The PM needs to create a safe environment for the team to work in. Once way to do that is by helping the team come up with a working agreement for how different team members will work together.
The PM should also actively engage with and influence the behavior of stakeholders who might be acting in a manner which is detrimental to the team.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Krishna PakkiProject Services Manager| Rio TintoGilbert, Az, United States
In general any organization should have defined a set of core values and priorities along with vision statement. The Organization Culture would reflect that and it is key for Project Manager to ensure his team embrace the same values.
Keeping an open and honest communication is the key. During times of change, it could impact certain teams in unexpected / unpleasant ways. It is important to understands the impacts and prepare for the consequences/challenges. Saving Changes...
Amar SDGM - Global Product Management| ELGi Equipments Ltd.Bangalore, Karnataka, India
These are the situations where PMs influencing and inter-personal skills comes in handy. I personally believe PMs have to shield teams from unwanted nuisance & help them focus on the project.
Ofcourse, sometimes we don't have absolute control. It would be good to have open communication, set clear expectations & support our team. Beyond this, it would be good to escalate to senior management & make them aware of negative repercussions. Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
If an organization's culture is bad enough then the might not be anything a PM can do to shield a team from it. In that case discussing the problems openly with the team and letting them know they can express their frustrations to you may be the best you can do. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
I agree with Eric on this. Fighting organizational culture is not something that can be done by an individual from the bottom up. Even if you take people out and try to instill better values within the team it needs to be a fairly looooong project to allow you to flush out the bad culture influence. The only thing a PM can realistically do is to lead by example and escalate the culture issues in the hope of getting it resolved. But even then you don't turn a big ship on a dime. Saving Changes...
Khai Ng.IT PMO | IT Project Manager| TTGROUPHanoi, Viet Nam
I think it depends on which issues they are. Not all organizational culture issues can be treated by one remedy. The first and foremost thing to do is to talk to executive to find support and proper solution for each emerge issue. It depends on company's leaders passion to change or not. Saving Changes...
Thanks to all for sharing your valuable points. Saving Changes...
Tamer Zeyad SadiqAssistant Cost Manager| Turner & TownsendRiyadh, Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia
Make a good environment and understand culture difference by analysis stakeholder requirement to prepare a stakeholder assessment matrix to manage with them Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Shadav, the project manager is responsible to establish a team culture.
If the organizational culture is suitable or at least not contradicting to the project objectives, the project team culture is just to adapt. But even then you might want to give the team some identification by creating a motto, some rites, maybe a mascot (I once ran a project called MAJA and our mascot was - you bet).
If the organizational culture is not aligned, or the project objectives are counter some of the cultural standards, then it is important to establish a strong team culture.
Imaging to lead a team charged with product innovation at a coffee maker. You might chose to create a culture of tea drinking and ban any coffee. This results in a team identity, a self-understanding and a constant reminder to think outside the box. Saving Changes...
