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Essential Project Management
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8 Traits of Top Project Managers - Part 1
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On Customer Participation in Agile Projects
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The Project, the Sales Representative, and the Politician
March 26, 2009 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Musings
The Project, the Sales Representative, and the Politician (#17 in the Hut Project Management Handbook)
By Wouter Baars
Project leaders should consider the environment within which their projects will take place. In other words, they should consider the ways in which decisions are taken within and about the project. A project may be located in one of two worlds: the world of the sales representative and the world of the politician.
The world of the sales representative revolves around profit maximisation, and stability is very important. Actions are based on mutual trust and are subject to the motto of, ‘a deal is a deal’. Relationships among sales representatives are important, and the behaviour that they exhibit is genuine. Power is decentralised.
In the world of the politician, the majority is important for getting things done. Loyalty to the group is thus important, even if a politician’s opinion differs from that of the group on a number of points. Because the majority seldom consists of a single group, temporary coalitions are often necessary, sometimes with opponents or even enemies. Decisions emerge from a particular view of the world. In the world of the politician, references to certain facts are necessary to maintain good order; the end justifies the means. Power is centralised.
Most people intuitively feel more attracted to the first of these two worlds; the second brings many negative associations to mind ‘We don’t play politics here’ is a frequently heard remark in organisations, even if it is not true. Even though most people find the world of the sales representative the more attractive of the two, it has an important disadvantage. Decision-making according to profit maximisation works only for decisions in which clear cash flows are available. Decisions that involve such dilemmas or issues as investing more in education, the environment, health care, highways, research, defence or nuclear energy cannot be expressed as an unambiguous balance between profit and loss. The political model is the only possible model for such decisions. It is therefore necessary to play the political game.
By definition, social and subsidised organisations exist within the world of the politician. The financing of these organisations and their projects is completely or largely dependent upon the political will to support the organisation. The effectiveness of social organisations is not easily expressed in terms of cash flows.
Next in the Hut Project Management Handbook:
Waterfall Versus Cyclical Project Management
Previously in the Hut Project Management Handbook:
Wouter Baars has a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Science. He has been a project manager for several years for The European commission, Waag Society, KPN (Dutch telecom provider) and many smaller organizations. He is specialized in creative projects such as serious game development, e-learning and software development. Currently he is teaching project management and coaching organizations that are working on their project management. More info on his work: www.projectmanagement-training.net.
Originally published by DANS – Data Archiving and Networked Services - The Hague
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