97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know

Chapter 86. Don't Always Be "The Messenger"

Matt Secoske

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLES of the software project manager is to facilitate an open dialogue between the various members of the team. Unfortunately, I have been on many projects where the opposite has happened. The PM became the bottleneck through which all communication flowed. He or she was "The Messenger," passing precious bits of information from one team member to the next.

For a project to be organic as it progresses, information becomes the air and water feeding the code base as it grows toward fulfilling the ultimate mission of the project. All team members rely on a constant exchange of information. But if the stakeholders are forced to channel all knowledge through the PM, insurmountable problems are guaranteed.

The PM, after being entrusted with current updates, may not have correctly identified all of the developers who need to receive that information. The originator of the message thinks he/she has fulfilled any obligation by passing it along to the PM. Once the communication channel oversight is discovered, the first team member may not remember exactly what she passed along earlier, as she has since moved on to newer challenges. The PM, overwhelmed with technological reports he or she may not understand, quickly becomes incapable of being the single point of conductivity for project wisdom.

There is an even ...