Project Management is Dying — Here’s How to Save It
Project management, as we know it, is dying. Yes, dying with a capital D.
Blasphemy you say! Well, before you burn your toast…
Hear Me Out.
Some say project management isn’t dying. It’s simply evolving or adapting to a new age.
I beg to differ.
Project management is suffering at the expense of competing approaches to delivering project results. Work that has traditionally been done by project managers is being watered down and distributed amongst other professions (and technology).
It’s called death by a thousand cuts.
Don’t get me wrong; project management won’t go poof and disappear. To the contrary, there will be jobs for professionals who are able to get project results through others. Here’s the thing…they just might not be labeled project managers.
Furthermore, there’s a question of how many jobs will remain, the quality of those jobs, and the pay they’ll command. For example, will companies need to employ as many full-time project managers? On the other hand, will a small cadre of part-time (maybe even outsourced) coordinators be enough to get the job done?
This begs the question…
Is Formal Project Management Necessary?
At the risk of being accused of heresy and having practitioners the world over demand my head be put on a chopping block, let’s take a step back and objectively consider the implications of the question.
Each time I read an article about a high profile corporate or government project failing, it feels like another cut is slashed across the gut of the project management profession. Consequently, project management’s worth is being called into question while competing approaches encroach upon traditional project management territory.
You see, we’ve allowed ourselves to get distracted by business nomenclature and clever methodologies thus losing sight of the end goal. We need to ask ourselves if we manage projects or do we facilitate agreed upon outcomes? Better yet, is the goal to manage projects or deliver value?
This isn’t insinuating there won’t be some sectors that will still need formal project management such as construction and utilities. The real question is -
“Do companies need command and control managers in times of TRANSFORMATIONAL change?”
Other experts have asked versions of this question in the past as well. For example, Stephen Green voiced his concerns in the article, “ Are Managers Really Necessary? “ -
“And yet, from the 18th century onwards, a sweeping era of change brought about its own philosophy of keeping things under control and making sure that every penny spent on labour and materials was examined by an increasing number of overseers, accountants, ‘superiors’ and superintendents. The need for a Manager was not only a new invention, it satisfied a self-serving, counter-intuitive but well-articulated ‘necessity’.”
This reminds me of the scene from Office Space when the consulting team asked Tom Smykowski, the manager, “What Would You Say You Do Here?”
Although funny, you have to empathize with Tom’s pain. The poor guy literally imploded from the stress of having to justify his existence.
As fate would have it, this scene was a harbinger of the morass that business managers (including project managers) would face over the coming decades. Everything from downsizing and outsourcing to automation would nip at their heels like a Chihuahua.
Competitive industries such as IT are already embracing ‘management lite’ and self-directed methodologies such as Scrum and Holacracy. The writing is on the wall. Companies, of all sizes, won’t need as many full-time managers as they did before.
Disruptive forces are making traditional forms of management irrelevant. Believe it or not, the future of project management is actually LESS management.
Set Project Teams Free
According to a Gallup survey, 84% of respondents work in matrix organizations. Only a handful of sectors assign project managers to dedicated teams.
By their very nature, matrix organizations emphasize the need for facilitative skills in order to deliver successful results. Project managers in these environments aren’t managing so much as they’re facilitating agreed upon outcomes.
Add to this the fact younger generations want to go boss-free. A recent LinkedIn article stated -
“The number of self-employed US workers could triple by 2020 to 42 million, according to a survey by accounting firm FreshBooks. A staggering 97% of those who freelance say they’re not interested in returning to traditional work — up from 10% in 2016. Some 43% think the switch will give them more control over their career. The survey results lend credence to what other studies have suggested: For many, climbing the corporate ladder isn’t as appealing as professional freedom.”
Could this be one of the forces driving companies to embrace less formal management and remote teams? They want to retain their best performers.
One of the biggest motivators for employees to become freelancers is to gain freedom. If organizations don’t give it to them, they’ll take matters into their own hands.
Today, employees (and outsourced staff) prefer less management and better leadership. Among other things, strong leaders are expected to -
- Remove roadblocks
- Set clear expectations
- Empower teams to do their best
- Act as a calming force in a sea of disorder
- Protect them from unnecessary distractions
Organizations that are hanging on for dear life to management practices that climaxed over 20 years ago should rethink their managers’ roles. Here are some resources to get started -
Final Thoughts
Project management is more than just a nice-to-have skill or even a profession. It is a way of thinking. Or, better yet, a structured approach to preventing and solving problems.
The traditional way of employing project managers (and their teams) has run its course. I gave more details about this trend in a previous article titled, “Automation is Coming for Your Project Management Job. Here’s How to Hold on to It.”
The quicker companies get their project managers to stop managing projects and start owning them, the better. No longer will they simply deliver to project expectations; they’ll help set the expectations and influence the goal itself. Consequently, their value and authority will increase within the organization.
The days of barking orders or jumping in the weeds to micromanage subject matter experts have run their course. Ask yourself -
“Isn’t it time we build trust with our teams and set them free?”
About Oliver Yarbrough, PMP®
Oliver is a LinkedIn® Learning Author, speaker, trainer, and leading expert in project management, PMP® Exam Prep, and growth strategies to raise competitiveness. You can follow his musings at and on Twitter @OliverYarbrough.
You can get a 10-day free trial to the Lynda.com (a LinkedIn® company) learning platform. It will give you access to an entire library of courses including my course on Project Management: Government Projects and Exam Tips: Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on February 27, 2018.
