Ask HN: Are all project managers there to disturb you and ask stupid questions?

7 points by groomed 6 years ago | 4 comments

mtmail 6 years ago |

Of course not.

That's a loaded question. "the question attempts to limit direct replies to be those that serve the questioner's agenda." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_question)

jklein11 6 years ago |

Can you provide examples of what a stupid question is?

The PM's job is to communicate the project status with stakeholders. In my experience even the developers who are really good at this only do as well as a mediocre project manager. Their job is to pick out any risks or crises and mitigate them before they derail the project. If you are working with a great project manager your life as a developer gets much easier. Granted, if your project manager isn't on the ball, your in for a not fun time.

groomed 6 years ago | |

Communicate status with stakeholders is PMs responsibility. And, I guess, in 95% of cases, PM can do this without talking to dev. By just looking in jira for example... But they just can't. They continue asking if dev is still on time. They setting up usless meetings, just to see people talk to each other. Micromanagement.

Can you then provide an example of how PM makes life of a developer easier?

jklein11 6 years ago | | |

I am skeptical that a project management tool like JIRA can be as effective in communicating status as a conversation. One huge benefit that PMs provide is making sure you are on track with the timeline. I would have to think that every time your PM is asking you for an update they are using that information to communicate with management. Having them act as a buffer can be a huge help.

I definitely feel your pain on having too many meetings. I would rather have one too many meetings than one too few meetings though. Its definitely a tricky balance to hit.