CHALLENGE 37: INSUFFICIENT DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE

Should a project manager be a subject matter expert (SME) in the domain of their project?

This is an interesting discussion, with two schools of thought. One group suggests that if a project manager is not skilled enough in the domain/technology of their project, they will not have a sense of control in the project, they cannot add value, they might not be able to claim respect from their team, and they will be ineffective in handling challenges within the team, or from clients.

Another group suggests that the project manager is responsible for the project delivery and they should be managing only the scope/cost/quality. SMEs will be the part of the team that is responsible for managing the domain/technology ...

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