Organizing and Staffing the Project Office and Team
4.5 SELECTING THE WRONG PROJECT MANAGER
Even though executives know the personal characteristics and traits that project managers should possess, and even though job descriptions are often clearly defined, management may still select the wrong person because they base their decision on the following criteria.
Some executives consider gray hair to be a sure indication of maturity, but this is not the type of maturity needed for project management.
Maturity in project management generally comes from exposure to several types of proj- ects in a variety of project office positions. In aerospace and defense, it is possible for a project manager to manage the same type of project for ten years or more. When placed on a new project, the individual may try to force personnel and project requirements to ad- here to the same policies and procedures that existed on the ten-year project. The project manager may know only one way of managing projects.
Applying hard-nosed tactics to subordinates can be very demoralizing.
Project managers must give people sufficient freedom to get the job done, without providing continuous supervision and direction. A line employee who is given “freedom” by his line manager but suddenly finds himself closely supervised by the project manager will be very unhappy.
Line managers, because of their ability to control an employee’s salary, need only one leadership style and can force the employees to adapt. The project manager, on the other hand, cannot control salaries and must have a wide variety of leadership styles. The project manager must adapt a leadership style to the project employees, whereas the re- verse is true in the line organization.
Executives should not assign individuals as project managers simply be- cause of availability. People have a tendency to cringe when you suggest that project managers be switched halfway through a project. For example, manager X is halfway through his project. Manager Y is waiting for an assignment. A new project comes up, and the executive switches managers X and Y. There are several reasons for this. The most important phase of a project is planning, and, if it is accomplished correctly, the project could conceivably run itself. Therefore, manager Y should be able to handle manager X’s project.
There are several other reasons why this switch may be necessary. The new project may have a higher priority and require a more experienced manager. Second, not all project managers are equal, especially when it comes to planning. When an executive finds 154 ORGANIZING AND STAFFING THE PROJECT OFFICE AND TEAM
Maturity
Hard-Nosed Tactics
Availability
a project manager who demonstrates extraordinary talents at planning, there is a natural tendency for the executive to want this project manager to plan all projects.
Executives quite often promote technical line managers without real- izing the consequences. Technical specialists may not be able to di- vorce themselves from the technical side of the house and become project managers rather than project doers. There are also strong reasons to promote technical specialists to project managers. These people often:
● Have better relationships with fellow researchers
● Can prevent duplication of effort
● Can foster teamwork
● Have progressed up through the technical ranks
● Are knowledgeable in many technical fields
● Understand the meaning of profitability and general management philosophy
● Are interested in training and teaching
● Understand how to work with perfectionists As described by Taylor and Watling4:
It is often the case, therefore, that the Project Manager is more noted for his management technique expertise, his ability to “get on with people” than for his sheer technical prowess. However, it can be dangerous to minimize this latter talent when choosing Project Managers dependent upon project type and size. The Project Manager should preferably be an expert either in the field of the project task or a subject allied to it.
Promoting an employee to project management because of his technical expertise may be acceptable if, and only if, the project requires this expertise and technical direction, as in R&D efforts. For projects in which a “generalist” is acceptable as a project manager, there may be a great danger in assigning highly technical personnel. According to Wilemon and Cicero5:
● The greater the project manager’s technical expertise, the higher the propensity that he will overly involve himself in the technical details of the project.
● The greater the project manager’s difficulty in delegating technical task responsi- bilities, the more likely it is that he will overinvolve himself in the technical de- tails of the project. (Depending upon his expertise to do so.)
● The greater the project manager’s interest in the technical details of the project, the more likely it is that he will defend the project manager’s role as one of a techni- cal specialist.
● The lower the project manager’s technical expertise, the more likely it is that he will overstress the nontechnical project functions (administrative functions).
Selecting the Wrong Project Manager 155
Technical Expertise
4. W. J. Taylor and T. F. Watling,Successful Project Management(London: Business Books Limited, 1972), p. 32.
5. D. L. Wilemon and J. P. Cicero, “The Project Manager—Anomalies and Ambiguities,” Academy of Management Journal,Vol. 13, 1970, pp. 269–282.
Executives quite often place individuals as project managers simply to satisfy a customer request. Being able to communicate with the customer does not guarantee project success, however. If the choice of project manager is simply a con- cession to the customer, then the executive must insist on providing a strong supporting team.
Executives run the risk of project failure if an individual is appointed project manager simply to gain exposure to project management. An executive of a utility company wanted to rotate his line personnel into project management for twelve to eighteen months and then return them to the line organization where they would be more well-rounded individuals and better understand the working relationship between project management and line management. There are two major problems with this. First, the individual may become technically obsolete after eighteen months in proj- ect management. Second, and more important, individuals who get a taste of project man- agement will generally not want to return to the line organization.
The mere fact that individuals have worked in a variety of divisions does not guarantee that they will make good project managers. Their working in a variety of divisions may indicate that they couldn’t hold any one job. In that case, they have reached their true level of incompetency, and putting them into project man- agement will only maximize the damage they can do to the company. Some executives con- tend that the best way to train a project manager is by rotation through the various func- 156 ORGANIZING AND STAFFING THE PROJECT OFFICE AND TEAM
Customer Orientation
New Exposure
Company Exposure
TABLE 4–1. METHODS AND TECHNIQUES FOR DEVELOPING PROJECT MANAGERS I. Experiential training/on-the-job
Working with experienced professional leader Working with project team member
Assigning a variety of project management responsibilities, consecutively Job rotation
Formal on-the-job training Supporting multifunctional activities Customer liaison activities II. Conceptual training/schooling
Courses, seminars, workshops Simulations, games, cases Group exercises
Hands-on exercises in using project management techniques Professional meetings
Conventions, symposia
Readings, books, trade journals, professional magazines III. Organizational development
Formally established and recognized project management function Proper project organization
Project support systems Project charter
Project management directives, policies, and procedures
tional disciplines for two weeks to a month in each organization. Other executives maintain that this is useless because the individual cannot learn anything in so short a period of time.
Tables 4–1 and 4–2 identify current thinking on methods for training project managers.
Finally, there are three special points to consider:
● Individuals should not be promoted to project management simply because they are at the top of their pay grade.
● Project managers should be promoted and paid based on performance, not on the number of people supervised.
● It is not necessary for the project manager to be the highest ranking or salaried in- dividual on the project team with the rationale that sufficient “clout” is needed.