Hitting Walls?

  ProjectsAtWork  

Some dos and dont's for overcoming organizational resistance to project management.

Don't bother grumbling that your company is against project management. It's not possible, says Doug DeCarlo, principal of The Doug DeCarlo Group in Burnsville, N.C. "It's not true that organizations resist project management, but it is true that certain people might resist project management, such as senior executives, project sponsors, team members—and even project managers."

Once you understand why people—including you—resist project management, then you can work on overcoming the opposition, DeCarlo says. A consultant specializing in high-speed, high-complexity projects, he says there are common reasons participants resist. Some may have "Who me?" syndrome. They think they don't need project management because work is getting done. Others may consider it unnecessary overhead that gets in the way of "real" work. Or participants may resist because of information overload. They are at capacity and don't want to learn another discipline. Finally, others may object because they feel their jobs are threatened by allowing decisions at the team level.

Your internal conflicts with project management can be obstructions, too, DeCarlo says. "The realization that you may be contributing to the problem you are trying to solve is important," he says. You may feel disenchanted because traditional …

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