How a Powerful Project Manager You Are?

If an organization do not work according to agile methodologies, they have a project manager for each project they carry out. This is the first and most important clue to look at when deciding whether an organization is agile or not. In non-agile organizations, there are two very important things that project teams cannot do and that are vital to a project. 1-The project team cannot be self-organized. 2-The project team cannot make a decision on its own. If the project team could accomplish these two important things, the organization would no longer need a project manager.

In this article, I will reveal how strong a project manager can be in non-agile organizations. In the first half of the article, we will examine the types of power a project manager can have. In the second half of the article, we will evaluate how organizations position their project managers in functional and project-based organizations.

The project manager has different power elements, which are also defined by PMBOK 6. The project manager obtains some power elements himself, and some are given within the framework of authority by the organization she/he works for.

First, let's examine the power elements that the project manager will gain on his own;

Informational power: The project manager, as per his role, distributes information to project stakeholders and collects information from project stakeholders. It constantly looks for the shortest and most practical ways to achieve the project goals by analyzing the relationship between the information it has. Since he is the only person who can see the whole project, the information gathered by the project manager creates a power focus on him.
Referent power: The project manager gains a reputation power based on the level of trust and respect felt within the organization. In order to gain reputation, the project manager must have consistency between his statements and actions, never compromise on honesty, and be able to say right to right and wrong to wrong, no matter how weak he is. In terms of management, the fact that the project manager can complete projects as planned is a factor of reputation. It is also important in the long run that the project manager does not make a mistake about his reputation.
Situational power: Throughout the project, things that go wrong for any reason arise. The project manager is the first person to say what needs to be done in crisis situations to get the project back on track. Thus, the project team has the power to save the situation it fell into.
Personal power: According to the character of the project manager, although it contains a lot of variability, it is the power that he creates on the people around him. It is unique to that person only.
Relational power: The project manager, due to his role, may know people who are not known by everyone on the project team, and may be able to reach people that not everyone can easily reach. The project manager has this power in proportion to his network of relationships.
Expert power: The project manager has the power to make judgments and give direction about every step taken by the project team, thanks to the knowledge, experience and expertise he has in the field where the project activity is carried out. The expertise of the project manager is proportional to how much he knows what needs to be done in order to achieve the project's goal. The project manager should be careful to use his expertise in place and to give the team enough space to do their duties.
Integrating power: The project manager, as the person who sees the big picture, has the power to conclude the conflicts arising in the project in the most beneficial way for the project, preparing the ground for the emergence and bringing the maximum value.
Pressure power: The project manager can use force by creating pressure against team members who do not work in accordance with the project goals, in order to obtain the correct and appropriate quality outputs. Although it is a preferred approach to be applied rarely, the project manager will be obliged to do this in organizations with low level of competence and inadequate employees.
Guilt based power: In cases where the project team neglects the instructions of the project manager, it reminds them of their responsibilities and the problems that may arise from negligence. The project manager has the power to ensure that the project team is conscientiously aware of its responsibilities.
Persuasion power: The project manager shares the information he / she has with the other party when he / she needs to persuade and has the power to bring him / her to the point where he / she should take action. The power of persuasion is a competence that can be acquired through a wide variety of experiences.
Avoiding power: The project manager may, in some cases, avoid participating in some conflicts that occur during the project. Thus, it gives the team time to normalize itself and give the team another chance to avoid escalating the problem. Not using his power is also a power from project manager stand point. The critical point here is that the problem does not remain unsolved.

Now, let's take a look at the power elements given to the project manager within the framework of authority by the organization, which the project manager cannot obtain by himself.

Legitimate power: The project manager has a position power due to his role in the organization where he works. The project manager can’t obtain the power he has due to his official position, the organization assigns the project manager to this task. The position power that the project manager can’t achieve on his own, is actually a critical factor that determines the effectiveness of all other types of power that are explained up to this point.
Rewarding power: The project manager has this power based on the authority to reward the project team, according to the project management policies of the organization. Project manager uses its strength by subjecting the project team to a collective reward, not an individual, and linking this to a project goal. For example, the project team is rewarded with concrete criteria such as completing the project stages on time, making errors on the product below the targeted level, closing the project 10% below the budget. Individual rewarding is not fair and collaborative for the project team as it compromises transparency.
Sanction power: The project manager has a sanction power for the members who do not support the project goals and produce output despite all efforts in the project team. The enforcement power can have consequences such as dismissing the project team member from the project or a two-year postponement of promotion.

Now, let's examine how positional power, which is the most important type of power that the project manager cannot achieve by himself, makes the project manager strong or weak according to the organizational policy depending on certain parameters.

Project managers are positioned in a certain hierarchy depending on the needs of the organization they work in, and sometimes on the situational factors.

The table above shows the levels of official position power that the organization gives to the project manager, by key variables. In the diagram below, you can examine a comparison of these positioning in a functional organizational structure.

In organizations with low level of project management maturity, keeping the project manager in a weak position both creates comfort for the organization and is the most basic indicator of the importance given to projects by the organization itself. In such organizations, an application with a weak matrix structure is preferred and the expectations of the organization regarding the project success are also low. It is not very important for the organization to complete the project on time or not to exceed the budget. The power of the people selected as the project manager over the project team is very weak and it is mostly not possible to lock the project team to the same goal. Project team members work in various functions in the organization and are primarily obliged to carry out the tasks in the function by which they are hired. Team members try to complete the project tasks in the remaining time if any when they first fully complete their main functions’ tasks. In this type of weak matrix organization, project tasks are the last priority of the project team. The project manager is patronized by a function, and if there is no other specific reason, this function is often the one that is prone to the greatest failures in projects. The project manager is expected to keep this function under control and block tendencies to possible critical errors. However, this approach, which is structurally contrary to the principle of neutrality, is unfair and unsustainable in terms of other functions. It is a more rational and permanent solution for the organization to invest in people by training critical functions within a long-term plan and to strengthen their weaknesses.

In cases where organizations work with matrix project teams, a very serious contribution of functional managers and senior management is necessary for the projects to be successful. The level of need for this contribution decreases if the project manager is in a strong position and increases if the project manager is in a weak position. There is a balance of power between the function managers and the project manager in organizations that can’t move to a project-based organizational structure and prefer to stay in a matrix structure. In weak matrix structures, the project manager is in a weak position, while the project manager is in a stronger position in strong matrix structures. The direction of the balance of power between the project manager and the function managers is entirely the management decision and is an indicator of the priorities of the organization. If the priority of the organization is operational works, a comfortable working zone is preferred for projects thanks to the weak matrix structure. Project team members are not required to spend effort in priority for projects. By deliberately keeping the project manager in a weak position, the priority is given to operational tasks rather than projects. The organization may not see the projects as a permanent job or it may only carry out projects at certain times of the year. If the priority of the organization is projects and new product development, the project manager is positioned stronger with a strong matrix structure. In an organization whose priority is projects, project team members are primarily directed to spend effort on projects. For the organization, projects can be a continuous business and therefore may choose to have a strong matrix structure. It would not be correct to make a judgment between a weak matrix and a strong matrix as one is better or worse than the other. The critical point here is that the organization deliberately analyzes what it needs and puts the correct organizational structure into practice.

Matrix organizations, whether they are strong or weak, are unlikely to succeed. The biggest reason for this is that, under all circumstances, the employees in the project team have two different supervisors, one being the project manager and the other being the function manager. To resolve this contradiction, the method to be followed is to clearly define the responsibilities of the project manager and functional managers.

The project manager should basically focus to fulfill 5 responsibilities: 1-Define what to do, 2-Define when to do it, 3-Define why to do it, 4-Define how much budget is available to do it, 5-Measure the quality of the work done.

The function manager should basically focus to fulfill 4 responsibilities: 1-Define how to do it, 2-Define where to do it, 3-Define who will do in his team, 4-Obtain / pull the input needed.

Briefly, function managers should focus on delivering the outputs of their expertise while the project manager focus to integrate the whole project. Function managers are responsible for making the best decisions in technical terms. However, the project manager should also rationalize every decision taken, question whether it is really in line with the project objectives and reject any decision that is not appropriate. One of the biggest causes of conflict in matrix structures is the weakness of functions in making decisions. Since each function will consider the variables in the project for its own benefit, it is often not possible to make the best decision for the project. This is one of the most important reasons why matrix structures fail. For this reason, the project manager has to ask top management to make an effort for many decisions that functions cannot take. Functions that do not own the project manager in their structure, both stay away from owning the project and expect the works to be resolved on their own. The more the top management keeps the project manager in a weak position, the more effort it has to make for the progress of the projects.

In organizations with a high level of project management maturity, project-based organizations have been adopted, which eliminate the conflict of double supervisors in the matrix structure. The project manager is the direct report of the CEO and projects are the first agenda item of the organization. The project manager has the power to hire and fire team members, measure performance and manage the project budget. Organizations that adopt a project-based structure are the ones that have demonstrated the will to have the strongest structure. Project tasks are their top priority, as the project team is not tied to any function. Since the organization has high expectations from the success of the project, it does not hesitate to put the project manager in a very strong position. It is very important for the organization that the project is completed on time and within budget. The powerful project manager is not under the auspices of any functions and cannot be restricted by any functions. The project manager is also responsible for the development of the project team. At the same time, the powerful project manager is given the authority by the organization to reward the project team for project achievements within certain budget limits. The powerful project manager has powers not only to reward but also to sanction. For example, the project manager can’t leave team members to the fate of functions, cannot accommodate unqualified team members in the organization, or continue with stakeholders who violate the project objectives.

For project-based organizations with strong positioned project managers, the next and greatest achievement may be the transition to the internalization phase of agile approaches, with self-determined and self-organizing teams. If the organization can show this maturity in the context of agility, it can move towards faster product development and higher competitiveness with autonomous project teams that are compatible with agile frameworks and can make self-decisions.

In summary, the strengths of the project managers and the type of organization adopted by the organization vary according to what the organization wants to achieve, its goals, seriousness and level of maturity. For project managers who are both strong and weak, using unnecessary power creates a kind of micro-management problem, preventing the project team from taking responsibility and making it dysfunctional. The reflections of all these discussions on the organization are observed with the financial results captured in the balance sheet. Businesses that are satisfied with their current financial results cannot reveal their will to make a structural change by leaving their comfort zone. Thus, they continue to miss bigger opportunities that they were not even aware of. Businesses that have a clear vision and need to improve their financial results are ready to go to make big changes to get better. If they can't find a way out, they also risk to disappear.