Project management – people not process
Project managers are consumed with processes and complex tools to help their projects along. Project management is described as an art form and a huge industry has grown out of this whole space.
Our project managers are producing report upon report, continually seeking to learn the “latest trend” in project management thinking and talking in a language often lost on the customers with whom they are dealing.
They are acting like this because, in my view, the whole system has completely lost focus on what being a project manager is all about.
Sure, process is good (when it delivers benefit and is not a hindrance) and the latest thinking can indeed bring those benefits. Tools are prevalent and offer varying levels of capability and function but cannot cover weakness in the area of communication. Process and tools are a means to the end, not the end itself.
We need to re-focus. Project managers need to be allowed to deliver a quality project for their customers without over-burdening them with the expectation to produce copious amounts of internal attributes (a.k.a management reports). The key attribute of any project manager is the ability to deal with and manage the people on his/her team and the people receiving the project i.e. the customer.
If a project manager cannot communicate effectively and keep the team on side, they are ineffective and should not be performing this role – period. No amount of hiding behind flashy statistics, documents or process will counter this – nor should it be countenanced.
I have encountered numerous project managers who are superb at process and when things go wrong, quote the processes not being followed (usually by others) as the reason for failure. 90% of the time, this is simply not the case. The problem is associated with poor communication between the project manager and the team and/or the customer. If we got this “art-form” right, the rest would follow naturally.
Project managers - it’s about the communication and the people.
What are your thoughts? Can we simplify our project processes?
Photo : Dichohecho
Tags: MyProjectTracker.com, process, Project Management, Project manager
