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Ask HN: How do you avoid wasting time on project management?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid wasting time on project management?

#11

Post by nialse »

jamespaden wrote: post #7
nialse wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is indeed an interesting question. Thanks for clarifying!

No problem! It's a weird question to ask. A lot of companies just hire a project manager and let them work it out. There seems like there should be a better way, or at least some partial alternatives. I'm hoping to find some answers.

Funny you should mention that. I've just been hired as a project manager to do just that. Figure it out. I see myself as infrastructure, my work is to build a structure to enable others to do what they do best. Then again, it's my job to develop the plan on how to do that within the given constraints.

Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid wasting time on project management?

#12

Post by jamespaden »

nialse wrote: post #11
jamespaden wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No problem! It's a weird question to ask. A lot of companies just hire a project manager and let them work it out. There seems like there should be a better way, or at least some partial alternatives. I'm hoping to find some answers.

Funny you should mention that. I've just been hired as a project manager to do just that. Figure it out. I see myself as infrastructure, my work is to build a structure to enable others to do what they do best. Then again, it's my job to develop the plan on how to do that within the given constraints.

Ha! I think project managers as infrastructure makes a lot of sense. Just seems like there should be ways to smooth out the process, especially with smaller teams/companies so less project management is required.

Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid wasting time on project management?

#13

Post by jamespaden »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #8
jamespaden wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who breaks the work down: you or the PM? Does the PM ever bother you to get the status of something, or is it always clear from the kanban board? I've seen the "bug the developer for a status update" move a lot in the past. Agreeing on the API contract seems like a fantastic way to streamline the process!

The PM breaks down the work and we talk about new items as a team weekly, I (or devs) break down purely engineering work. The board is the status - its in progress, code review or getting tested. There are discussions on things as people work them - that's the small "a" agile practice of "individuals and interactions over processes and tools". Let those minor details get figured out as you work it rather than have ev…

Thanks for the insight!
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