I tend to agree with the above post. I believe that the responsibilities of a project manager are largely similar across most industries. BB254 listed the primary ones: identifying requirements, creating objective, balancing time demands, cost and quality. Also mentioned is the fact that in order for a project manager to effectively assist their team in meeting goals, they will need to have skills and knowledge from that particular industry/field. I do not believe that technical knowledge is a trivial thing. It is something that is acquired from years of experience at many different levels of an organization and between departments within the same organization.

My personal work experience has given me an example of this. There are two PM’s whom I work for in various capacities. One deals with quality issues and projects, the other with process and operations. The one who deals in quality has not spent considerable time on the bench or in the lab, so does not appreciate the intricacies of challenges faced by many of his team members. This often leads to frustration on both the manager’s side and the team member’s side. The manager for operations and process has spent time as a technical engineer, process engineer, and plant manager. He is intimately aware of every aspect of the responsibilities of his team members, even though he acquired this knowledge over his career at different companies in different, albeit related, industries. He is capable of directing and coordinating his team members efficiently and effectively.

The gap/difference between industries will dictate how transferrable a project manager can be. While all of the intangibles will translate, the technical knowledge that is essential to directing a team to its goals as well as communicating effectively to that team is not so readily translated.