Page 24 - DMGT521_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 1: Introduction to Projects

Notes
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Case Study Who is the Project Manager?

Assigning Project Management Responsibility for Success

A project manager’s prime task is managing a project to success. The products of the
project need to be picked up by the line organisation, and if this involves change in the
organisation or ways of working, the changes must be made to ‘stick’. By ensuring that the
responsibilities for project management and business change are well assigned in a project
there is an increased chance of success.

The Dilemma
In all projects assigning the correct project manager is crucial. The choice is often not
simple. I have experienced this in the form of a dilemma: do we appoint someone who is
an experienced project manager or someone who will champion the change? Very often
the experienced project manager will come from a technical background, e.g. IT, and will
not have authority to make changes in the organisation or processes. On the other hand
the change champion will have credibility with the business unit, but often not have the
project skills required. If you can always find all of this in one person, then good luck to
you; you don’t need the rest of this article!

When is This a Problem?
There can be a problem in a project that is not part of a programme. Let’s look at the
differences between programmes and projects. I’ll use MSP™ (Managing Successful
Programmes of the OGC) to illustrate. MSP clearly differentiates between projects - that
deliver outputs - and programmes - that deliver outcomes. The main difference is that a
project that is not part of a programme delivers the output to the line organisation; the
line management is subsequently responsible for achieving the benefits (outcomes). A
programme, on the other hand, is also responsible for the benefits realisation of the
projects within the programme.

I have noticed, in our organisation at least, that projects are expected to deliver the change
in the organisation, so the outcome is not achieved if the project only delivers the output.
How Does it go Wrong?

To ensure a good mix of business change and project management, for IT projects, we have
in the past staffed projects with a project manager from the customer, a “business PM” or
BPM, and an experienced project manager from IT, the “IT PM”, reporting to them. This
can work well, depending on the individuals and how well they cooperate and complement

Contd...

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