Helping Project Managers Develop Ability in Managing Uncertainties and Ambiguities in Their Projects

  Career Development   Leadership   Lessons Learned   Strategy  

Project managers are regularly confronted with complex and ambiguous situations in their projects. Ambiguities in projects impact decision making, evoke negative emotions such as stress or anxiety and can have long-term consequences on job satisfaction and burnout. The webinar will present findings from three interrelated studies on managing ambiguities in projects. We will present a catalog of ambiguous situations in projects, including types of ambiguities and specific examples of ambiguities in projects. We will outline and discuss individual, organizational, and situational conditions affecting tolerance of ambiguity, and provide a range of recommendations and strategies for managing ambiguities in projects. Findings from these studies were drawn from the established literature on ambiguities and uncertainties in projects, data from interviews with experienced project managers, and a longitudinal survey with 275 project managers.

Project managers are regularly confronted with complex and ambiguous situations in their projects. Ambiguities in projects impact decision making, evoke negative emotions such as stress or anxiety and can have long-term consequences on job satisfaction and burnout. The webinar will present findings from three interrelated studies on managing ambiguities in projects. We will present a catalog of ambiguous situations in projects, including types of ambiguities and specific examples of ambiguities in projects. We will outline and discuss individual, organizational, and situational conditions affecting tolerance of ambiguity, and provide a range of recommendations and strategies for managing ambiguities in projects. Findings from these studies were drawn from the established literature on ambiguities and uncertainties in projects, data from interviews with experienced project managers, and a longitudinal survey with 275 project managers.