Any advice for a software developer turned project manager, who wants to go back to software development?

Question

Three years ago I transitioned to a software project manager, after being a software developer for 8 years. Although my projects have been delivered on-time and on-budget, being a PM is really not what gets me out of bed in the morning. Is there any advice that you could share to make the transition back to a developer. I tried speaking to my manager about this and I was given the brush off ("There's no one better to lead the project...", "You want to be a coder again...").

Answer 1

I hate to say this, but I think you're best bet is to brush up on your coding skills in your spare time and start applying for coding jobs. If nothing else it'll force your manager to take you seriously when you tell him you've been offered a Team Leader job and you're thinking of taking it.

Answer 2

My first thought is - get your current assignment done. I believe you can be a "technical manager" - manage the project (a good skill to have) and at the same time be involved with the technical side of it, and you choose how much you want to get your hands dirty.

I find it hard that your manager will accept having you back as a developer.

Answer 3

Finding a new job is always an option (although it might not be a good option these days).

Answer 4

I had the advantage of working for a company where they take into account that people may make temporary bad judgments about their career path. I've been a tech-head since '86 and made the mistake of going into project management for a brief 2 years. Although both my major projects were delivered on time, I was in the same boat.

The job was basically just managing resources and reporting, hence dead boring for me.

Management baulked at first (mostly thinking it was a downgrade) but basically decided that it was better to retain me as a tech than lose me as a PM. I had to handle a transition period of a couple of months but that was more bearable knowing I was going back to tech.

I would make it clear to your management that you're not happy in your current role, but in a very non-threatening way. Make it clear that you will have to consider looking for other options if they don't agree to return you to your desired role. Do not let them think you will leave them in the lurch since that makes your position adversarial.

Your job is an bilateral agreement between you and your employer, not a unilateral one, and no agreement lasts forever (unless we're talking about my marriage :-).

Answer 5

Get your coding desires out via some open source project. Find something that interests you from a technology or business perspective and volunteer or start a new project in a language like php or python. Not only will it get the cobwebs out, it'll satisfy the coding desire short term and get you back into the coding game...things have changed in 8 years.

Answer 6

In your current project itself, you can involve yourself more in design related discussions, code reviews, may be product related documentation. This will ensure that you will have something to look forward to everyday.

Once this project is over, re-look at the situation and take a call as to whether you want to do it all over again?

Answer 7

If your manager is telling things like "You want to be a coder again...", it shows how many respect they give towards a developer.

It seems that you had a reason to transition to the position of a PM. Perhaps because you felt misunderstood / not respected enough as a developer???

So IMHO if really want to "go back" you should look for a software engineer or architect job in another company. With your experience and a little refresher it should be no problem.

Answer 8

What I did to make the same change was to take a year out and do a Masters degree. In my case it was an MSc in High Performance Computing which gave me some new skills to complement what I already had, and let me apply for a (small) slew of new programming jobs, which were much closer to my liking than the project management which I'd drifted into. So there's an option for you -- though taking a year off might be expensive. On the other hand, this might also be the best time in the economic cycle to be sheltering at college. And this did mean a change of employers from before to after.

However you make the transition I suggest that you finish your project management career on a high, giving no-one the opportunity to cast you as the guy who couldn't hack it as a manager and had to fall back to being a coder.

And I guess you've already made up your mind that any extra moolah from management you are prepared to surrender in the search for a better job.

Answer 9

question; is it that you hate management or miss programming? there is an important distinction here since each has a different solution.

if you hate management, then i would try this; fix up your resume (http://www.manager-tools.com/2005/10/your-resume-stinks) and start applying for jobs, but dont actually take any. the idea is you will be at your desk and receive phone calls from recruiters, when you answer the phone you will be like "sure i have a few minutes to talk, let me just step out somewhere where its private" <- this is the universal sign that you are looking for a job and it will get back to your manager. he will then come to you and ask "are you looking for a new job?" and you can take it from there. yes, this is somewhat manipulative, but it isnt harming anyone so im sure you will be able to sleep ok at night.

if the issue is that you just miss programming, that is easily solved. just do programming at home in your spare time and on the weekend. i work on a number of hobby projects (e.g. a bug tracking software called BugWeb <- google it if you want). i also do freelance contracting, building websites. this satisfies my need to code quite nicely :)

ps. i transitioned from coding to management about 5 years ago, for about 3 years i was half programmer/half manager. then eventually dropped all my coding duties to focus completely on PM and BA duties.

Answer 10

I would say that you are in an extremely strong position to explore an increasing technical role in your projects:

1. Go after a smallish development project as the PM.
2. Assign yourself as the technical lead or one of the developers on your own project.

If you have already demonstrated your record of success in the project management arena, your senior leadership will be significantly more at ease with the risk of "gee, you haven't coded for a while." This is especially true when you make the pitch of "if I manage the project costs and write some of the code myself, I potentially reduce the net cost to the project."

That said, you will need to be ready to fire yourself. If you, as the PM, can see that you-the-developer aren't meeting the requirements of the project, you'll need to have a serious talk with yourself....