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Politics and Administration: The Two-Headed Monster of Global Projects
Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.
After working on IT and global projects for 30 years, Ron Montgomery says he knows firsthand where to find the biggest potential SNAFUs. Montgomery, a PMP who heads project management consulting company OnPoint, LLC, in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, says the biggest problems with global projects are politics and administration. Technically, many of the administration issues stem from political issues, but of the two, Montgomery says politics is, hands down, the No. 1 hot button when managing global projects.
An experienced project manager working within the confines of an office building or campus can more readily understand the political landscape well enough to maneuver around obstacles. Political maneuvering becomes progressively more difficult as project stakeholders become more dispersed geographically and culturally. Since the PM typically has little formal authority, he must tactfully engage the executive sponsors throughout the project in order to be given the power to move a complex global project forward.
Defining project politics
Political maneuvering is not to be taken out of context. It does not mean manipulation or “Machiavellian posturing,” Montgomery explains. “It is using influence to resolve the issues that arise in any project and developing a relationship with the people who have the formal authority to make decisions.” This …
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