I know where this article is coming from, but I guess I've just been lucky to work with a lot of great PMs that:
1) Are a firewall between upper management and the development team.
2) Organize the priorities of the team and help the developers to get the most done in the limited amount of time that they have.
3) Follow up on business requirements and the thousands of other details that need to be figured out so that the client doesn't say, "what the hell is this?" on delivery day even though it is precisely what they asked for (but not what they wanted).
4) Praise the team for the great work that they've been doing and make their successes known to management.
I've worked with as many (or more) crap developers as I have PMs, so I'm always wary of articles like this. It's way too easy to talk about how management/sales/PMs/etc don't add any value to the process (which is patently false) while lionizing the work of the developer as if they are all dedicated, hardworking, and never, ever, make mistakes.
This "us vs. them" mentality that exists is ridiculous. We are all trying to accomplish something. Some are better than others at it. But don't shit on someone else's job, complain about how you want to be left alone, and then wonder why your career isn't going anywhere.
1) Are a firewall between upper management and the development team.
2) Organize the priorities of the team and help the developers to get the most done in the limited amount of time that they have.
3) Follow up on business requirements and the thousands of other details that need to be figured out so that the client doesn't say, "what the hell is this?" on delivery day even though it is precisely what they asked for (but not what they wanted).
4) Praise the team for the great work that they've been doing and make their successes known to management.
I've worked with as many (or more) crap developers as I have PMs, so I'm always wary of articles like this. It's way too easy to talk about how management/sales/PMs/etc don't add any value to the process (which is patently false) while lionizing the work of the developer as if they are all dedicated, hardworking, and never, ever, make mistakes.
This "us vs. them" mentality that exists is ridiculous. We are all trying to accomplish something. Some are better than others at it. But don't shit on someone else's job, complain about how you want to be left alone, and then wonder why your career isn't going anywhere.