or "OKR", these are all means and ultimately serve the business. Because changing the focus on business is the first step and the most important step in the transformation of technical personnel.
Transformation 2: From focusing on things themselves to focusing on people
Before the transformation, technicians focused on things themselves. After writing this code and drawing this picture, the task was completed. After the transformation, many things need to be done by team members. The design and promotion of the things themselves are completed by team members, and the objects of attention have fundamentally changed.
The characteristics of each member must be familiar and mastered. Only by paying attention to the output of each team member can the results of the entire project be ensured. Sometimes it is even necessary to pay attention to each member's family. Stabilizing the support of project members is also the fundamental guarantee for stabilizing the project itself.
At the same time, we must also pay attention to the growth of each team member. The personal growth of team members is also a favorable condition for the success of the project. Originally, I focused on code, but after the transformation, I focused on people and emotions.
Change three, from focusing on individuals to focusing on teams
Although the project manager is the core of project leadership, he needs to rely on the team to complete tasks.
Due to the dynamic and temporary nature of the project team, the project manager does not have complete management power over the team members. It is more necessary to unite a group of members into a team and inspire and influence others to work hard for a common goal.
Therefore, project managers must have a strong sense of responsibility, pay attention to work details, and proactively discover and solve problems. Inspire team members through personal and leadership influence. The formation of troops ensures the efficiency of the entire team. Sometimes even an individual needs to be sacrificed.
Make three changes. The project manager is the team leader, not just the manager. It is necessary to emphasize learning, have clear role positioning, and guide the team to jointly manage personnel, quality, time, funds, costs and other factors. You need to design a set of management methods that suit your own needs. Adopt humanized management methods to strengthen emotional cultivation and communication among members, implement team thinking, and promote collaboration among members.
Finally, I would like to give these few words of motto to the technical staff who are in the process of transformation or who are about to transform, and I look forward to your success. Know people well, be sincere to others, be consistent in words and deeds, put yourself in others' shoes, be tolerant of others, encourage others to hold yourself accountable, and give credit to others.
Author: Bao Xiuming, authorized
