The Project Management Balancing Act

Colin Ellis wrote an article entitled “The Project Management Balancing Act” in an attempt to persuade his audience that successful project management requires equal amounts of leadership, culture, and methods. He argues that too much of any one quality can disrupt the project and create detrimental problems to its success.

Too Much Leadership
Ellis establishes that every project requires great leadership in order to propel the project forward. However, he explains that if a leader is only charismatic and does not actively participate in the project and demonstrate technical skill or ability, the other members of the team will become frustrated and doubt that the leader is contributing to their collaborative efforts.

Too Much Method
Next, Ellis describes how a reliance on method alone will not produce the same desired result as it appears on paper. He uses the example “a fool with a tool is still a fool” to demonstrate how organizations can become overly fixated on the structure of a project and fail to show adequate leadership. Ellis explains that even with Agile management must be careful not to get too caught up in practice.

Additionally, he makes the point that project managers must also be aware of the various cultures and personalities of the team members in order to tailor the project to the strengths of the team. Managing the culture of the team is an important quality of a leader that can become overlooked if the leader is too fixated on the method alone.

Too Much Culture
Ellis explains how too much culture can become problematic if a team becomes too comfortable with the status quo. He gives the example of a team that has worked together time and time before and has become too comfortable together. This may inhibit future projects because a solution that worked before may not work in a different project setting. Additionally, without introducing new team members with fresh perspectives, the team may become stagnant in their productivity.

Relevance
This article is relevant to our class because it discusses the importance of strong project management and the utilization of agile. However, it expands upon these ideas to include how these methods also require equal parts of leadership and culture in order to make it less likely that a project will fail. As companies and their technologies evolve, its important to consider all aspects of a project and the implications that too much method may cause.

Importance
This article is helpful for an MIS professional and for us as MIS students as we prepare to join the workforce because it discusses other aspects of a project that may be overlooked if a project manager becomes too caught up in any one of them. Ellis is correct in assuming that managers may not take into account aspects such as the leadership and culture when they are trying to stick to the rules of standard operation and blueprints. It is important for us to continue to improve the way in which we operate and remain aware of the competing qualities that are inherent in any project.

Citation:
http://www.cio.com.au/article/592305/project-management-balancing-act/