Dynamic

People Manager vs Project Manager

Developers should learn people management skills when transitioning into leadership positions like Engineering Manager, Tech Lead, or Team Lead, where they need to guide teams, improve productivity, and retain talent meets developers should learn project management to lead teams effectively, improve communication with stakeholders, and ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget. Here's our take.

🧊Nice Pick

People Manager

Developers should learn people management skills when transitioning into leadership positions like Engineering Manager, Tech Lead, or Team Lead, where they need to guide teams, improve productivity, and retain talent

People Manager

Nice Pick

Developers should learn people management skills when transitioning into leadership positions like Engineering Manager, Tech Lead, or Team Lead, where they need to guide teams, improve productivity, and retain talent

Pros

  • +It's crucial for scaling organizations, mentoring junior developers, and aligning technical work with business goals, especially in agile or collaborative environments
  • +Related to: leadership, agile-methodology

Cons

  • -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Project Manager

Developers should learn project management to lead teams effectively, improve communication with stakeholders, and ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget

Pros

  • +It's crucial for career advancement into leadership roles like technical lead or product manager, and for managing complex software projects involving multiple contributors
  • +Related to: agile-methodology, scrum

Cons

  • -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use People Manager if: You want it's crucial for scaling organizations, mentoring junior developers, and aligning technical work with business goals, especially in agile or collaborative environments and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Project Manager if: You prioritize it's crucial for career advancement into leadership roles like technical lead or product manager, and for managing complex software projects involving multiple contributors over what People Manager offers.

🧊
The Bottom Line
People Manager wins

Developers should learn people management skills when transitioning into leadership positions like Engineering Manager, Tech Lead, or Team Lead, where they need to guide teams, improve productivity, and retain talent

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