ketevan kipshidzeHead of Commercial Operations| Proxylive SolutionsTbilisi, Georgia, Georgia
I was a PM of the project and had a project coordinator, young guy with too much ambition. He had no experience in project management, but was the lower and head of legal department in our organization. He doesn't wanted to follow my orders and we had disagreement very often. what would you advice me in such cases? Saving Changes...
Well, you have an option to remove the person from the project, however, as Sergio mentioned - the first thing is to understand why is that behavior.
For instance - is it over managing, strengths not being utilized, ideas not welcomed, not appreciated/ respected for contributions made, communication gap, not heard, etc.
“If a problem can be solved it will be. If it cannot be solved there is no use worrying about it.” – Dalai Lama Saving Changes...
All have given good suggestions. My two cents are :
1. First to understand why is that behaviour, through one-on-one
2. Secondly you can also try to find the reason every time while he is not agreeing to follow his orders. If his reasons are valid and if his approach to do things are sensible then you may agree to do the work in his way, a couple of times. This will develop your rapport and eventually you might work collaboratively. Saving Changes...
Am I the only one that had to read twice to understand "he doesn't want to follow my orders"...
I will play the evil's advocate game and I'll recommend you to review your leadership style, what if instead of "orders", you'll give him recommendations, observations, tips, advice, guide, assistance, support...
Maybe is cultural, maybe is because English isn't' my first language but it was more than 10 years ago that my mangers don't give me "orders" or I don't give "orders" to my team members...
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1 reply by ketevan kipshidze
Sep 20, 2018 3:39 AM
ketevan kipshidze
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Hi Mayte. English isn't my first language and maybe because I didn't write correct. i'm not the boss, who gives orders to his team members:) it would be better if I wrote "unwilling to follow Plan".
Saving Changes...
ketevan kipshidzeHead of Commercial Operations| Proxylive SolutionsTbilisi, Georgia, Georgia
Sep 19, 2018 2:28 PM
Replying to Mayte Mata Sivera
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Am I the only one that had to read twice to understand "he doesn't want to follow my orders"...
I will play the evil's advocate game and I'll recommend you to review your leadership style, what if instead of "orders", you'll give him recommendations, observations, tips, advice, guide, assistance, support...
Maybe is cultural, maybe is because English isn't' my first language but it was more than 10 years ago that my mangers don't give me "orders" or I don't give "orders" to my team members...
Hi Mayte. English isn't my first language and maybe because I didn't write correct. i'm not the boss, who gives orders to his team members:) it would be better if I wrote "unwilling to follow Plan".
Hi Mayte. English isn't my first language and maybe because I didn't write correct. i'm not the boss, who gives orders to his team members:) it would be better if I wrote "unwilling to follow Plan".
I don't really understand what you want to say but if you are the PM and he is a project coordinator in the sense of an entry level project management specialist then he should follow your orders at least until he becomes more experienced. This is true in all professions, the entry level specialist follows the orders of the more experienced one until he becomes experienced too.
Now if what you call a project coordinator is not a project management specialist but some sort of SME or technical lead then it is not your job as a PM to give him orders unless you are a SME too. In most cases PMs and team members are peers and there is no subordination, the PM is not the boss.
Still the team members must follow the plan written by the PM but this plan must have been created with the input and approval of the team members or the approval of the functional managers to which the team members report.
If you made up the plan by yourself with no input from the team members then it is natural that they would not follow it as it may make no sense for them. Even if the team members agreed with the plan or even they made the plan project difficulties may force them not to follow it. For instance during work the team members may find out that the plan simply is not realistic. In these cases the PM with the input from the team must amend the plan and inform the stakeholders. Approval from stakeholders may be needed for this. Saving Changes...
Agree with Ashok that after identifying the 'symptoms', need to conduct one-on-one meeting with the coordinator to analyze the root-cause(s) of the issue. Understand the project coordinator's perspectives and evaluate any positive inputs. Then explain to him why need to follow instructions and the negative impacts of not following. After ironing out the perspectives and understand each other, evaluate any avenues to collaborate and resolve the issue. Explain to him that the project is about teamwork and how each member's contributions will affect the project outcome, company's goals, as well as his/her own credibility. Hence, everyone to perform their roles and responsibilities.
Matrix structures are organization structures that blend departmental employees, duties and resources together on a common project. The project manager shares responsibility with the functional managers for assigning tasks and directing instructions to project members Depending on number of projects a team member is participating in, he/she may have to report to multiple project managers as well as to his/functional manager. Thus, also can take into consideration of the types of Project Matrix Structure.
1) Weak Matrix structure maps closely to functional structures. The project team may come from different departments, but the project manager reports directly to a specific functional manager. Hence, project managers in weak matrix organizations have limited authority and may be managing a part-time project team and have limited authority.
2) Balanced Matrix structure is similar to a Weak Matrix, but the project manager has more time and power in the project. It still has time-accountability issues for all team members, because their functional managers will want reports on their time within the project. Project Managers in a balanced matrix typically have a full-time role as project manager with reasonable authority.
3) Strong Matrix structure means strong project manager. Many of the same attributes for the project team exists, but the project manager gains power when it comes to project work. The project manager has a reasonable-to-high level of power.
4) Projectized Structure is the pinnacle of project management structures. This structure groups employees, collocated or not, by tasks of a particular project. Project managers typically have complete or very close to complete power over the project team. Hence, they have the highest level of autonomy of managing project when compared to other structures. At the same time, they also have a higher level of responsibility regarding the project's success. They typically work full-time on the project with the team.
These are purely theoretical models in reality most companies don't perfectly fit to any of these models.
The general rule is that each employee has only one line manager, and this line manager is the only person that can give orders to that employee. Sometimes the line manager of the line manager and upper line mangers can also give orders to employees but this rarely happens.
PMs are not line managers so they can't give orders. But anyway even those that have formal authority rarely give orders to their direct reports, the era of giving orders has started to disappear from the business world and can only be seen in armed forces. Saving Changes...
