Introduction:
A multinational company handles various kinds of projects. They can be categorized on the basis of a number of things, like industrial domain, infrastructural categorization, etc. One particular project category which almost all IT companies handle is the technical project.
From the name itself, one can understand that a technical project is based on concepts surrounding the IT industry. Be it a legacy migration project, a development project, a frontend development project, an automation project; it is all handled by the technical department.
Any project, including the technical ones, are handled by team leads and managers. There are different kinds of managers like team managers, networking managers, project managers, and so on. However, when the technical projects are considered, it is the technical project advisory manager who plays a crucial role.
This article will highlight the roles played by an advisory manager in any technical project. It will provide much-needed clarification to businesses handling technical projects and individuals aiming to be an advisory manager.
Who is a technical project manager?
A technical project manager is skilled in handling the teams working on the technical part of the project like:
- Development, both frontend and backend
- Designing, frontend to be specific
- Website deployment and server management
- Database management
- Data migration and legacy systems
- Networking and security protocols
What is the advisory role in project management?
Every project has a wireframe. It describes the business processes, the time to be invested in each project, the resources to be allotted, and ways in which relevant teams would be formed.
Now, as an advisory manager, an employee will be working at the senior level. His/her main job will be to supervise the entire project and provide advice on how to handle the project. Starting from meeting the deadline to handling a crisis, every kind of hurdle or conflict is tackled by an advisory manager. And he/she is known as a technical advisory manager when the part of the project being overlooked and supervised is related to IT and software.
Duties and functions of a technical advisory project manager-
- Guiding the departmental heads and briefing them about the business requirements
- Proper evaluation of the project alliance and the business requirements
- Conflict resolution and maintaining transparency
- Evaluating the performances of the employees and helping them to make progress
- Reviewing reports from each department to gauge both the progress and the roadblocks
- Time management for timely delivery of the project
Now that we have understood the duties and functions of a technical advisory project manager, let us take a look at the important things you must know when it comes to the advisory role in technical project management.
7 things to know about the advisory role in technical project management-
1. They handle conflicts and provide quick resolutions
Conflicts regarding opinions, ideas, modus operandi, and others are detrimental for any technical project. Projects are put on halt unless these issues are resolved timely, especially when they are between medium or higher-level employees. This is why advisory managers always try to provide the best solution so that both parties are happy with the end result and the work can be resumed once again through proper collaboration.
2. Conversing with clients to understand their requirements
A technical project is client-centric which means that it needs to be customised as per the business requirements provided by a client. Now this is where an advisory manager comes into the play. The manager converses with the clients, and understands their requirements.
Starting with legacy system upgrades to the changes needed to be introduced in a certain business process, everything is discussed with the client first. After understanding what they need, advisory managers prepare a strategy which is then sent to the client for approval.
3. They delegate tasks to heads of different departments
Once the advisory technical managers have the wireframe or the exact business requirements that the client has presented in place, it is their job to allocate the tasks to the departmental heads. It is important for an advisory manager to understand the capabilities of every department and then delegate the tasks accordingly.
4. Improvise business plans during crisis
Sometimes, a company might face a crisis, like lack of funding, loss of projects, inability to work from physical locations, and so on. Under such situations, it is the responsibility of the advisory manager to take business continuity and alignment decisions.
Be it working from remote locations or deploying more resources for a project, the decision rests on the advisory manager’s shoulders. They have to think quickly for improvising the business processes so that the projects are delivered on time.
5. Advisory managers strike a balance between different departments
It is the duty of every advisory manager to strike a balance between the departments. They maintain the communication between each department and help them in working together collaboratively.
6. Time management is one of their main responsibilities
Advisory technical managers also have to work on time management for the completion of the project. They need to ensure that the phases of the project are being deployed as per the initial plan. Project delivery date can only be extended in case of dire situations like data breaches, server failures, and others.
7. Provide advice to both heads and teams
Lastly, they provide advice to the departmental heads, team leads, and other crucial resources of the projects. It is their duty for ensuring a proper working ambiance for all the employees involved in a technical project.
Conclusion
The advisory role in a technical project is in its nascent stage in the IT industry. However, with time, more and more projects are hiring skilled professionals for the advisory role so that they can manage the project, build professional partnership with the clients, and help the departmental heads with the project functionalities.
You can outsource the advisory management task to a third-party company. And that’s where RightCliQ fits in. It is one of the best companies which has become proficient in providing advisory management and consultancy services to different companies in the world. With them, one can focus on other important parts of a technical project like recruiting resources, deploying the project as per sprints and releases, etc.
