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Hi Kimbo,
I was referring to having the accountability lying with the PM, but are also willing to accept blame for failures within the project even if it wasn't their fault, rather than trying to point blame at other team members. I think this is a fairly important trait, although in no way should it absolve subordinates from accepting responsibility for their actions/results.
There is definitely a tricky balance there, but in general I don't want to have a PM who's ready to list off the failures of team members to project sponsors, stakeholders, etc. This type of PM does not establish any mutual trust within a team.
I have in the past have had problems with PM's who get too close to the client in a bid to keep them happy.
In turn they are reluctant to give them the hard news when in comes to creep,delays or constraints. generally, they forget they are part of the project team... and not an independant advisor or employee of the client.
As a consequence, it falls on the analysts shoulder to be the bearer of bad news. In the client's eyes, the analyst is seen as someone who doesn't understand the clients needs and makes communication strained and difficult with the client.
EDIT: (heh - my first post is putting the boot into PM's... nice!)
I think the idea of the BA taking as much/the same responsibiliy as the pm for success is a great model. Really, everybody on the team should. Recently I've come across a bunch of people who feel their job is done when they have completed the requirements specs. Disappointing.
Craig,
heres my two-bobs worth!
Project managers fall into two categories: those who get the job done and those who don’t. Some manage by edict and some using a participative management style; both are needed to get the job done.
Now the worst project manager is the one who is 1) unrealistic and 2) do not know or realise that he/she is unrealistic. The super worst project manager is the one who cannot estimate or refuses to evaluate estimations and then micro manages everything. For example, if we are a week late after two weeks into a 6-week project, then we can expect the project to be 9-10 weeks, not 7 weeks! We either need more resources or we need to extend our work schedule. We’ve all been in situations where we had to perform the un-possible (sometime we can do the impossible) because the project manager stuffed up and made some rather un-achievable promises. The uber worst project manager is the person that just does not care about the people or the project; rather this individual looks after number one – him/herself.
warm regards,
K
Thanks for the comments.
Sometimes reading this site it seems like BAs are working without the guidance and support of project managers. I suppose that's an indication of the many poor project managers out there who can't support their BAs sufficiently.
Has anyone ever worked in an environment where you simply had to work 'around' the pm?
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