Arvind KumarDelivery Manager| IT OrganizationChicago, Il, United States
I heard from my colleagues most of time that team is not productive, not able to manage, not proactive and most of time reactive, not motivated and many more..
In my view it’s Project Manager responsibility to manage these issues and one can manage team efficiently if we interact with team as People Manager.
True, organizations do not hire PM's to replace functional managers.
PM's are sought primarily to manage projects and the human resources assigned to same.
All management roles (including project management) involve people management. I would argue that PM's have to exhibit as much if not more people management skills than many functional managers. PM's deal with functional managers, stakeholders, project team resources, SME's, vendors, HR etc. Further, they rotate around on projects so they deal with a lot more different individuals over time.
Their participation at senior level management and board level depends on the maturity of project management within the organization, it's size, and how they value projects. When you have a PMO, or even strong matrix without a PMO, project managers often sit on committees, and I have seen many senior level project/program/portfolio managers sitting in positions as high as CXO or Board of Directors. Contractors don't have much political sway, nor do project management employees within functional and weak matrix organizations, hence their high exposure and skills developed in people management (ie. negotiation, motivation, influence).
Again it doesn't matter if the team was filled with 10 Einsteins. It is quite common that project managers manage project teams consisting of much more domain-orientated skilled individuals than they are. These individuals are experts; the PM doesn't need to be one. There is no humiliation, because the project manage is not telling them how to do their job, only facilitating what needs to be done. Same thing with a product manager in Agile, they would say what needs to be done at a high level, not break it down to how it will be done. The "junior" project manager (aren't even senior project managers "junior" compared to 10 Einsteins in a project team?) is responsible for delivering the project deliverables, and managing resources, and any appraisal would not be based on the individual's technical ability which I think I have stated several times. Any appraisal would be based on team dynamics, the way the team performs on project deliverables, lessons learned etc. not how well they code or whatever their specialty is. That would be up to the functional manager in their individual performance assessment reviews with the employee.
Organizations should definitely avoid appointing project managers as line managers just to allow them to manage people. They are already managing people that are assigned to the project. Their line manager is the functional manager. The FM is responsible for their employment, conduct, salary, training etc. The PM is responsible for their activities within the project.
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1 reply by Adrian Carlogea
Jun 25, 2018 6:57 PM
Adrian Carlogea
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Thank you very much for taking the time to write this comment for me but also for all the other people that are reading this discussion forum.
I understand your point of view and I think that to some extent we could consider that PMs do manage people. Nonetheless the term people manager is usually being used for managers that do have direct reports and it usually refers to things such as hiring and firing employees, managing their work assignments, providing technical leadership and guidance, career development, individual appraisals and managing the employees rewards system (pay raises, promotions, bonuses).
I remembers seeing on linkedin the personal page of a program manager that also had line management responsibilities for a team of project managers. She had her description divided into two sections in one of them she described her work as a program manager and in the other one her work as a people manager for the team of project managers. I clearly remember that she used this term people manager when referring to her line management responsibilities.
I am not trying to discredit PMs, on the contrary I find this profession fascinating, but I am just trying to be realistic since it appears that in many cases there are some consistent differences between theory and practice in the field of project management.
Saving Changes...
George LewisProgram/Project Manager| DXC Technology CompanyHeredia, Costa Rica
Interesting conversation... I would say there is a reason we have Resource Management in the PMBOK standard, but to be an overall people manager as such, that's a difficult task indeed. I don't think it is correct to take on that entire responsibility and still be effective. Saving Changes...
True, organizations do not hire PM's to replace functional managers.
PM's are sought primarily to manage projects and the human resources assigned to same.
All management roles (including project management) involve people management. I would argue that PM's have to exhibit as much if not more people management skills than many functional managers. PM's deal with functional managers, stakeholders, project team resources, SME's, vendors, HR etc. Further, they rotate around on projects so they deal with a lot more different individuals over time.
Their participation at senior level management and board level depends on the maturity of project management within the organization, it's size, and how they value projects. When you have a PMO, or even strong matrix without a PMO, project managers often sit on committees, and I have seen many senior level project/program/portfolio managers sitting in positions as high as CXO or Board of Directors. Contractors don't have much political sway, nor do project management employees within functional and weak matrix organizations, hence their high exposure and skills developed in people management (ie. negotiation, motivation, influence).
Again it doesn't matter if the team was filled with 10 Einsteins. It is quite common that project managers manage project teams consisting of much more domain-orientated skilled individuals than they are. These individuals are experts; the PM doesn't need to be one. There is no humiliation, because the project manage is not telling them how to do their job, only facilitating what needs to be done. Same thing with a product manager in Agile, they would say what needs to be done at a high level, not break it down to how it will be done. The "junior" project manager (aren't even senior project managers "junior" compared to 10 Einsteins in a project team?) is responsible for delivering the project deliverables, and managing resources, and any appraisal would not be based on the individual's technical ability which I think I have stated several times. Any appraisal would be based on team dynamics, the way the team performs on project deliverables, lessons learned etc. not how well they code or whatever their specialty is. That would be up to the functional manager in their individual performance assessment reviews with the employee.
Organizations should definitely avoid appointing project managers as line managers just to allow them to manage people. They are already managing people that are assigned to the project. Their line manager is the functional manager. The FM is responsible for their employment, conduct, salary, training etc. The PM is responsible for their activities within the project.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write this comment for me but also for all the other people that are reading this discussion forum.
I understand your point of view and I think that to some extent we could consider that PMs do manage people. Nonetheless the term people manager is usually being used for managers that do have direct reports and it usually refers to things such as hiring and firing employees, managing their work assignments, providing technical leadership and guidance, career development, individual appraisals and managing the employees rewards system (pay raises, promotions, bonuses).
I remembers seeing on linkedin the personal page of a program manager that also had line management responsibilities for a team of project managers. She had her description divided into two sections in one of them she described her work as a program manager and in the other one her work as a people manager for the team of project managers. I clearly remember that she used this term people manager when referring to her line management responsibilities.
I am not trying to discredit PMs, on the contrary I find this profession fascinating, but I am just trying to be realistic since it appears that in many cases there are some consistent differences between theory and practice in the field of project management.
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1 reply by Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
Jun 25, 2018 7:12 PM
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Diversity of opinions is what makes forums like this so important. While we may not agree on everything, there is rarely a right wrong answer when it comes to managing people; it is almost always situational. A lot of what I was saying relates not only to project management but specifically Agile projects where the traditional ways we manage projects and people are challenged and in some cases completely reversed. Our respective realities do seem different, but they are outnumbered by the commonalities we share within our profession.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write this comment for me but also for all the other people that are reading this discussion forum.
I understand your point of view and I think that to some extent we could consider that PMs do manage people. Nonetheless the term people manager is usually being used for managers that do have direct reports and it usually refers to things such as hiring and firing employees, managing their work assignments, providing technical leadership and guidance, career development, individual appraisals and managing the employees rewards system (pay raises, promotions, bonuses).
I remembers seeing on linkedin the personal page of a program manager that also had line management responsibilities for a team of project managers. She had her description divided into two sections in one of them she described her work as a program manager and in the other one her work as a people manager for the team of project managers. I clearly remember that she used this term people manager when referring to her line management responsibilities.
I am not trying to discredit PMs, on the contrary I find this profession fascinating, but I am just trying to be realistic since it appears that in many cases there are some consistent differences between theory and practice in the field of project management.
Diversity of opinions is what makes forums like this so important. While we may not agree on everything, there is rarely a right wrong answer when it comes to managing people; it is almost always situational. A lot of what I was saying relates not only to project management but specifically Agile projects where the traditional ways we manage projects and people are challenged and in some cases completely reversed. Our respective realities do seem different, but they are outnumbered by the commonalities we share within our profession. Saving Changes...
