🚫 Stop Confusing Us: Why Project Managers Aren’t Business Analysts (And No, Technical PMs Don’t Code Your App Either)
Let’s get something out of the way upfront:
Just because I’m a Project Manager doesn’t mean I’m also your Business Analyst, your Developer, your Tech Whisperer, or the Office IT wizard.
I’m flattered, really. But asking your PM to do everything from gathering requirements to debugging code is like asking your wedding planner to also cater the food, design your dress, officiate the ceremony, and DJ the reception. Sure, they might try—but you’ll end up with cold lasagna on your veil and Taylor Swift playing during the vows. Nobody wants that.
🧠 Different Hats, Different Heads
Business Analysts are the translators of the corporate world. They listen to business needs, ask 42 follow-up questions you didn’t think of, then somehow turn it all into clean, usable documentation that developers actually understand (a true miracle).
Project Managers, on the other hand, are the conductors of the chaos orchestra. We deal in timelines, stakeholder drama, budget freak-outs, scope creep therapy, and the occasional Jedi mind trick to get that one person to finally answer their email.
We don’t write requirements—we harass people to write the requirements.
We don’t gather data—we chase people down who have the data.
And we definitely don’t fix the server. We just make sure someone else is getting paid to fix the server.
🧑💻 But What About Technical Project Managers?
Ah yes, the magical unicorns of the PM world.
“You’re a Technical PM? So you can code too, right?”
Let’s slow our roll. A Technical PM might understand what an API is, how agile works, or why DevOps keeps giving us death stares. But that doesn’t mean we’re jumping into GitHub to merge your pull request. Technical knowledge helps us speak the language of developers—but it doesn’t make us one.
It’s like knowing how to order sushi in Japanese. Impressive? Sure. But that doesn’t mean you’re the head chef at Nobu.
🧩 Different Roles = Better Results
Here’s the thing—when you let people play to their strengths, everyone wins:
- PMs keep the wheels on the bus and the bus moving forward.
- BAs make sure the bus is going to the right place and has gas.
- Technical folks build the engine and reboot it when someone inevitably “accidentally” deletes a database.
Trying to mush all three roles into one? That’s a recipe for burnout, dropped balls, and late-night Slack messages that begin with “Hey, quick question…”
🚦 Final Word: Respect the Role
So next time you kick off a new project, remember:
Just because we’re all in the same meeting doesn’t mean we do the same job.
Let your PM project manage.
Let your BA analyze.
Let your devs develop.
And please—don’t ask the PM to fix your printer.