What Does Results-Focused Management Really Mean? (Part 2)

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Strategy  

In Part 1 of this article, I looked at the relationship between results-focused project managers and sponsors, as well as considering what was required for PMs to be able to make business-focused decisions. In this second and final part, I want to look at how those concepts transfer into the way that PMs actually manage their teams and the tasks that those teams perform. At the heart of that discussion is the extent to which teams need to understand the focus on results rather than deliverables.

There have been many studies over the years that suggest that teams that understand why their project is being done are more likely to be engaged and motivated. That makes sense--it gives purpose to the work. But does that also extend to the level of detail where they need to understand the difference between a results focus and a constraints or deliverables focus? The not-very-helpful answer is, “It depends.”

If a team member is being asked to take on some form of decision-making role on the project, they absolutely need the context of a results focus--especially as that is different from the traditional approach they are used to. Typically, this is the more senior team members as well as individuals with specialist/subject matter expert roles. For other team members who are focused exclusively on execution of assigned work, it is enough that they understand the high …

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