New Project Management Duties

Question

From being a Tester to a Developer then to a service support engineer, I am now responsible for program coordination and resource management (Yes it is a big shift), along with some Project management tasks, which is the long term goal for all this, It seems that my mindset has to be completely different to how I go about doing my job than I would previously do.

Im still on my part-time MBA, which I started a year ago, although my time has become even limited than it was before, there's just not enough time for anything as there's so much to do.

Has anyone here ever switched from an Engineering role to PM?, if so how did you find it and how long did it take for you to get things under control?, I also find that you have to be more punctual than usual, it's really changing the way I think about most things in life, at a more higher level top general view with no detail..

Is it just me?

Answer 1

This sounds pretty normal. You have moved from a position where someone told you both what and the scope of what you were doing to a position where you have to decide those things for your self. It's not easy. I'm an industrial engineer who moved from a consulting firm to a production management position with a startup. I went from being handed projects to handing out projects. A few lessons:

1. Never hand someone something you are not willing to do. You can give them something you don't have the skills or the time to do but hand off stuff because it's not fun or unpleasant.
2. Protect the folks below you in front of the folks above you. If there is a success, give the props to your team. If there is a problem, you should be the person listening and internalizing the problem and then passing it on to your team.
3. You main job is not to do the work. You main job is to make sure the work gets done. This means checking to see if anyone elsewhere in the company is blocking your team and solving that problem. Check if anyone in your team is holding up work elsewhere. Make sure people are aware of the roadmap.
4. Most important, listen quietly and fully. Bite your tounge and want for the other person to finish speaking. when they've finished, if you need to convey their message to someone else in the company (representing them), repeat what they told you back in your own words and ask them if they feel you fully understood them.

Best of luck.