SessionOne034

The Project Manager and Architect Relationship Workshop
EstherDerby, SteveSmith, BobKing

Our experience and observation is that the relationship between a project manager and technical architect/lead is an important one - and not always a comfortable one. The boundaries between them are not always clearly understood. The manager may have just enough technical knowledge to be dangerous; the architect may have just enough managerial knowledge to be just as dangerous. Yet the people in these two roles have critical contributions to make to a project. Their relationship might be the most important one on a project team. How can architects/leads and project managers make the most of this relationship? How can this relationship be shaped as a partnership? Should this relationship be shaped into a partnership? In this session, we explore the Project Manager and Architect roles and how the people who perform these roles can build strong productive relationships.

Learning Objectives
After attending this session, project managers and project architects will:

view each other's roles differently,
understand the importance of their partnership
think about how to make the partnership more effective.

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PicsSessionOne034

Monday, November 5, 2001. Esther Derby

Session results

Architects said:

Goals

provide direction/vision -what might be
-what needs be
-how bits work/technology trade-offs
-what can be
-make project succeed
-how project fits into larger enviroment
-how easy it will be to change/adjust project

Critical tasks

work with project team to get things done
communciation
facilitation - do what ever is necessary, filling in the holes
having final say on technical issues

Needs

authority
credibility
trust of sponsr
peer relationship
partnership
technical expertise
"nice guy"

Value

unique position to resolve conflict
best trade-off for investment
risk management
make or bread - without architect project cannot be done
translation value - turn system into actionable tasks

Project Managers said:

Goal: Finish the project with reasonable functionality and reasonable quality, meeting the expectations of customer (and internal org)

Task: Keep the projec ton course (and make course corrections as needed)

Need: Authority. Capability to arrive at technical trade-offs and understand technical risks. Visibility into product and project.

Value: Coordination; communication (effective/efficient). Visibility into product and project for senior management.

Insights

Updated: Friday, November 9, 2001