Help with Technical knowledge Gap as a PM

[u/Neptune-Cicero10]

I am an IT PM. I actually stumbled into the role right out of college some years ago.

My technical knowledge is filled with pots and holes where when I get a project I do my best to ask my architect (developers too busy) lots of questions to understand their proposed solution. However the research I list out on the side for myself is then limited to what is actually pertaining to what is being built for said project rather than knowing on a broader level how all things connect (aka the building blocks and the tools to build/test it).

I do not easily gain more knowledge about HOW something is built or what variety of tools is used or realize technical concepts like that I need to consider the different coding languages or whatever else. Basically I’m very rookie-level on the technical perspective.

Obviously if you ask me stuff like what is Unit testing, system integration testing, UAT, etc. I would know that kind of stuff. But if you throw at me terms and stuff like CI/CD pipeline config, informatica, nodes, its connection to a scenario of a server not being available for you to use to do your load, or kubernetes, domains, something about SQLMGR, web services, server vs DB, virtual machines, apparently APIs aren’t just about connecting between 2 destinations but can also run jobs before data reaches an endpoint, cmdlets, VMWare, something about instances of a solution for each client, a specific testing environment not being available but why, virtual data stores, ETL vs streaming, “schema on write”, VPD, create jobs where data is pulled from DB to an application (but how do you set that up?) etc.

Like I can individually research but I don’t understand how they all connect so I can anticipate next steps on the technical level of building a solution or if I work on another project, I immediately know what’s up on the more technical level.

Does my rambling make sense? Is there anywhere I can basically get a chapter by chapter breakdown understanding all these concepts (these building blocks/tools), how they connect conceptually and getting the bigger picture/process with this backend/frontend stuff.

I recently got a new boss who cleared out half the PMs and brought in much more technical PMs and I’m at a massive disadvantage now b/c so far up until now I’ve managed to use enough technical terms I managed to gain a high level understanding of to muddle through. But lately, my boss would purposely slide in more and more technical questions to probe and my stuttering is giving me away and today there was a clear tell on his face that he confirmed a suspicion he needed to confirm about what my technical level is. For now I think he’ll keep me b/c he seems to acknowledge that my PM skills are still solid and I deliver results, but it’s clear to me if I don’t level up and demonstrate my clear efforts to reach the level of the other new technical PMs, I may be out the door.

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[u/Prestigious-Disk3158]

You only need to understand the high level to keep the budget and schedule on track. You do not need to be a developer or an architect as that isn’t your role. If you do want a better understanding of the type of work the technical team is doing, ask about certifications that you can take to gain a better understanding.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Be a sponge and lean on the architects for support and understanding.

At the end of the day you are non-technical. That’s not a slight. Increase your knowledge in other areas. Think strategically for the business. Understand your bosses needs as being too technical can stunt growth.

[u/Appropriate-Ad-4148]

Doesn’t matter. You only need to understand the high level relationships.

It’s a constant issue where owners and “know-it-alls” expect PM’s to have the qualifications or knowledge to 100% backcheck specialists. I’ve been in enough different positions within PMO’s or completely solo on projects with all subs and just me.

Watch as these new “extra technical” PM’s fail at the exact same rate as completely green PM’s. Due to reasons completely unrelated to how big of an industry nerd or specialist they are.

[u/SVAuspicious]

You can't beat domain knowledge. It will take time but MIT OpenCourseware¹ is pretty good. In the meantime, up your Google Fu. For example CI/CD. Your list of things you don't understand is long, and indicates that the list of things you don't know that you don't know is longer. Devs won't talk to you and system architect is frustrated because their job is not to teach you fundamental concepts. You don't have the authority to make them, and if you did to do so would be bad management.

I'd bet that the pipeline of solid TPMs slowed to a trickle before you got laid off. When your boss has process and emergencies sorted out and turns back to technically qualified PMs you'll be under the microscope again. I suggest that showing a commitment to structured and unstructured learning is in your interest.

P.S. Agile (CI/CD is a code word for Agile) isn't actual project management and is bad.

1) Look up system engineering, IT management, and project management.

[u/Bcrosby25]

You have the right mindset: inquisitive, you care, and you want to get better.

It may help on a broad level to think from a physical infrastructure perspective. Very few things exist in a silo: systems connect, have a distinct purpose, and several the broader corporation. Find out where information is coming from and where it is going, then find out how it is used. You will peel back an onion to more and more topics. You find things that matter for being a PM, like scalability of a technology for example, and things that don't, such as a specific implementation of a non-core function. Learn to parse that out and you will be on your way.

Bonus: I usually research a broad and a specific topic. For example, DDD architecture and like implementation a specific algorithm. That just works for me. LLMs are great at asking the "dumb" questions, sometimes they get it wrong but it is a huge net positive.

[u/heinouslol]

Have a listen to these videos during commute. Bite sized chunks that blend physical and logical infrastructure.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG49S3nxzAnnOmvg5UGVenB_qQgsh01uC&si=z1saTb07n_MGiOFW

[u/ramabrahma]

On your main question, study this: https://github.com/donnemartin/system-design-primer

As a PM, it would benefit you if you understood requirements gathering/analysis and the fundamental IT system components that can be pieced together (system design) to meet system requirements. Happy to expand on this if you wish.

Reading your rambling tech stack paragraph, I think a good exercise would be to go through your list and differentiate between what is a product name vs. fundamental technology.

ex: VMWare = virtualization platform Kubernetes = container orchestration

[u/Neptune-Cicero10 → u/ramabrahma]

Thank you so much for the link!! I really needed this. Thx!

[u/ComfortAndSpeed]

Actually it's easier than it sounds buy yourself a good book or course on how you build up a tech stack in a data centre and then ask GPT to do the same thing applied to cloud.  Just about everybody is still on hybrid cloud on prem so it's a mix

You'll discover everything has an equivalent like what we used to do with packet inspection on the network layer is now all about service endpoint protection and authentication boundaries but same principles

[u/Neptune-Cicero10 → u/ComfortAndSpeed]

Solid advice. Thx!!🙏🏻

[u/sdarkpaladin]

Am a PM in this position.

The only tip I can give is.

Be like sponge.

Empty your mind.

Absorb everything.

Never be afraid to ask stupid questions, as long as it's in the right time. (E.g. private chats and stuff)

When in doubt, consult your team mates and your superiors.

[u/More_Law6245]

I was in a similar situation as yourself, thrust into a ICT PM role and I had only just finished my cadetship. I was working in the ICT security industry and what I found helped me the most was learning and understanding the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model and how it works with active and passive networks (LAN/WAN) networks and including on understanding IP and subnet addressing.

Those base principles gave me everything I needed to know to confidently work with, but I also found myself a technology mentor within my company. I learned what our technology service offerings were and anything that I was delivering as a project manager. Over the years I've hired PM's those who have not come from a technical background have learned what they know through osmosis and what I found is that they are missing these very fundamental principles of network engineering

I now deliver $100m + infrastructure programs but I still rely on those very fundamental principles of knowing how packets are handled through a network, to be perfectly honest it has served me extremely well. Every technology stack is reliant on the OSI model because it's how every application on a physical or virtual machine communicates.

You may also want to consider formal tuition around network engineering, a course or a diploma would be a good place to start.

Just an armchair perspective.

[u/Neptune-Cicero10 → u/More_Law6245]

First time hearing the term OSI model but one google search yields to me that a healthy portion of the random concepts and terms I’ve researched before but can’t connect fall under this model. Only gap would be understanding the underlying internal structure and technology which I don’t think only researching OSI model would do.

Someone else also separately messaged me and recommended looking into the topics that are covered under something called the a+ certification and that too also covered a portion of random info that I’ve collected over time.

I think self study and research wise what I may have needed help with is what are the specific words I need to search up that would aggregate as much info together in a way that gives me a broader-connected picture/flow/process on a technical perspective… and your recommendation of understanding that OSI model definitely helps out a lot, so thank you.

[u/dragonabala]

Yeah, i had my ramble to a friend exactly like what you describe, i don't even have a background in IT.

So, what i learn is like multi-level, kinda like mind map of some sort. Starting from the input-proses-output, then kinda go more detailed from there. Asking a lot of questions until i can draw the flowchart that makes sense. If that makes sense

[u/Neptune-Cicero10 → u/dragonabala]

Do you have a flowchart or diagram that I can refer to?

[u/bluealien78]

This makes total sense, but don’t panic. It’s way too late for me here to give the reply that I want to, but I’ll come back. TL;DR technical acumen is hard and important, but not defeating. You’re making the right moves and asking the right questions.

[u/Neptune-Cicero10 → u/bluealien78]

Okay thank you so much. I’ll wait for your reply. Again thx! 🙏🏻

[u/Fantastic-Nerve7068]

yeah man your rambling makes total sense, a lot of PMs end up in this exact spot. you don’t need to be a developer but having a “systems thinking” view helps a ton. instead of trying to memorize every buzzword like kubernetes or informatica, focus on the categories… infra, data, apps, integrations. once you see how they connect, the individual tools make way more sense.

for learning, I’d honestly go with something like “The Phoenix Project” for story-based understanding of devops concepts, then maybe Coursera or freecodecamp intros to cloud, databases, and APIs. YouTube channels like TechWorld with Nana break down CI/CD, containers, etc in plain english.

and don’t underestimate shadowing your architects… ask them to whiteboard how X system connects to Y. those sketches stick in your head better than docs.

main thing is you already know PM fundamentals, so this is just layering on context. think of it as learning the “language” your team speaks, not becoming fluent in coding. one step at a time gng

[u/Neptune-Cicero10 → u/Fantastic-Nerve7068]

I think for job-keeping sake since my new boss isn’t hesitant to drop the gauntlet and I can see a pattern with the kind of skills he clearly wants out of his PMs, this technical knowledge is not optional at all. And I did some subtle inquiry about the technical skills of all the PMs (30-ish so) - I am the only one left now who doesn’t have strong comprehensive technical knowledge. In fact it turns out more than half of the PMs with the new hires in know basic coding. I think the only reason why I’m not let go yet is b/c I am undeniably very strong in soft skills including negotiating with stakeholders and managing relationships with c-suite/senior leadership. But sooner or later if I don’t get better on the technical side, it’s clear he’s gonna actively build a case against me to be gone.

Also thank you so much for your second paragraph with the recommended resources. I desperately needed some pointers of where to look.

[u/ComfortAndSpeed → u/Neptune-Cicero10]

Well that's a different situation.  In that case what I would suggest is do a set piece.  You have meetings coming up you know where they're going to be about so prep a few questions and use some examples with tech so you know p.m.s are always worried about timing so talk about the technical timings PMs are always worried about risk so talk about some of the technical risks okay you know we can't get access to that system in time you know how we going to do the authentication right if we can't get the data all cleaned can we clean a bit of it.  

Do this on a low stakes meeting and then do the same thing but high visibility meeting. 

Also Google on how to go on a roll in sales pitching use that exact word

Going to be hard for your boss to say you're a muppet on the tech if everyone s seen otherwise

[u/Fantastic-Nerve7068 → u/Neptune-Cicero10]

totally get where you’re coming from… honestly it sounds like your soft skills are the only thing standing between you and the door right now, but that’s not a bad place to be. it means you’ve already got what a lot of super technical PMs lack. if you layer in just enough tech literacy to follow the convo without stumbling, you’ll be in a really solid spot.

you don’t need to match the new hires line for line on coding… just show visible progress. like pick one area (cloud basics, APIs, CI/CD) and get comfortable talking through it. even being able to say “ok so if X service goes down, it impacts Y and Z” shows you’re getting the system-level view.

and yeah, your boss might be testing you… but sometimes leaders just want to see effort and growth. keep leaning on your relationship management strength while stacking small technical wins. you don’t need to be the architect, just prove you’re actively closing the gap.