Project & Program Management
Copyright 1996, The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
TTThhheee PPPrrrooojjjeeecccttt OOOffffffiiiccceee:::
High-flying PM Aces &
TV Weather People
he whole project office
concept gets a lot of bad-
mouthing, particularly from
the high flying aces in the
project management
squadron. Besides multi-
hyphenated curse words, we
hear various complaints:
·
· Some PMs complain of
mindless paper shufflers
who achieve nothing but
taking up everybody else’s
time.
·
· Other PMs grouse about
project office know-it-alls
who tell everyone else how
to run projects but never
have to climb in the cockpit
themselves.
·
· Top executives point stern
fingers at the project office
after a project crashes and
burns. Between crashes,
these execs usually refuse
to look at any of the PO’s
reports.
Who is right and who is
wrong? Is it best to just avoid
a transfer to the project
office?
Well many of these above
problems occur when
organizations have the wrong
type of project office for their
stage of project management
development. There are three
basic types of project office.
They all gaze up at the
heavens and watch what’s
going on but they perceive
things from three different
perspectives: the Weather
Station, the Control Tower and
the Squadron Commander.
The Weather Station
Just like your friendly TV
weather person, this project
office reports on what is going
on overhead but does not try
to influence it. This PO
bothers none of the pilot/PMs
flying their project craft. These
weather people accumulate
data about conditions and
note who is flying in what
direction but never try to fix
anything. They just pass on
information to anyone who is
interested. People in weather
stations draw a lot of smile-
faces on their hand-written
notes. This cheeriness gets
them very little cooperation
from the swaggering PMs
piloting their high-flying
project craft, each according
to his or her own plan.
The Control Tower
Here the folks in the project
office give direction to project
managers. Each PM flies his
or her own craft but follows
instructions from the control
tower, particularly during take-
offs and landings. Just like
air-traffic controllers, these
control tower people are a
nervous lot. They get blamed
for all the crashes even after
the PM/pilot has been burned
to a cinder. The PM pilots pay
close attention to the control
tower because they get
grounded if they don’t follow
the rules.
The Squadron
Commander (SC)
In this project office, the SC
tells all the PM/pilots when to
enter their cockpits and when
to take-off. Once in the air, all
the PMs fly in strict formation
under the SC’s close
direction. Some pilots can be
aces and others get shot
down but the SC is evaluated
for the overall performance of
the Squadron. The SC reports
on the effectiveness of each
pilot and grounds the
nincompoops. The SC
allocates fuel and ammo to the
pilots, often based on a
priority scheme too
complicated for any mere
mortal to comprehend.
T
Project & Program Management
Copyright 1996, The Hampton Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Which is the Best?
So what’s the best kind of
project office? The answer
depends on the state of
project management in the
organization. The odd thing
about project management
today is that we see Weather
Stations in organizations that
should have Squadron
Commanders and Control
Towers where we should have
one of the other forms.
What kind of organization
needs a Weather Station?
Unfortunately, we often see
them in organizations where
project management is
relatively new. These
organizations are usually
struggling with the problem of
integrating cross-functional
projects into the management
hierarchy. As a result, top
management limits the role of
the project office to avoid
further bruising the toes, and
the fragile egos, of already
sensitive line managers. Yet,
when project management is
relatively new to the
organization, it needs more
centralized control and
enforcement to instill a
disciplined approach.
We see Squadron
Commanders more and more
frequently, sometimes as
employees but usually as
outside consultants.
Organizations who use
squadron commanders
usually have two problems.
First, projects have become
very dense in the
organization. All the best line
managers and staff experts
have multiple project
assignments in addition to
their "real jobs" and resource
allocation and prioritization
are out of control. Second,
management is:
• unable to exercise control
over the organization’s
portfolio of projects, and
• unwilling to enforce an
organization-wide protocol
for planning, approving
and tracking projects
So the organization attempts
to resolve the mess of failed
projects and wasted millions
by bringing in Squadron
Commanders to straighten out
the mess. Sometimes this
works but it takes a very
skilled SC to fix the mess and
support the continued
development of the
organization’s project
managers. Usually, the PMs
become so dependent on the
SC that the consultant can
never leave (a situation about
which the consultants shed
big tears but still grudgingly
take the money). When the
consultants' bill finally
exceeds the GNP of a small
South American country and
the SCs get tossed out, the
organization is often worse off
than before.
We see effective Control
Towers only rarely. They
belong only in organizations
that have solved the authority
problems of cross-functional
projects and developed a
cadre of skilled project
managers who apply a
consistent protocol for
planning, budgeting and
tracking their projects. The
Control Tower allows line
managers and PMs sufficient
"elbow room" for creativity
while still allocating resources
properly and coordinating the
organization’s airspace.
So what’s the moral of
this high-flying air
show?
The operating process of the
project office must evolve with
project management in
organizations. We may need
the discipline of the SC in the
beginning if we cannot train
and guide our project
managers. But we must
loosen the strictures on
project managers as they and
the discipline of project
management mature in the
organization. The SC thus
evolves into a Control Tower.
The Weather Station is
appropriate only when project
management is so embedded
in the organization that cross-
functional projects constitute
the organization’s structure
rather than being just an
appendage to it.
Juana
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