PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Read the case study below and answer ALL the questions that follow

THE MANAGEMENT CONTROL FREAK

Background

The company hired a new vice president for the Engineering Department, Richard Cramer. Unlike his predecessor, Richard ruled with an iron fist and was a true micromanager. This played havoc with the project managers in the department because Richard wanted to be involved in all decisions, regardless of how small.

What to do

Anne was an experienced project manager who had been with the company for more than 20 years. She had a reputation for being an excellent project manager, and people wanted to work on her projects. A few months before Richard was hired, Anne was assigned to a two-year project for one of the companys most important clients. Anne had worked on projects for this client previously, and the results had been well received. The client actually requested that Anne be assigned to this project. Almost all of Annes team members had worked for her before. Some had even asked to work for her on this project. Anne knew some of the people personally and trusted their decision-making skills. Work progressed smoothly until about the third week after Richard Cramer came on board. In a meeting with Anne, Richard commented:

I have established a policy that I will be the project sponsor for all projects where the project managers report to someone in Engineering. I know that the vice president for marketing had been your sponsor for previous projects with this client, but all of that will now change. So Anne, talk to my secretary and set up weekly briefings for me on the status of your project.

These comments didnt please Anne. The vice president for marketing was quite friendly with the client, and now things were changing. Anne understood Richards reasons for wanting to do this but certainly was not happy about it. Over the next month, Anne found that her working relationship with Richard was getting progressively worse, and it was taking its toll on the project. Richard was usurping Annes authority and decision making. Richard wanted to see all of the detailed schedules and wanted a signature block for himself on all documents that involved engineering decisions. There was no question in Annes mind that Richard was a true micromanager. At the next full team meeting, some workers complained that Richard was calling them directly, without going through Anne, and making some decisions that Anne did not know about. Anne could tell that morale was low and hear people mumbling about wanting to get off of the project. At Annes next meeting with Richard, she made it quite clear how upset she was with his micromanagement of the project. If this continued, she would have a very unhappy client. This situation could not be allowed to continue without damaging the project further. Anne then came up with a plan. She would allow Richard to micromanage and even help him do so. For the next several weeks, Anne and all team members refused to make even the smallest decisions themselves. Instead, they brought all of the decisions directly to Richard. Richard was now being swamped with information overload and was spending a large portion of his time making mundane decisions on Annes project. In the next team sponsor briefing meeting with Anne, Richard stated: I guess that youve taught me a lesson. If its not broken, then there isnt any reason to fix it. What can we do to repair the damage I may have done? Anne could not believe that Richard was saying these words. She thought for a moment and then went over to the whiteboard in Richards office. She took a marker and drew a vertical line down the centre of the board. She put her name to the left of the line and Richards name to the right of the line. She then said: Im putting my responsibilities as a project manager under my name, and Id like you to put your responsibilities as a sponsor under your name. However, the same responsibility cannot appear under both names.

Question 1 [20 Marks]

1.1 According to the case study above, Mr. Richard and Anne are experiencing conflict of interest which isnt an uncommon phenomenon in project management environments. Discuss the differences between management and leadership and how these can assist Mr. Richard and Anne in their future projects. (6 marks)

1.2 It can be determined that Richard and Anne believed in different styles of leadership, With reference to the case study, identify and discuss THREE (3) advantages and THREE (3) disadvantages of the styles Richard and Anne used in their respective positions of management. (14 marks)