The Orchestra Conductor of Projects
From the Project Management in Real Life Blog
by Drake Settsu
Sharing my Project Management adventures and some tips.
I like to keep my articles brief and to the point.
Project Management is an Art, Science, and Discipline.
Just keep it simple and have fun!
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The Symphony Orchestra Conductor interprets a composer's score to set the tempo for the Orchestra. The conductor stands most of the time on a raised podium with a baton, but also uses hand gestures and body language to convey the emotions of the musical score to the orchestra.
Will an orchestra function without a conductor? Yes, the show will go on with some inconsistent interpretations of the score. Will there be a good review of that Symphony? Highly unlikely unless they get lucky.
Being a Conductor is an art. Just because you can play beautiful music does not mean you can conduct. The Symphony Orchestra needs a Conductor to be successful on their delivery of music.
The Project Manager is that point person that guides a team to complete tasks on time. The tasks can be completed independently of each other or they need to be completed in a defined order of dependencies to accomplish a deliverable. All the tasks make up a project with a defined scope to deliver results.
Being a Project Manager requires the ability to have a vision on how you will deliver a project on schedule by guiding your team members to stay focused on their part in the project. Every team member plays an important role no matter how small they think their part is. No room for slackers or weak links that will comprise the team's rhythm.
Will a team function without a project manager? Yes, it's done all the time. Will the project be on time within a budget? I don't recommend taking chances without a project manager because you might be lucky to have some good team members that can guide the team to a successful delivery of a project. That might not be the case all the time.
Being a Project Manager is an art too. The delivery of projects on schedule within a budget is like a Symphony Orchestra Conductor that delivers a beautiful Symphony with a standing ovation at the end. That's why the Project Manager is the Symphony Orchestra Conductor of Projects. They deliver results. No standing ovation, only pure satisfaction for the team delivering a successful project.
(Note - this article was originally written by Drake Settsu and published on DrakeSettsu.BlogSpot.com in April 2017)
Posted on: February 16, 2018 05:13 AM |
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Comments (9)
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The analogy between a conductor and project manager is a good one. Thanks Drake.
Thanks Drake - the conductor analogy is one I use frequently when teaching PM fundamentals classes.
Another similarity is that a conductor usually has experience playing one or two musical instruments but is not expected to be a SME across all of them - the same is true of a PM in that they need sufficient domain knowledge to be effective but shouldn't be expected to know the full ins & outs of delivering the solution.
Kiron
Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates
New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
You always have very interesting blog titles Drake. Good One !
Anish Abraham
Privacy Program Manager| University of Washington
Auburn, Wa, United States
Good article, Drake and thanks for sharing.
i think communication is the key, since any lack of communication may result in the loss of harmony in the orchestra and in the project.
Thanks Sante, KIron, Rami & Anish for your comments.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing
I used to act and direct plays. The transition from being an actor to a director is similar to the transition from a team member to a project manager - the latter portions both aligning with your excellent analysis, Drake.
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