Anzor MisabishviliProject Manager| TD BankCherry Hill, Nj, United States
Hi everyone. First of all, let me say that I have recently joined ProjectManagement.com. I've been reading some of the discussions on here and they are very informative and engaging.
I just wanted to share my situation and ask if anyone else has had a similar experience...
I joined my company over a year ago as a Project Coordinator. I have coordinated/managed several projects during this period. At the beginning of this year, in addition to my project management/project coordination functions, I was asked to oversee a small, but critical functional unit within the company. I find the work involved with managing the functional unit very different and pretty interesting. This is a purely functional organization, so as a PM, I didn't have any direct power over the project team, however, as a functional manager, I have a team that directly reports to me, which has its challenges, but is also a good experience. While my involvement in projects has reduced, I still continue to manage a couple of small projects in addition to my role as a functional manager.
Just wanted to know if anyone else has had a similar experience. Would you accept the offer to manage a functional unit in addition to being a PM?
As a Project Manager or a Functional Manager your job is essentially the same: Getting the job done.
And your tools are the same, too: Influencing, Persuading, Directing, Coaxing, Incentivizing, and Motivating.
The only difference is in the possible combination of means.
Because of their formal position in an organizational hierarchy, a FM may have more coercive power than a PM. However, if we bear in mind the lessons of emotional intelligence, we know that on the whole coercive power is one of the less efficient and effective tools in terms of maximizing team productivity.
So I don't think it really makes a substantial difference whether one is a PM or FM. In either case you will be judged on the performance of your team. And in both cases the team will produce in accordance with the leadership you provide.
When we consider organizational dynamics, we see that formal leaders, while endowed with coercive power, may be eclipsed by informal leaders who have a better understanding of the team.
The key, I would suggest, is to take an eclectic approach and utilize whatever is most efficient and effective. This can also mean forming alliances with informal team leaders to gain their support for your targets. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
This post has been removed due to a violation of the user guidelines.
I can completely understand where you are coming from and have to agree that managing a functional unit and a project can be very different experiences depending on the culture, the maturity and team dynamics prevalent within an organization . I have seen that lines are managed more traditionally and involves people reporting to you directly and your team looks upon you as a manager (not project manager). This changes a lot as projects are just a part of your responsibilities. As a project manager you mostly borrow resources and assign tasks for a defined window but functions have a defined task/specialization that they have to perform for long periods and functional teams don't change so often in a traditional organization.
As you said its a nice experience and I think your approach and attitude to deal with your team and organization matters the most. You can use the tools and skills in Project Management to manage work packages but patience, people skills, feedback (360) and constant alignment with organization can go a long way to make you feel at home :-) Saving Changes...
Anzor MisabishviliProject Manager| TD BankCherry Hill, Nj, United States
Thanks for your responses and input, Trevor, Melissa and Maxson.
You are absolutely correct in that one needs to utilize soft skills in both situations. However, there are additional differences that come into play between Project teams and Functional teams. As the manager of a functional team, I have the leverage to request additional incentives for my team members, etc. I just find the dynamics pretty different and it was an interesting finding for me. Saving Changes...
