Breaking the Pattern of Misuse

Breaking the pattern of misuse can be a daunting task for the project manager, and it largely depends upon the characteristics of organizational culture, politics, and so forth. One approach is to educate your immediate supervisor and your immediate supervisor’s supervisor about the true benefits of project management. This can be easier said than done, particularly if your management is unwilling to learn about project management practices. Another strategy is to identify someone in senior management who may be open to implementing project management practices, request confidentiality, and submit a business plan showing the return on investment as a result of implementing such practices. Since executive management will be concerned with the value added to the company, showing ROI is critical. An unfortunate last resort is to realize that there is no hope for change, and leave the company. Table 3 makes recommendations for breaking patterns of misuse.

Table 3. Breaking the Pattern of Misuse for Each Element

Element of Misuse	Breaking the Pattern of Misuse
Exploiting a project manager’s skills within other departments.	Require your services to be fee based. Set expectations for duration of your services at least a month in advance.
Forcing a project manager to become buried in his project.	Log how may hours you spend each day doing functional area work, compare against your managerial activities, and communicate data to senior management. Provide creative incentives to your project team to pick up the slack.
Expecting a project manager to consistently perform lower-level tasks.	Document how may hours you spend each day on these tasks, show the loss of productive project management work, and communicate data to senior management. Attempt to outsource these tasks to another person (if allowed, be open to compensating him from your budget).
Hindering a project manager’s skill development.	Obtain training autonomously and then prove to the organization that it makes a difference. Develop and communicate a proposed career plan for you to grow within the organization, highlighting benefits to the company.