Ask Slashdot: How To Gently Keep Management From Wrecking a Project?

New submitter miserly_content writes "I work in a large, hierarchical technology company. I have been developing technical specs for a new strategic and challenging software project, and the project is slowly gathering steam and support. This is already a career building success for me, and everyone acknowledges my technical capabilities. But the program manager is an MBA-type, and wants to bring in new multiple team leaders and consultants. This is not really a surprise, but I feel we are sliding towards a too-many-chiefs-too-few-indians scenario, especially at this early stage. How can I pitch upper management about this issue, without appearing selfish or disruptive? What positive approach can I try with the PM, with whom I have a good working relationship?"

Comments

solve your problem small

[edmudama]

In these situations, I think you have to solve this problem as small as possible, with the program manager themselves. Figure out what that person feels isn't being delivered or executed on, and make sure you address that manager's needs.

Escalating around the chain of command doesn't usually work in these scenarios, especially if you're relatively new.

Re:solve your problem small

[beelsebob]

Yep, this can be applied to almost all cases where you don't understand why someone is doing something, or why someone is arguing for something that you don't want.

Rather than going to them and saying "don't do that, it's idiotic", go to them and find out *why* they want those things. Then explain the reasons you don't want them, and come to the solution that satisfies both sets of needs.

It amazes me how few people are able to do this, and instead bang on and on about how their solution is the one true solution without ever understanding all the competing needs.

Re: solve your problem small

[rgbe]

I agreed with all the parent posts. Don't escalate without having discussed it with the program manager.

See it from their perspective, they also want what is best for the project. They want to ensure the project is on time and on budget... and a success. So you need to explain how your approach is better and how it will lead to a successful approach. A program manager will often do this because they don't understand the product/solution being developed. So explain what a good set up would be and why, and include examples of where this has worked for you before.

Also be aware that you may not get your way. Create a strategy for this situation. Ensure that you are in a position lead the technical piece. Ensure you have your ass covered when the shit hits the fan due to the PMs approach by documenting your approach.

First I would take the verbal approach with the PM. They may take a lot of talking to. Then if you think you have resistance follow up with and email. The email does not need to be pages, just short and sweet. Explain your position with 3 or 4 points, and how it would lead to a successful project.

Re:solve your problem small

[Anonymous Coward]

You're in a difficult situation. I tell you how we dealt with this scenario successfully in my organization. We had a project manager who I originally wanted to be closely involved in the production process only to realize he intended to take over the management of our entire program. Well, that wasn't going to happen because we owned the development part of the project and had no use for him.

We stopped CC'ing him on all emails regarding the development project. Every time he had his name added to the CC list we removed it.

He went to his bosses boss (my boss through a different chain of command) to complain. He looked petty. I explained to my boss that his role was to assist with projects once they were in the production phase. With this particular project we were working on development which was outside his purview of expertise - which he readily admitted because he was not an engineer. Including the PM in the process would just increase paperwork and increase costs with no value add. My boss agreed.

He quit about two weeks later. Actually, he didn't even give notice. One day he just stopped showing up for work. Went to work for a competitor which is now bankrupt.

Perhaps there's a strategy hidden in this story depending on your situation: pigeon hole him into a very confined domain where he can actually be helpful to the project. If his career aspirations and ego outweigh his ability he will leave soon.

Re: solve your problem small

[Anonymous Coward]

Parent is close -- except for the assumption that the PM wants what's best for the project -- the PM wants what's best for the PM's career; one of your jobs is to figure out how to make success of the project support the PM's goals.

Re:solve your problem small

[qubezz]

> You have to appeal to the PM's self interest.

You have to give him a duck.

Here's the lore of putting a "duck" in your software development:

This started as a piece of Interplay corporate lore. It was well known that producers (a game industry position, roughly equivalent to PMs) had to make a change to everything that was done. The assumption was that subconsciously they felt that if they didn't, they weren't adding value.

The artist working on the queen animations for Battle Chess was aware of this tendency, and came up with an innovative solution. He did the animations for the queen the way that he felt would be best, with one addition: he gave the queen a pet duck. He animated this duck through all of the queen's animations, had it flapping around the corners. He also took great care to make sure that it never overlapped the "actual" animation.

Eventually, it came time for the producer to review the animation set for the queen. The producer sat down and watched all of the animations. When they were done, he turned to the artist and said, "that looks great. Just one thing - get rid of the duck."

This is on the Battle Chess Wikipedia page though:

The true story about the duck: It originated at Interplay before Battle Chess. It was a running joke that our Electronic Arts producer - who was fond of meddling while simultaneously being clueless about game design - needed to have his ego stroked by being channeled into harmless changes that made him feel empowered. There was no actual duck originally - that was just a metaphor for anything that could be used as a red herring to keep him distracted. Battle Chess never needed a duck since we jettisoned EA specifically because of the aforementioned (but not named) producer unintentionally convincing Interplay to go independent of EA (there were no outside influences to that needed subtle manipulation). But the duck lore had started and it remained something we constantly joked about and eventually began sneaking into the games. Why a duck? Hey, if it was good enough for Groucho and Chico...Two-Tonic Knight

Re:solve your problem small

[rwa2]

Ooh, ooh, I just got through basic Scrum / Agile training, so I know the answer to this!

Get everyone committed to using Scrum methodology for your project before they really know what it means.

Then assign yourself as Product Owner and your boss as Scrum Master for the duration of the project.

Then send all the other chickens to Scrum training, so they can find out that they're chickens. They'll spend all the rest of their time rooting out all of the other chickens in your organization to keep them from clucking up your very important work.

After your project gets delivered on time without interference, and everyone can give themselves a pat on the back from running interference. Everyone gets a promotion! (which is all they really wanted in the first place)

Maybe you are wrong

[drinkmoreyuengling]

One of the problems with taking your position is you might be wrong. I know it's popular on /. to trash anyone with a business degree as a know nothing douchebag, but sometimes perspective outside of the core engineering effort can pay dividends. Instead of trashing the guy and trying to go over his head to torpedo his job, try working with him. You might be surprised what happens if you take a constructive tone.

Re:Maybe you are wrong

[Alex Belits]

I know it's popular on /. to trash anyone with a business degree as a know nothing douchebag, but sometimes perspective outside of the core engineering effort can pay dividends.

Managers who can't rise up by replacing ones above themselves, try to rise up by hiring more flunkies under themselves to crack the whip at. This is an equivalent of cancerous growth in organization, and the reason why middle management is often incompetent.

Re:Maybe you are wrong

[Tyler Durden]

Sorry, but I'm thinking that the subject line of your post is beyond the comprehension of the average Slashdot poster.

A large technology company with 'too few indians'?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does such a thing exist?

As A Boss...

[ios and web coder]

I feel a large part of my job is to stay out of the way of my developers.

However, we are part of a much larger, ISO-9001 process machine, so it is very difficult to remove the process overhead.

I try to take on as much as I can, so the engineers don't have to weather it, but the process demands that they all have their part checking boxes and attending meetings.

The good thing about a process-driven organization, is that everyone knows exactly who will be sticking their nose in, where, and when. You can't just stuff extra clowns into the car whenever you feel like it.

Re:As A Boss...

[ios and web coder]

<sigh />

WHATevah...

You guys have absolutely no clue at all. It's amazing how we project these cartoon personalities onto others. That's what I mean about our "digital avatar" culture.

And yes, I am the boss, but I also have a boss, and they have a boss, etc. ad nauseam. I'm fairly low down on the food chain, and don't really have any ambitions to go higher. I'm extremely happy where I am.

HINT: It's really not a good move to have a knee-jerk reaction to authority, once you leave High School. As a manager for almost twenty years, I've learned the other side of that coin. I think a lot of managers go through their careers scared half to death. I think we make very bad decisions when we are scared. That's one reason I'm not in a huge hurry to travel up the food chain.

I have to eat poop, once in a while, but I have learned that my boss has to do it even more than I.

It's a very, very good idea to learn empathy. I see very little of it displayed in the posts, here, and that means that many of us don't play well with others.

In today's world, very few individuals make the product. Pretty much everything is made by teams. These teams are comprised of these annoying things called "other people."

We can choose to project cartoon-simple avatars onto these folks, and suffer the inevitable results when the real person won't fit the avatar, or we can actually try to figure out and understand these other people.

That doesn't mean that we need to accept and co-sign their crap. Our (American) culture has an unfortunate propensity to equate "understanding" with "condoning."

Big mistake.

If you want to learn basic things about rats, talk to an exterminator.

Re:As A Boss...

[ios and web coder]

It happens everywhere, but it impacts us the most when we are in conflict. I could certainly point to any one of a dozen current front-page stories (and the horrifying series of comments that inevitably follow), for examples. See my .sig for why we tend to choose simple, binary answers to all our problems.

The only thing I can say is "So, how's that working out for ya?"

Say that there's a tech writer that has a kid at home that needs to be picked up from day care ($500/month) at exactly 6PM, or they start racking up serious charges from the poor schlubs that need to hang onto the kid past closing time. This is an extremely common scenario. Let's say this tech writer (either male or female) is a single parent (for whatever reason).

This tech writer works with a crew of amped-up, high-capability programmers; all male, all just out of college, and all absolutely soaked in their jobs. They have stock options, make big salaries and have an extremely dynamic, cohesive team. They tend to pull "all-nighters." Basically, the kind of folks that employers love to have working for them.

Now, you can probably see some conflict coming down the road already...

This tech writer needs to have meetings with these programmers.

The programmers tend to want to have meetings late. Say 5PM or later. Some of them don't get in until 2PM, and they like to have subs and calzones at their meetings.

The tech writer needs to meet with them to get specifics for the docs. They insist that the tech writer meet with them at 5PM or later.

See where this is going?

Now, of course, the tech writer needs to either decline the meeting, pay out the nose for extended care, or have very, very short meetings.

When the boss asks why the manual isn't done, what do you think will happen?

If the boss is any good, they'll understand the tech writer's plight, but they may still be in a quandary. If they start insisting that the programmers (who are blissfully unaware of the tech writer's plight -they only think that [s]he's a "whiner," or "lazy") make arrangements to suit the tech writer's schedule, then they risk generating team friction. The programmers may start to resent the tech writer, and actually start making life difficult for them.

Or, the programmers might develop some empathy for the tech writer, and start making some accommodations. Maybe one or two of the "early birds" could meet with the tech writer at more reasonable times, with input from the "bedbugs."

The final solution may be that this particular tech writer may not be able to work with this particular team of programmers, or the programmers might start to learn about things that are more important than stock options and sixteen-hour-days; like kids (If folks have yet to have kids, then they haven't learned the TRUE meaning of "priorities" yet).

However, this seldom needs to be the case.

One of the things that I need to do, as a manager, is manage each team member from a perspective of empathy; not coddling or condoning.

The tech writer may, indeed, be a whiner, and may, indeed, take advantage of the fact they are a single parent to demand unreasonable accommodation. However, here's where that "mile in their shoes" thing comes into play. I need to see this behavior, and hold fast on the company line, yet also find where I can accommodate them, help them to feel as if someone understands them. I won't coddle anyone, and my employees know damn well I can be a real bastard, if they choose confrontation. However, it rarely comes to that.

As a manager, my first duty is to the corporation. My second duty is to the team. I am responsible for ensuring that the team works as effectively as possible, which often plays to the first priority. However, I have to make sure that the organization's priorities are respected and maintained. This includes things like HR policies, ISO 9000 gates, working hours and environment, etc.

I have been given the authority to command people to make acco

Re:As A Boss...

[Lodragandraoidh]

Many times there is simply nothing you can do. In a large corporate setting - very rarely will you see excellence. Instead mediocrity will be the norm for various reasons:

1. Processes and organizational silos get in the way of performance. It doesn't matter how much you warn the design team about the problem their design has with battery life of the gadget in question - they almost always have the 'not designed here' mentality that negates outside suggestions - since they are in a different group and don't report through your chain of command. Sometimes the process itself forces bad implementation and deployment - either in time, costs or both (e.g. time to market window is missed because we had to wait for all the boxes to be checked in the process - thus losing out to a faster competitor).

2. Programmer resources are seen as interchangeable widgets. We all know this is not true - but management thinks so and allocates resources accordingly - which generally results in non-optimal results.

3. IT is run and managed as a cost center - driven by accounting. This means the focus is on cost rather than results. If the results are 'good enough' at a given cost point, then that is okay with management (too bad for the poor people in the operations teams who have to actually run and troubleshoot it in production). This drives downsizing, and outsourcing too - driving good developers either out or up (into the peter principle area - which causes still more problems).

4. Upper management politics. Turf wars, empire building, whatever you want to call it - can put a damper on any project as the upper managers jostle for projects and resources. You can also see similar effects when upper management doesn't know what to do - projects without clear benefit become hot potatoes - or focus is lost altogether. This is when you get really bad 'designed by committee' projects that usually end in disaster.

I've experienced all that and more in my 16 years in the business. That experience has proved invaluable in my own projects - not only knowing what problems to anticipate, but also knowing how best to allocate the people and resources I do have control over - at least until the next reorganization takes them away.

My advise would be to remain flexible and valuable. Be able to roll with the punches and keep upbeat - but be sure to do what is in the best interests of your company - you can never be seen as negatively disruptive if you are doing what's right for the company - and be able to express that to your management chain in a positive light. Learn all you can about your craft and the jobs of those on a typical development team from inception to deployment into production - know the pitfalls and how it all works together (or should if it is dysfunctional). Do what you can to mitigate problems - before they can damage the project or the company's reputation, but pick your battles - you're not going to be able to win every time. There is no use being scared; whatever 'security' exists in a large company is a fallacy that only exists as long as the next reorganization and can be impacted by financial considerations outside of any value you might bring - assume the worst and be happy when they decide to keep you around until the next one.

Finally, if that is too difficult to manage - start looking for work elsewhere, for your own sake - in a small company where these kinds of issues aren't likely to happen.

Re:Stay focused on goal

[tokencode]

This is right on point. Who cares as long as management is happy? One of the biggest mistakes developers can make is being too idealistic about a project. It's easy to get caught up in something you're developing but unless it's your company or you own the project, sometimes it's best just to do what is asked. If you know it will fail, just make sure you have a solution readily available when it does.

Don't go above your manager

[Anonymous Coward]

Whatever you do, do NOT go above your manager. It never ends well. And don't ask me how many times I've learned this lesson, but at the time I didn't care. Bosses are usually more clever, savvy, political, and better at justifying their tenuous position. They will always crucify you, no matter how good you are. Unless the boss is doing something literally criminal or otherwise worthy of employment termination, just don't do it.

Re:Don't go above your manager

[Anonymous Coward]

I got my boss fired for incompetence. But it was the week after I left, so only benefitted my coworkers.

He was an incompetent jerk, to the point where the other managers refused to even talk to him. He screwed me out of a company-wide benefit ("summer hours"; half day off per week during summer) for no reason I could discern. He was so bad, if we passed in the hallway and he said "Hello", I would follow it up with an email explaining what happened so he couldn't lie about it later.

I put up with it as long as I could, and then I quit. At my exit interview, I calmly explained what had happened, and asked them not to take my word, but to ask everyone else about it.

Less than a week later, they fired him. The guard escorted him out, and someone else packed up his things to ship to him.

The best part was that my former coworkers had a going-away party in his honor (to which I was invited), but they didn't invite him.

Fight fire with fire

[Chemisor]

Go to your program manager's boss and ask to him to assign more program managers to the project. Once the PM finds out what that's like he'll never suggest such a thing again.

Start with the PM

[DarthVaderDave]

Constructively find out what your PM wants from these other types. You don't hire new people unless you're getting rid of the old ones or there's more work to do. If he won't tell you with a straight up question you have a problem. Whether you face it right then or not is up to you. So, Is it something that you're supposed to be doing? IF you're not , fix that. If that's not it & it's something you didn't think of, find out how you're supposed to play with these new players.

About "M.B.A."

[Anonymous Coward]

MBA programs are full of pseudoscience and hard-science envy. Most of that social science crap is about dumbing-down things so that they nicely fit into a simpleton math theory. Worker qualification and experience cannot be "measured", so it is ignored. Workers are slaves who must be replaceable any time just like capital goods. MBA theory hates every expert who cannot be replaced quickly and cheaply, because it threatens the power position of the social science people.

See the sorry state of the nation that invented "MBA". Compare that to a nation led by engineers which propelled itself from crapbin to #2 in 30 years time. See the sorry state of M$ and compare that to Google or Apple. A unique person like Steve Jobs does not fit in their dumb-down pseudo-science theories. "A good manager can manage anything" is their motto, because that is the basis of POWER. And that is what they want - power at all cost for THEM.

Let's wait and see how the dominance of the social science crappers works out for the western world. So far, the future looks very dark with pitchforks, Guillotines and more on the horizon.

Re:About "M.B.A."

[catchblue22]

Amen. Read Voltaire's Bastards. I read it when it came out in the 90's, and over time I have become increasingly convinced of its accuracy. In essence, MBA's and their simplistic ideologies are driving our civilization into the ground.

Re:About "M.B.A."

[Kjella]

Their "A good manager can manage anything" is the equivalent of "A good developer can develop anything", it doesn't mean that everyone will be good at it, or even can be taught how to be good at it, or that they can do it without learning anything domain-specific. People who think they can simply because they have an MBA degree are typical examples of bad managers, and there's plenty of those just like there are plenty bad developers who somehow got a degree. Yes, you need a "tech hierarchy" from team leads to a chief architect - size depending on your product - that makes sure that everything fits together and that the product delivers the solution. The worst you can have is a PHB making tech decisions, the second worst thing is a developer promoted to manager who thinks that's his only - or even primary - job as a manager.

Managers are about people management, you have say 20 individuals that have their own personal wants and needs and motivations and personality quirks - and whatever else you might have to deal with. You want the to improve as individuals and also want them to work together as a group, trying to improve how they communicate, collaborate, make decisions and so on. You have to bring new people up to speed, handle transitions as people leave and keep it functioning well. And then there's communicating both up and down in the chain of command, not just relaying but trying to keep the demands reasonable both ways. Finally you often have to deal with external issues so it isn't wasting the team's time. Most of this is actually rather generic stuff no matter who you're managing, just like there's good software development practices there's good people management.

Personally, I've seen enough from management work that I've figured it's not for me. It doesn't mean I'm not fond of a good manager who tries to fight the good fight, and the qualities I look for typically change very little even if my job duties change a lot. In particular I don't expect my boss to be an expert in my field, he can't be clueless either but enough that he can understand a high level description of an issue and figure out how to deal with it - not necessarily how to solve it. And the essence of a poor manager doesn't change much either it's someone how drops all the crap from above on those under and cracks the whip harder, leaving you do deal with every problem yourself. Bad managers are just bad, good managers are good and sadly they follow Sturgeon's law.

Specs are career building?

[BitZtream]

WTF? I have a distinct feeling you think far more of yourself than you are actually worth. Gathering specs makes a career now? I don't think so.

Perhaps you don't actually know as much as you think you do and someone else realizes the project may be a fuckton bigger than you realize?

The fact that you're asking 'how do I play well with others' on slashdot leads me to believe you're just a young whipper-snapper that doesnt' really realize how small of a part you have to play.

You certainly are arrogant enough.

Re:Three rules

[dreamchaser]

Put all of the project management records in a tool or data set they're not using. Give them only aggregate data.

Stop inviting them to meetings.

Don't use corporate e-mail.

Three good ways to get fired.

Work with your PM & you will both go a long wa

[Anonymous Coward]

I am a Program Manager that's worked for a number of leading global companies delivering multi-million $ global IT projects over the last 15 years.

Part of my role is building relationships and facilitating collaboration to achieve success - not just of the projects but also of the individuals on my projects. Both are very important to me and usually the companies I work for and with e.g. suppliers, SIs, customers, etc.

Have a good conversation with your PM, I'd suggest go for lunch/coffee so you've longer to talk. I've used 'him' below so apologies if its a 'her' ;-)

Tell him;

How much the project means to you and what you've put in personally so far.
What the possible successes are - not just of this project but what it could lead to for your company, your customers, etc.
Show him your plan for what the tasks are, when they will be done and who will do them. If you can build a basic time line/table in a spreadsheet showing what will happen by day/week/month. If your using Agile then show the sprints, etc. If you know/learn how to build a basic Gannt chart in MS Project or a spreadsheet - you'll probably blow him away!
Talk about resources - you might not need more generals but most projects can deliver better with more soldiers. Work with him to identify what resources you need. Also don't be afraid of bringing in outside help e.g. expert contractors, professional services, data processors, etc.
Tell him what the key blocks are - what Issues need to be resolved now.
Tell him what your concerns are for the rest of the project - what Risks have you identified.
For both the above - always consider the people issues, who are you concerned about? (the customer changing requirements, senior management killing the project, etc.). This is one massive area where PMs are there to help you - this is their key skill.
If you've done any financials on what the project is/will cost - definitely include these too.

If you talk through these things - any PM worth anything should be very impressed by your commitment and understanding of what's required to make the project a success. You should also be on a great start to your relationship - basically because you've given him all the tools he will need to do his job.

If things are going well, tell him you really want to be the architect/technical lead/head of development - what ever job title your looking for on the project. And if you need resources then ask if they can be report to you in some way (that includes contractors and SI resources, etc.)

Also ask if he can show you what a project or program manager does, learn the skills and perhaps get to attend some of his meetings with senior management.
You never know - you might like it and decide you want to be a project or program manager one day!

If you start something like this then you have every chance of both being very successful and delivering a great project for which you'll both be well recognised by your company, your customers and your suppliers.

Perhaps your PM will then move to another bigger project at the same or bigger & better company - then who do you think will be the 1st person he calls when he needs development help?

I've seen this many times in my career - not just on my own projects and programs but every successful project I've ever seen.

And finally, as PM - seeing your junior team members be successful is far, far, far more personally rewarding than delivering projects.

Good luck for your discussion with your PM and your project

QA budget suckers

[EmperorOfCanada]

Insist on a one person reporting structure. The moment you are reporting to more that one person all is lost as each then is competing for your time and will try to shove in more features or reporting demand than the other.

Years ago I was happily working on a project where I basically dealt with the client. But our QA department just lost a big contract and saw my good sized budget and weaseled in. The head of the QA department did his damnedest to get more and more people onto the project and then started communicating with the client which somehow was being then communicated to me as we need more testing. So after a few weeks I was having to deal with 5 QA people, a QA manager, and the client. Productivity dropped like a stone. So I met on the side with the client who demanded that they approve any billable time for any employee ahead of time. So the QA manager would send in a huge complicated (30 pages) request for this and that and the client would send back a note, "At this time I will only accept billable time on programming, at the end of the project we will re-examine the need for QA." Then the next time the QA manager phoned him he answered the call with, "the time on this call had better not be billable."

A week later the QA manager had an all-hands-onboard management meeting where he demanded that all projects have a set minimum percentage of QA. This failed and he then layed off half of his QA staff.

The best part of all this is that I made some good money. The QA Manager was hired by a huge tech company (2000 bubble) and I played the options market to basically short the crap out of that company as he had been hired for a very senior position and my logic was that any company that could not filter out this waste product was doomed. Their share price went from $120 to around $10 in a couple of months and he basically moved there and was then laid off.

So insist on a single reporting person which will then result in your MBA type having to stack his MBA underling on top of you. This will be so obviously silly that it is doomed. If you do end up reporting to more than one person get the resume cooking as the stress of reporting to more than one person on a project is just not worth it. If you have 3 MBA types all piling on with their own perverse desires(TPA reports) then they will each demand 40 plust hours of work from you per week so either you will die trying to feed their stupid requests or you will fail and they will all sabotage you as they will need someone to blame and they are higher up the information food chain than you.

Re:QA budget suckers

[Anonymous Coward]

If you have 3 MBA types all piling on with their own perverse desires(TPA reports) then they will each demand 40 plust hours of work from you per week so either you will die trying to feed their stupid requests or you will fail and they will all sabotage you as they will need someone to blame and they are higher up the information food chain than you.

This is what killed our company.

When we were a bunch of cowboy coders, it was chaotic, but we knew what individuals could get things done, and what interactions had to take place to get shit out the door.

Then we hired a bunch of agilistas, and in order to make sure that the "individuals and interactions" were properly reflected on the burndown charts, the MBA types demanded that we spend more time tracking our work than doing it. They called it being responsive to change, the agilistas lapped it up (and continued to work in spite of the MBA types), and the rest of us ended up quitting.

Something I learned during an internship

[jiteo]

Pretend you don't understand and ask him questions. "I need to work with this team leader, can you explain his role please?" "I need to know what I can and can't ask of this consultant, can you clarify his mandate?"

He'll either give rational logical answers - in which case you can accept them or counter with more questions - or by trying to answer your questions he'll realize his reasons for doing all those things weren't as great as they first seemed to him - in which case you win - or he's a politician and changing his mind is flip flopping, so he'll dig in and defend himself at all costs - in which case you're screwed, but if that's the case you're screwed regardless.

Bail.

[mevets]

The company is hierarchical.
The PM fits the religion.
You do not.
You will not change their religion.
It will not get better.

Manure, lightly spread where needed, is the best fuel for growth and prosperity. Too much, too close together is just a heap of shit.

The Ant Fable

[lucm]

Print copies of this fable for the break room and make sure your boss and the project manager read it.

http://www.slideshare.net/faisalkhadia/the-ant-fable

This is gold!

Here's my advice, as a manager...

[jafo]

Your program manager probably wants this project to succeed as much as you do. Keep that in mind.

Be mature and communicate with them. Tell them your concerns, something like "This project is very important professionally and personally to me, and I want to work with you to make sure that it succeeds. However, I'm concerned that bringing in new team leads and consultants be done in a way that most improves the project. We've all heard the stories of new people being added to a project and causing problems . So how can we work together to make sure that this is a success."

Keep away from phrasing that is too accusatory, stay more neutral like I have above. For example, I said that I was concerned about new team members being the most successful, rather than saying "I am concerned about the new people you are bringing in will cause problems". Also, try to work with the program manager rather than being sure that they're just going to wreck things and you are the only hope.

If your program manager is any good, you can almost certainly accomplish more together than either of you can apart. Remember that and work together.

Sean

PM is right until you're done this

[raymorris]

I wish I had my mid points beach that I used yesterday because this is far more useful than any other comment. Until you understand his reasoning, not just hear it but understand it, the PM is probably doing the right thing. In other words, the OP is most likely wrong. Of two people disagree, there is a 50/50 chance each is wrong. Except here we have a programmer disagreeing with a project manager about project management. Most likely, the PM knows their job better than you do. (Just as the programmer knows their own job.) Until you truly understand what they are doing and why, and can then with full understanding disagree, you're just bring arrogant. Go talk to them. First understand them, then make your concerns clear.

Re:PM is right until you're done this

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice try, project manager.

First rule:

[109 97 116 116]

1. Where possible NEVER reveal experimental failures to anyone. Ever.
          Experimental failures are normal learning processes for developers that management nor marketing never understand.

You seem a bit naive

[Anonymous Coward]

Realize that humans MUST organize themselves into hierarchies, and that humans MUST hold and exercise power over others.

It is popular to imagine that a population of largely competent people, lacking in malice, can cooperate and thrive with very few (if any) rules or governance. The fact is, this works, but only when the population density is very low.

The reason is simple: humans experience a disutility of labor. Given the choice, humans would rather luxuriate than work. Without malice, humans will (when presented with the option) completely innocently avoid work, with little regard to the other humans who must now do that work.

Before you jump down my throat...yes, some humans are good at and enjoy specific types of work. But that does not change this principle. Also, there are some types of work (toilet-cleaning, for example) that nobody likes and that people will not do without sufficient incentive.

In a city, basically everyone wants to rise up and do the elegant fun interesting work that pays a lot, leaving others to do the mundane laborious work that everybody hates. And such a state is impossible: we can't all do the knowledge work. The greater set of our needs is for the dirty work.

Furthermore, the people relegated to doing this dirty work are generally the ones who lack the keenness of mind to avoid it, and as such they are completely reliant on others to organize their efforts. They need people to have power over them, or their efforts address needs that do not exist while failing to address the needs that do exist.

I could go on, but I won't bother. It should be clear that:

1) people must be made to do the work that everyone hates.
2) of all types of work, the efforts must be organized by people who have devoted their efforts at learning where the needs are.

for this, we need governance, both political and economic.

While it may seem petty for people to seek power for the sake of having power...the ones who are really good at it must be delivering something of value (otherwise their reign will be short-lived, and a more competent contender will arise to take their place).

Rant all you want, history has proven that this is how humans do things, and you are silly if you think this will change any time soon.

Re:You seem a bit naive

[MouseTheLuckyDog]

1) people must be made to do the work that everyone hates.

And that's exactly the problem with MBA types. They see jobs that they have to force people to do. .So they have to find ways of enslaving people without calling it slavery. ( Cause we know slavery is bad, so if we engage in it we can't call it that.) Furthermore they have to make people who will do it-- ie a social class to enslave.

Of course once they create the social class they have to find ways to keep the jobs around to employ these people they created to do the job in the first place!

The economist or engineer would look at it differently and the toilet cleaning example is a perfect example. Without creating a social class to do this jobs, you would have to find some people to do the work. Most likely younger people because they are hungrier. If the job is really distasteful then the salaries will be high.

To the MBA, keeping salaries low is a reason to create a slave class, as I detailed above. To an economist or engineer, it will create pressure to create easier to clean toilets and machines to that can do most of the work of cleaning toilets. Probably be a ex-toilet-cleaners and their supervisors.

To sum up the MBA sees toilet cleaning as an opportunity to hire people to build up his little fiefdom. The intelligent part of society sees it as a place where inovation is needed to improve the quality of life.

Don't sabotage your opportunity!

[runningduck]

If the project has momentum then the absolute worst thing that you can do is resist adding additional people to the project. If you do not understand how additional people can increase project velocity and add value then you are not experienced enough to make that decision and it will show to all of management. What you need to do is be strategic about how the team grows.

First you need to think deeply about what you do not know. What are the organizational hurdles you are likely to face? At what stages of the project will you be over-allocated as a resource? How many presentations and one-on-one conversation will be necessary keep momentum? How will this project be monetized? How will the end product integrated into an existing offering? Or how will the end product be marketed and sold?

Once you have a good inventory of what you will need, sit down with management and talk about how to address these needs--this alone will earn you a lot of respect. Ask who will likely be assigned to the project. Start taking these people out to lunch to discuss the project. If they are more senior they will generally offer to pay. Don't hesitate to pay even if out of your own pocket. It will show how committed you are to the project and organization. During these lunches ask questions about the process other successful projects have gone through and the types of problems your project is likely to face. NOTE, it is critical to not be defensive or offer too many pre-baked solutions during these meetings--it will come of arrogant, dismissive and impulsive. It is much better to say things such as, "I have some thoughts around this, but need to vet the ideas with people who can really help shape them." You will have opportunities to solve the problem in due time, or even better to have other people "solve the problems" with your solutions.

Ask if you can be a part of the decision making process for attaching additional people to the project. If you are included, be very judicious using any perceived veto power. It is better to raise concerns and shape involvement than to try to establish a front. Of course, there are always cases where lines should be drawn, but if you have voiced realistic concerns then you can keep management up to date if you seen things going awry. If you are not included, accept that decision maturely and remain engage in the process. You will likely have more influence on the side lines than you realize.

As the project grows you will need to find an exit from your technical role. You will need to own the vision, but you will not have time to execute all the technical details. Mentor people to take over the details and build as many documented repeatable processes as possible.

Learn how to present your ideas. You will likely be invited to more presentations. Know your place in these presentations. You have more to lose than gain if you say too much. Be there as the "guru with upside" instead of being the "one-hit wonder" or the "wild card."

Good luck! I hope you do well. Don't be afraid of not knowing something. Nobody knows everything. Embrace other people's capabilities especially when you don't understand what they do or who they can help. These are generally the people you really need.

Lone wolf vs planification

[bidule]

This hat might not fit, but I am compelled to present you with this anti-pattern.

I've work for 8 years with a visionary guy who could come up with incredible prototypes in 3-6 months. And you know how prototypes become the product. We started working on a 2-3 years project and he would feed us tasks as needed. It worked well the first year.

Then the team grew to 5ish and he couldn't feed us enough: he could not develop his architectural ideas without delving in and thinking code. Documentation, comments, planning were anathema to him and he never mastered the art of leading large teams.

Now we're going through this prototype, implementing modules which work just enough to show what should be there but there's no intent visible, no idea if it was a first draft or if that way was necessary for some other reason. At least what is done is well done, which is an improvement to the other lone-wolves that I worked with in my carrer.

That might be what the manager rightly fears. Just as you have to brainstorm with him what will be the role of everyone in the team he's building, you need others to brainstorm, and document, and plan, how the pieces of your software will work together. I know they're consultants, but try to learn from them how to do more than code rather than fear the loss of control.

Re:"don't do that, it's ..."

[TaoPhoenix]

I'll say you had a good first phrase that can be useful.

Managers rely on the tech team to know what not to do. The mistake in "don't do that, it's idiotic" is that the last word suddenly makes it Ad Hominem. It stops being informative and becomes an attack. "Don't do that, it (making up something here, don't hurt me) interferes with the nightly backup integrity which means you might not be able log onto the system at all if any other glitch happens" is informative. With a few minutes to think they can realize that's a Bad Thing. Bad Things cost money. So maybe a rule of thumb is to avoid Adverbs. If you find a sentence about to end in an Adverb, maybe replace it with an extended noun clause. I know, all fancy English grammar, but a Factoid is what it is, that's what the techies do. Adverbs are judgemental.

Re:Cheap Fast Good

[ShanghaiBill]

You can only get 2 of the 3 on any project.

I very much disagree. You usually get either all three (fast, cheap and good) or you get none of them. When a skilled individual or small team produces something quickly and within the budget, it is usually a clean, elegant solution. When a big mismanaged group delivers late and over-budget, the result is usually a bloated monstrosity.