Why I Stopped Listening to Project Managers (And Why You Might Want To)

After 20 years of sitting through countless meetings, nodding along to PowerPoint presentations, and watching endless Gantt charts being updated, I’ve come to a conclusion: most project managers in tech are just slowing us down.

I know, I know. That’s not a popular thing to say. But hear me out.

I’ve worked as a developer, tech lead, and architect across dozens of companies. I’ve collaborated with probably over 200 project managers throughout my career. And you know what? I can’t remember a single meeting where I thought, “Wow, this PM is really making our development process better!”

Instead, what I usually see is this: A project manager asking developers to stop what they’re doing so they can create elaborate documentation that nobody will read. They want fancy Excel sheets, pretty Word docs, and PowerPoint presentations that basically translate our work into “business speak.” All while the actual coding and problem-solving gets put on hold.

Here’s a real story from last month:

We had this critical feature to deliver, and instead of letting the team focus, we spent THREE HOURS in a meeting room updating project tracking documents. Three hours! That’s half a day of coding lost, multiplied by eight developers. Then, I got to go into countless meeting with project manager, business stakeholders, business sponsors. Do the math.

Keep it Simple Stupid!

But about five years ago, I started doing something different. When meeting with top managers, I began suggesting something radical: “Let’s try working without project managers.” Some thought I was crazy. Others were intrigued. The brave ones who tried it? They saw their development speed skyrocket.

You might be wondering, “But how do you keep track of everything?”

Simple. We use what I call “on-the-fly documentation.” No fancy tools, no expensive software. Just a basic WordPress or Drupal internally hosted site that we stripped down to the essentials. Developers post their code snippets, add a few sentences about what they did, and move on. Need to find something? Quick search. Need to show progress to the bosses? Everything’s right there, no translation needed. Need to assign a task to a developer? It’s like writing a tweet. Need to have a knowledge transfer? It’s like reading wikipedia with all versions, contributions.

The best part? Developers actually use it. Why? Because it’s not a chore. It’s just part of the natural flow of coding. Paste your code, write a quick note about what you did, done. No meetings required.

I remember one company where we switched from a “proper” project management setup to this simple approach. The VP of Engineering was skeptical at first. Three months later, he pulled me aside and said, “I don’t know what you did, but the team has shipped more features in the last quarter than they did in the previous year.”

Want to know why it worked? Because developers could finally focus on what they do best: Developing.

Look, I’m not saying all project managers are useless. I’m saying the traditional project management role in tech teams might be. When you put layers of process and documentation between developers and their work, you’re just adding sand to the gears.

What’s your experience been like? Drop a comment below. I’d love to hear if you’ve tried something similar, or if you think I’m completely off base. Maybe you’ve got a project manager who actually makes your team better – if so, what makes them different?

And hey, if you’re a project manager reading this… I’d especially love to hear your take. Maybe you can challenge my mind.

Quick note: If this resonated with you, share it with your team. Maybe it’s time to have an honest conversation about how you’re managing your projects.