I'm an engineer-type (contributor/architect/lead/manager/director) who dabbles in product management from time to time, mainly to fill in the gaps and help cross the chasm between the two disciplines.
I've seen the breakdowns and failures on both sides. I love the "asking for the ROI model" person for engineering activities, but oh man if there isn't trust between them and the PM, progress and morale plummet.
IMO PMs need to embrace engineers as members of the team, bring them into the loop, motivate them and sell them the vision. Don't just handout a "roadmap", or worse yet simply assign tasks, then get all flustered when people don't understand.
On the other side, engineers need to realize their job is not to "write code" but rather to add value to the business - the PM is the resident expert in helping you figure out how to add that value inline with company goals.
I've been on both sides and seen the extremes of both. Sometimes on the same project. The extreme cases are easier and more fun to poke at, so that's what I'm going to do:
- The smart-ass with little to no experience but always knows the right way to do things. Pounds the drum of change. Would rather burn the project to the ground and rewrite everything than progressively add business value. Refuses to consider they might be wrong.
- The know-it-all leaders who are in fact incompetent. Imposes decisions which they are not qualified to make. Refuses to consider the opinion of other intelligent people on the team.
A team is a social endeavor. It might seem great if being "right" was all that was ever required to change someone's opinion, but humans don't work that way.
I've seen the breakdowns and failures on both sides. I love the "asking for the ROI model" person for engineering activities, but oh man if there isn't trust between them and the PM, progress and morale plummet.
IMO PMs need to embrace engineers as members of the team, bring them into the loop, motivate them and sell them the vision. Don't just handout a "roadmap", or worse yet simply assign tasks, then get all flustered when people don't understand.
On the other side, engineers need to realize their job is not to "write code" but rather to add value to the business - the PM is the resident expert in helping you figure out how to add that value inline with company goals.