
Transition from Project Lead to Program Manager - ankurbr
Being in 2018, what it takes for a Project Lead of a Software Consultancy Service Firm to get hired and successfully contributing as a Program Manager in a Software firm who build and sell their own products. Concrete points&#x2F; first-hand experiences is most appreciated.
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w4tson
I have no experience at being either but I have seen many a few dozen each
over the years.

From a developer perspective the two roles seem alien to each other. While it
is a natural career progression, the skills aren’t necessarily the same.

Project managers tend to manage the expectation of seniors while trying to
keep devs on track, QA doing their thing all the while reporting that some
critical feature will certainly done by a date X.

Programme Managers tend to need way more political skills in large
organizations. They are often fending the for the very existence of a project.
They may be concerned with power grabs by rival teams/programme managers or
trying to satisfy people who hold the purse strings which is often at odds
with what customers or projects deem a priority.

In my opinion the higher up you go the more sociopathic they get so everyone
is playing a large game of chess, forging relationships, writing memos,
holding secret talks etc

These are entirely opinions based on little evidence other than amusing
observations.

One last thought. Those write the code hold the most power, but seem not to
realize this or wield it far less.

