This is the most prevailing situation but usually nobody talks about it or admit
it. I will mention some of the situations when project manager has more emotions
attached with project management tasks than necessary. This discussion can help,
if you or people around you are facing such emotional situations.
So let us discuss what we exactly mean by “emotionally carried away”.
In our discussion we would prominently focus on decisions, discussions and behavior
of project managers which are influenced by his emotions, in some case to smaller
degree and to higher degree in some other cases.
Let us take few situations where emotions play a significant role.
Selecting the team and team leaders
This is a vital situation where often teams are selected by project managers on
basis of favoritism to someone or comfort level in working with him/her, in spite
of selecting the best person for the job. This can further create problems for all.
Secondly, the selection of team leaders is mostly done on a parameter of good equation
of individuals with his project manager and which results in selecting him as a
team leader in spite of understanding that whether he will be able to manage his
team well enough and can produce results or not.
Assigning tasks and duties to the team members
This is most interesting and critical part. It is generally observed that most of
the tasks are allocated to people who are doing the best job and work the most while
less work is allocated to those who do not work well enough. To its affect, the
person who is working the most has higher chances of getting things wrong, as we
say “More work more mistakes and less work less mistake”.
Now, if project manager is not maintaining the balance of work allocation between the handworker and the lazy one, he is
liable to scold the wrong person most of the time. This may result in lack of motivation
for the good employee and holiday kind of period for the lazy ones.
Being a good boy
Being good is always appreciated and sometimes, due to personal nature, it is becomes
the most wanted trait of project manager. Members, team leaders, assistants, support
staff all love kind-hearted project managers. This sometime makes PM more worried
about maintaining his reputation and wants everybody to speak nice about him, in
spite of thinking to get productivity from the team and candidly tell people if
they are doing something wrong or not performing up to the mark. This happens when
the emotional quotient is high and being good is part of the personality of the
manager. It is very difficult for him to change and personally, he does not
want to change it as he is so conservative in nature for his image of “Good
boy”.
Sense of insecurity from other colleagues
This is an emotional insecurity for the project manager when he/she feels that his
position can be taken away by his junior members and to be on the safer side, he
refuses to train his younger team or do not let them do the important tasks which
he performs by himself, in order to maintain his exclusiveness. Although this does
not work in this way; the project manager should allow his team to learn his tasks
and perform them correctly, for, if he does that then only he will get the chance
to move higher in the position hierarchy otherwise he will be stuck at that same
position as there is no one who can take the responsibility of his present position.
Hence, no one is there to occupy that position and give project manager opportunity
to move further in the ladder.
Backing up his team at inappropriate situations, before his own seniors
This is something which project manger does when he is emotionally carried away
with the image of being a good boy. In process of maintaining that image among its
team, there will be cases of missed deadlines, low quality of work, justifying the
mistakes of the team members and putting incorrect things in correct manner. For
example, convincing the seniors that the person in the team has taken the leave
for the right reason and it was very urgent although he (PM) himself feels that
leave was unjustified but he did not refused the application due to his own emotional
barriers. Due to such unjustified explanations and situation clearing, it sometimes
become very difficult for project managers to sustain their own designation and
keep their reputed position intact in eyes of their seniors because seniors can
find out what is actually going on.
There are lot other situations where project managers are carried away by emotions
like at the time of appraisals, perks, holidays and others but those do not affect
the project health and progress directly or day-to-day culture of company.
I will be very happy to have your comments as these are only my experience and thoughts
and I may have not covered some alike situations.
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