はじめまして。
長いこと一エンジニアとしてキャリアを積んできましたが、
現場の状況からPMをやることになり、感じたこと、自分の至らないと感じてどのようにアプローチしたかをここに記します。
まず、何をすべきか？どのような役割分担にするか？
ここは明確になっていました。しかし、そのためのスキルやコミュニケーションルールが定まっていないが故にプロジェクトはほぼ崩壊していました。
・何を作れば良いのかわからない
・何のために作っているのかわからない
・どのように作れば良いのかわからない
・設計書を読んでも理解できない
そもそも、プロジェクトで想定されいた言語や環境などについて、未経験でアサインされていたこと、詳細設計書でなく、プログラム設計書が作成されていたことなど原因はありますが、一番に課題と感じたのは、ステークホルダー、設計者とエンジニアの橋渡しがいないことだと感じました。
橋渡しがいないが故に、それぞれの要求や思想などが伝わらず、プロジェクトが頓挫したのでは、と。
そのため、私は橋渡しをすることを決めました。
具体的には、
・要求を言語化する
プログラム設計書だとどのような要求があり、どのように実現するのかが曖昧だったため、要求を言語化し、それを設計書とするよう、設計者に依頼しました
・プログラムを骨組み化する
プロジェクトに要求されるスキルを満たしていなかったため、骨組みを作成し、それらを真似ることで作成できるようにする。また、難易度の高い機能については私自身が引き取って対応しました。
・現実ベースの報告をする
当たり前と思われるようですが、ステークホルダー、設計者とエンジニア間での工数のミスマッチもかなり大きかったため、現実ベースの工数を提示してスケジュールを調製しました。
大まかには上記が主にやったことです。
細かいところだと、どのようにメンバーのスキルを上げるか、どのようにコミュニケーションを取れば上手く回せるか、など多岐にわたります。
しかし、前提としてどのポジ
Nice to meet you.
I’ve spent a long time building my career as an engineer,
but due to circumstances on the ground, I ended up taking on the role of project manager. Here, I’ll share my thoughts on the experience, as well as the areas where I felt I fell short and how I addressed them.
First, what needed to be done? How should responsibilities be divided?
These points were clear. However, because the necessary skills and communication guidelines hadn’t been established, the project was on the verge of collapse.
・People didn’t know what to build
・People didn’t know why they were building it
・We didn’t know how to build it
・We couldn’t understand the design documents even after reading them
There were several underlying causes—such as the fact that I had been assigned to the project with no prior experience in the programming language or development environment it required, and that a program design document had been created instead of a detailed design document—but the primary issue I identified was the lack of a bridge between the stakeholders, designers, and engineers.
I suspected that the project had stalled precisely because, without this intermediary, the respective requirements and ideas of each group were not being communicated effectively.
Therefore, I decided to take on the role of that intermediary.
Specifically, I:
・Articulated the requirements
Since the program design document was vague about what the requirements were and how they would be implemented, I asked the designers to articulate the requirements and use that as the basis for the design document.
・Creating a program framework
Since the team lacked the skills required for the project, I created a framework so that others could build upon it by following its structure. Additionally, I personally took charge of handling the most challenging features.
・Providing realistic estimates
While this may seem obvious, there was a significant mismatch in effort estimates between stakeholders, designers, and engineers, so I presented realistic estimates and adjusted the schedule accordingly.
Broadly speaking, these were the main tasks I undertook.
On a more granular level, my responsibilities spanned a wide range of areas, such as how to improve team members’ skills and how to facilitate effective communication to keep the project running smoothly.
However, my overarching priority was to build relationships of trust with everyone in every role.
Even when asked to do something that was beyond our capabilities, instead of simply saying “We can’t do that,” I would say, “We can do this.”
I believe that by promoting “This will work” over “No,” we can move forward to the next step, build trust with stakeholders and designers, and ultimately produce a higher-quality product.
If asked whether this is the best approach, I do have my doubts. After all, we encounter various challenges and face dilemmas as we move the project forward.
While finding the best solution is a given, I also value the overall atmosphere. If I can make everyone feel that being part of this project was worthwhile, there’s nothing better than that.
I’m still a work in progress myself.
There’s still so much I need to learn.
I hope this can serve as a guidepost for others taking their first steps on a similar path.
*I’d be even happier if we could exchange opinions with others in similar situations.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
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