I have seen this. The most common root-causes have been as follows:
- Excellent soft-skills, promoted to incompetence due to not understanding the big picture or project
- Terrible leadership skills, loses the trust of the team
- Inability to inform and communicate risks, issues, and the headlines without misleading accuracy of health
status and contingency
Mikel
Very often PMs don't have domain knowledge and don't really understand in details the work the team members are doing. This dramatically impairs the ability of the PM to lead the team and to earn the trust and respect of the team members.
If the PM is not an experienced SME in the project's domain (relevant line of work) then you should not punish him for not being able to lead the team. When you assign a PM that is not a SME you should be aware of this problem and should only evaluate him on the things that he can really do. Saving Changes...
I have seen Project Managers being fired because they lost the trust of the team and the team felt they could no longer trust the Project Managers leadership. The reasons for this loss of trust was due to poor communications between the various levels of leadership within an old hierarchical organisation. Decisions on approach to the project were being pushed down the line with limited information on the organisations overall strategy. When these decisions taken by the Project Manager did not pan out then the Project Manager was left carrying the can and was promptly fired. A Project Manager needs to manage the situation, environment as well as the team in order achieve results so always try to have a Project Champion on you team, a person senior in the leadership structure within the organisation who has your back if all else fails. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I have seen Project Managers being "discontinued" or "not renewed" due to an implicit poor performance. It happened to a project manager with a solid IT background that was assigned a project with a heavy technical content within the pharmaceutical industry. This PM failed to learn the industry basics and subsequently failed to deliver a sucessful project. After a few schedule and budget overruns was dismissed. Saving Changes...
Yes. We had a PM who lied to the client, and the client specifically requested he be removed from the project. We subsequently reviewed his CV and found out he also lied about his degree. As a result of his actions, the company missed out on a potential lucrative military contract worth in excess of US$100M. Saving Changes...
Kimberly ChavezPlatform Program Manager, Integration| BrightspeedOverland Park, Ks, United States
I've worked in a leadership role at another company as a PM (left of my own accord due to lack of funding and unrealistic expectations). I've worked as a PC, my current role. I've not witnessed a firing but I will say there is a dangerous line of many PM's I know taking their need to "control" too far. Soft skills are very important in this role. We manage people by default of managing projects. People cannot be controlled. They need to be guided. This often is read as incompetence and yes, I've seen some people come dangerously close to getting fired for that. I've not seen the technical incompetence side of that, hope I never do, for the clients sake. Saving Changes...
Lonnie PacelliAuthor & President| ProjectManagementAdvisor.comBellevue, Wa, United States
Yes. Most common reasons:
* Lack of transparency on a project in trouble
* Inability to save a project in trouble
* Not recognizing a project as being in trouble
Notice the theme? It's always revolved around projects being in trouble and the PM not able to save it. In my career I've been on all sides of the equation: the PM brought in to save a troubled project, the leader deciding to replace the PM, and the PM getting booted. Never comfortable but was necessary. Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
Project managers are lightning rods. We all develop broad shoulders. Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Sep 28, 2019 2:55 PM
Replying to Rami Kaibni
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Hi Luis, A Combination of both but mostly Leadership and Soft Skills issues.
Dear Rami
Thanks for your feedback
We agree.
In the vast majority of situations as a result of leadership Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Sep 28, 2019 4:49 PM
Replying to Lily Murariu
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I have seen PM been replaced due to the inability to lead the team and provide the necessary to succeed.
I have also seen PMs been moved to another group, to avoid the "firing" process.
Dear Lily
Thanks for your feedback
We agree.
In the vast majority of situations as a result of inability to lead the team Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Sep 29, 2019 2:55 AM
Replying to Anton Oosthuizen
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Yes seen it a lot. But not because of incompetence. A previous company I worked for regularly removed PM's when the heat came to close to management. In one case I requested that they provide a PM with help because of the workload and the fact that his wife was going through a difficult pregnancy. They terminated his contract :(
There are two functions that can expect to receive heat when things go south - the PM and the BA. Sometimes it is justified but more often than not it is more a matter of convenience.
Dear Anton
Thanks for sharing your opinion
In general, can we consider that project managers are fired for convenience? Saving Changes...
