I (don’t want to) wear black shoes again!
When everything is said and done, and the acquisition my current organisation is going through is more than an official statement to a stock exchange – it looks like I am going to “take a step back” and become a Project Manager again. I don’t know this for certain, but the organisation we are migrating to does have Project, rather than Delivery Managers.
Surely this is just a label, I hear at least one person say.
Is it? Or is it a vibe? A feeling? Is it me you’re calling Shirley?
Delivery Managers work in the Servant Leader space. We are hands on, T-shaped. Our job is to get the best out of teams, whilst looking for opportunities and to demonstrate the value the team brings. We explore, we don’t dictate.
The last Project/Programme/Portfolio chain I worked with was heavily focused on reporting. About lines on a Gantt chart. Staying in their lane and simply asking for updates. Daily. Hourly, even. The only thing they were hands on with was excel. And even that was about as trustworthy as a nine-bob note*.
Delivery Management is meant to be an Agile thing. Gov.uk has a job description that says it is Agile, therefore it must be true.
That said, most Delivery Managers I work with are stuck on waterfall, wagile and fragile projects. So it must just be a label. If you are on a project, are you not – shhh. Calm there, little one. We actually call them engagements. We’re delivering outcomes and products, not projects and mere kit/tin.
There is a difference, but also – it’s debatable.
To the point where it might even be down to the individual concerned.
I like having my sleeves rolled up and getting my hands dirty. Sometimes this is through supporting User Research or backfilling for a Business Analysts that wasn’t funded as part of the work we are doing. It means I have a more varied day than simply existing between one governance meeting to the next. Gantt chart in hand. Cursing my luck for being skilled enough to take a rollocking for a team, but not skilled enough to actually be part of the “working” team.
As an individual I have always been on the lookout for more, outside of my job description. How can I help? Do you need a hand with that? Can I come to that meeting where we find out something I might need to know. Nosey, but never pushy.
As a Delivery Manager I have always felt more in control of this aspect of my work. Wider conversations across a team of teams, leading to a more rounded view of the value and areas of improvement. As a Project Manager I felt I was just there to make sure things didn’t go to s***.
I know I am second guessing all of this. A Project Manager to one organisation, could be a Delivery Manager in another. That said, the choice of title does often give an insight into how Agile/agile that organisation is.
We’ve been acquired because of the great stuff we do. Maybe there’s a desire to move away from Projects to Engagements and improve everything Agile related.
Or maybe, it is just a label. That Project Managers wearing black shoes and Delivery Managers wearing brown, is simply a thing I have made up, and that we all wear smart trainers to work. Where we both create Gantt charts, irrespective of our job titles.
However (I always have to check how many Howevers I start paragraphs with by this point of a newsletter)…
… there is a more serious way of framing this. Knowing what you want from a merger or changing roles/joining new companies is key. What are your deal breakers, your hopes and expectations – and if something is more than just a title or label, how will it impact the way you will work?
How will it affect the way you are at work?
/END
(* a Ten-bob/shilling note was an old form of currency used by the Bank of England. To say something is a nine-bob note is to indicate that something is fake/phoney)