When a Project Manager Is Great, Everything Changes

The role of the Project Manager is way undervalued. And when I say Project Manager, I also mean Product Owner.

Yeah yeah, I get it, that meme about PMs floating around dev circles probably did some damage, right? We've all had a bad PM at some point. We know exactly what we need from a PM—and what we totally don’t.

Of course, like the meme says, nobody needs a PM asking every 15 mins “how’s it going?” or “are we there yet?”. That’s not help, that’s noise.

But jokes aside, a good PM? That person can be the line between a smooth, successfull project... and total chaos. Between a team that flows and one that's totally burnt out. When roles start doing tasks they shouldn’t be doing, just to plug holes—yeah, that's a sign of missing or weak project management.

So yeah, to me, this role is underrated. Why? 'Cause when you get a really good one, the diff is like night and day. The impact on results? Massive. Having no PM, or a bad one, or even a mediocre one... vs having a great PM? Man, the gap is wild.

But hey—how do you see it? Before we go on, I’d actually love to hear your stories. What have you seen in your teams, your circles? Have you had good PMs? Or disaster ones? Has the role been helpful to you? Useless? Tell us a bit. Would be great to see if this is a widespread issue or just a few cases here and there.

Now, for me, what should a PM do?

First, I think we need to draw a clear line between Project Manager and Product Owner. Their titles kinda explain it already, but here’s my take.

The Product Owner is the person in charge of a product. It’s like... it’s their baby. And when you’re working on something that feels like your own, you usually care more, right?

On the other hand, when you’re building something for someone else, a client, then you usually get a Project Manager. Unless the client sends in their own PO—then it’s a diff story.

So personally? I think things go smoother when it's a Product Owner running a product they own. That doesn’t mean PMs are bad or do a poor job—nope. Just means, in consulting or client work, the PM is walking a tightrope: they’ve gotta balance the interests of the company they're from AND the devs they’re working with.

And those interests? Well, we’re talking about timelines, profitability, pushing back on client demands when they ask for things outside the agreed scope... all that. They have to estimate costs, manage budgets, get deliverables approved and signed off by the client. Because if someone complains later on, you need proof—signatures, docs, everything saying this was agreed.

There’s a whole bureaucratic side to it. And let’s be honest, devs hate that stuff. I mean, if you ask me how much something costs to build... I don’t care. Not my job. But the PM? They do care. And they usually need our help to estimate in time, then they turn that into money using hourly rates, role rates, margins, all that jazz.

But beyond that, a PM should be the bridge. The go-between. Between the dev team and the client. They need to actually understand the project, end to end. Not just budgets and timelines, but what it’s supposed to do. What features are meant to look like, how they work.

They need to be present, testing stuff, validating things. Being the one the devs go to when they hit a wall or a doubt comes up. Like, “hey, we built this but it affects this other feature” or “we’re blocked on this, need info”. The PM should always be the point of reference.

They should handle client comms, follow-ups, meetings, emails—however they work best, but they need to own it. What we can't have is devs running around talking to clients. That just leads to mess and confusion.

So yeah, that’s my personal view on PMs and POs. Based on what I’ve seen, what I’ve lived. But if this stuff interests you, we can def go deeper.

Drop a comment with your thoughts. What’s been your exp with PMs? Let’s bring some clarity to this and see if we’re all facing the same thing... or just a few unlucky ones.