Kiron Bondale ,it seems like there is some misunderstandings with PMP latest content. Additionally, discussing something that occurred 20 years ago may not be relevant, as it could be based on outdated content or suggestions. Although the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification might be scenario-based, Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) or PMP is not authored by one or two individuals, instead, it is a collective body of knowledge based on the best practices recommended by experts, which grounded in real-life best practices, especially in the latest version.
Having recently passed the PMP & PRINCE2 project management certifications, I'd like to share some insights. A Project Manager indeed has the authority to make some significant decisions independently, starting with the official acceptance of the project charter or project brief, according to PMP and PRINCE2 best practices. Neither certification suggests escalating issues to senior management simply because the team is busy, as managing team workload efficiently falls within the project manager's domain. Unless it is necessary.
In real life, project managers must lead the project and be familiar with project resources, including stakeholders, scope, cost and time. Therefore, they need to develop relevant skills to address various issues and balance the constraints. While it's common to encounter busy teams in real-life scenarios, it's essential for leaders, including project managers, to learn how to balance resources effectively. Escalating every busy issue to leadership is not always necessary unless there is a compelling reason. Even in organizations where project managers have weaker influence, managing resources is a skill they should be familiar with.
To summarize, project managers need to develop the skills to address issues, lead project, empower team, and remove obstacles for project success. Escalating issues like "the team is busy" may not align with PMP best practices, as managing time, scope, and other resources efficiently is a skill everyone needs to learn in life. Before resorting to escalation, it's crucial to strike a balance and learn how to effectively manage available resources. In real-life situations, every scenario may vary, making it even more important to apply best practices, particularly regarding essential skills such as resource allocation, whether in the workplace or in personal life.
Danny -
My final word on this is the following.
Although escalation should not be a PM's first course of action, the inability to escalate in a timely manner has been a cause of many project issues that I've witnessed over my career. And I have worked in a number of organizations where PMs were extremely limited in their ability to manage resources and had to lean on their sponsors to help them out. That had nothing to do with their skills or ability to influence but rather the relative power of the PM role to functional managers.
Kiron Bondale,
I have a dream. A dream that someday organizations will recognize the benefits of project management, the role of the project manager (PM), PMO (Project Management Office), and perhaps even the CPO (Chief Project Officer). Saving Changes...
Shane AnastasiCEO, Author and Entrepreneur| PS PrinciplesChicago, United States
Kiron Bondale is spot on although we are dancing around the issue. Personally, I focus on customer-facing project management only, so if you are looking at this as an internal PM then the situation is different, but for CFPM's the project manager does NOT own the project. The project sponsor owns the project as they are the one with the authority to change the budget, change the resources etc. As Kiron pointed out, the PM needs support from the project sponsors because the project sponsor assigns them as their delegate to deliver the project within its constraints.
Yet, project sponsors have no official training or methodology for use. We are busy putting these trainings together at the moment as they are vital for the creation of a professional customer-facing project delivery team. We are developing training not only for the project sponsors, but also for the customer to whom the project is being delivered. This helps the customer understand how devastating their own involvement in the project can be on their chance of achieving success. It's a complicated equation, but we need to put in the effort to work out how to make it repeatably successful. Saving Changes...
Oraib NawashInnovation Project Manager| Free LancerOrland Park, Il, United States
Apr 09, 2024 1:24 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Danny -
And that is why the PMP exam bears little connection to what happens in real life. Having written questions for the PMP exam three times going back to the early 2000s, the perspective has always been of a PM with sufficient political or formal authority to be able to make a significant percentage of decisions on their own.
This is NOT the reality in many industries and organizations, especially those where the project is run within a balanced matrix, weak matrix or functional organizational structure.
Kiron
I agree with you Kiron. In project management real world, the structure of the organization. Years ago, I worked in organizations that in transition phase, they managed projects in a centralized manner by departments where there was no role at all to project managers. When I joined, the position was just created, and I had to escalate too many issues to the upper management as they need to know everything, and they still have the context of centralized management. Saving Changes...
Navaid Ur RehmanAdditional Director / Project Management Expert /Writer /Trainer| Confidential (Pakistan)Karachi, Sd, Pakistan
Dear Oraib,
Project manager role is to ensure the smooth progress of the project and support the team to achieve their goals. If the team is extremely busy and needs assistance, PM can certainly volunteer to take on some tasks to alleviate their workload but Resource optimization is also required at this stage.
Regarding whether the team can assign tasks to a project manager, it depends on the context and the specific dynamics of the team. In some cases, team members might request PM assistance with certain tasks, especially if they align with PM role and expertise. However, it's important to maintain clarity in roles and responsibilities to ensure effective project management. If team members are regularly assigning tasks to the project manager, it could indicate a need for clearer delegation and communication within the team. Saving Changes...
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