Which role is to be played by project manager: Administrative part or technical part of the multi project or both.

In one line, a project manager need to provide a good leadership for any project to be accomplished. A good leadership can only be provided by a leader who has skills of every subject that is under his purview. Thus a project manager need to be proficiency of adminstrative, technical, mangerial & all other such skills that may be required for that particular project (s).

i think project manager should be technically sound one,who knows that how to handle the administrative problems with thier technical support,and how to resolve thier technical difficulties with the administrative power.and make balance with both skills.

A good Project Manager is who, who is strong with Technical knowledge to get out of problems during execution of project. Once is thru with his base subject of technicality than only he could have command on his team for which Administrative knowledge is required.

Hence a Project manager should have both Technical & Administrative part to role with.

I prefer to have control over all aspects in a project, because I hate surprises: I delegate but I also hold people accountable and furthermore, since I work with people from different countries and cultures where the word commitment can have several different meanings, I endeavor to get the team committed AND enrolled.

I don't need to be a technical guru to manage a technical project, I'll ensure to have the best people to handle those aspects; I also don't need to be an administrative wizard, because I'll also have the people to cover that. BUT I do need and want control over those aspects.

Obviously he has to manage the administrative part but some times he has to prove himself and has to show himself technically when the need comes then only he deserves the post of managerial.

IT Project manager has an overall responsibility for the project success.

A project is not just technical, If you do nor take control of al project aspects including Administrative and sometimes you ought to be also a "sales man" and more. All for the good of the project success.

They have appointed the candidate as a project manager only when the organization identify's his proformance in playing a dual role.

A PM should have the capability of handling both the Administrative and as well as Technical aspects.Unless and until, he can visualise the technicality of the project and its man hours etc, he cannot set right the proper administrative guidelines(here, I mean distribution of the work-load etc), to meet the deliverables in time.

Though project management is primary responsibility, technical knowledge always helps and in some contexts it is absolutely necessary as well.

Primarily Admin, but a modicum of Tech involvement is reqd.

yes Anirbaan u r absolutly right ...role of project manger cant be technical or adminstrative alone ..for the successfull completion of teh projecty  ultimate ratio of both functions is must.....

Both and much more than that, there is a team to support him in both technicalities and administration, but the PM has to play a bigger role in co-ordinating with all the departments. Sort out snags at the same time he has to look after his entire project as elder brother. There are differences between the teams to get the work done in time he has to see that all the departments function smoothly.

Purely Administrative :

• Adv (+ve):
  •  Good Resource Mobilizer
  •  Timely reimbursement of Payments to Resources.

• Dis adv (-ve):
  • Can't judge if the Right Skilled resource is used for Right Job.
  • Decisions based on Progress tracking, monitoring & control may be ineffective.
  • Can't acsertain if the work executed is as per required Specification and within Scope of work.

Purely Technical:

• Adv & Dis Adv. interchanges.  i.e vice versa

Hence having BOTH qualities is the RIGHT CHOICE...!!!

Hi Guys

Based on my exp of handling small projects, large projects and also joint venture projects. In today's business world from client stand point, a expert project manager needs to wear all the hats. Expectation is, he should be expert in Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring & Controlling and closing phase of the project. Apart from these qualities what i have seen is the project manager in the meeting with the stakeholder is expected to know there business, process, operations, technology, product and customer's customer. And also internal in his organization he is suppose to take care of any project related support issues escalation in procurement team, recuirtment team, qaulity team, HR team, Admin team, Travel & Visa Team, Finance Team, Legal Team.

So slowing the expectation is raising the bar, let it be America, EMEA or India. 

As having above qulaity it is easy for a PM to satisfy all the stakeholder's which includes even the project team. Because we all know when a fire figthing occasion arises, it is common to roll your selvees and get your hand dirty.

Thanks 

Mihir Jhaveri, PMP, CSCM

Senior Manager

A P.M. should be in control on both sides, but he must also have a strong support team to manage the smaller daily tasks that are time consuming or he will get overloaded and lose the vision planned for the project.

It is both, but the PM has to be careful not to sink into micro technical details, a thing will make him loose focus and control.So he should possess the technical skills to challenge and interfere whenever there is a need.

Administration is a part of project management. A project can be successful only by the effective coordination of Technical and administrative functions.

Being a Project Manager, the primary role is to handle the Technical part. Administrative issues goes hand in hand with Technical.

Technical means with respect to technology.This somehow also includes Functional aspect of the project.

Unless the Admin part of the project and team are well addressed, the project can go all wrong irrespective of great technical architecture.

Both are equally important.

I totally agree with Anirban. To be a successful PM you have to handle both efficiently. He shouldn't blindly depend on the TLs for Technical part.
But the trick is he should know how much to involve himself in the Technical part otherwise the Administrative part will be greatly affected.

I agree with above discussion The traditional project management methodologies i.e, administrative part are proving to be too rigid, bureaucratic, and time consuming for today's dynamic business environment. In fact, these methodologies can work against IT departments. Today, you need to respond with agility to rising issues and changes. The formal documentation and processes involved in traditional project management can weigh you down.It means that both the aspect i.e, administrative and technical should go hand in hand.

Well Ajay i agree with you but in addition to that a project manager has to keep Improving his Project Management Practice means technology is always evolving to meet the changing needs of users. In the same way,his approach to project management should evolve alongside business and IT processes. Communicate with his team, client, and business partners, in this way improve his project management practices.

Well said Manoj,

I do not think he will face any problem while handling multi project If he has prior experience in managing projects, this sounds like the right move. But, if he hadn't manged projects, managing a program can become hard. It's possible but wouldn't be easy.

What do you say guys?

I think project manager has to be part of both aspect i.e, administrative, planning, and control side as well as he has to updated with the new technology regularly which help in solving technical issues too.