NHRD Journal - National HRD Network

They realize that clients may not be clear about
what they want or may not articulate it clearly
and that they may also change their minds at
any time.
This seems to be a non issue today.
• Technology
Project managers of today have seen several
technological transitions. They have been part
of transitioning their clients from one platform
to another. They have also understood the
impact of technological changes on team
preferences, employee costs and availability.
This too seems a non issue.
I am therefore not dwelling much on these level
one dimensions.
Level Two Change Management Challenges
• Client Environment
Many clients keep undergoing radical changes
in many ways - the sponsors of the engagement
might change, there could be structural
realignments, there could be an M&A or even
worse, the company could lose the client on
account of a variety of problems. While these
aspects are typically handled at a level higher
than the project manager, the PM is ultimately
responsible for managing its impact on the team
in terms of communication and morale.
It is in this area that the good project managers
begin to get separated from the great ones.
The great ones are able to predict and sense
these developments and assess their potential
impact on the project and even the relationship.
They are also able to share these insights within
the organization at appropriate levels. They are
also able to come up with contingency plans.
They may even alert their team members and
do what they can to mitigate risks.
The average ones may not do enough connect
across multiple levels in the client organization
and may therefore not be able to acquire these
insights despite doing a good job of delivering
on their particular project.
• Team
One of the biggest challenges for a project
manager is the transience in his team
membership and relationship. I call it transience
because it is now beyond change. It is a
continuous onslaught of a series of everyday
changes in his team, many of which he is unable
to understand, appreciate and even manage.
This constant state of transience is a great source
of stress for any project manager.
First, there is a fair amount of attrition that
changes his team composition and terminates
the team life ever so often. Second, is the
pressure to release trained people and induct
fresh people to keep the costs low, calling for
constant efforts in training, socialization and
team building efforts.
I am still placing this in the second level because
managers seem to be learning quickly to manage
this dimension and many will no longer
complain about this being an impossible task.
The great managers tend to be better at building
trust and relationships ever so quickly within the
team. They also build informal networks within
the organization and are less reliant on HR and
more reliant on these networks to find the people
they want and staff their teams quickly.
Most importantly, they are able to use their
relationships to get some heads up about what
is on their team members' mind, when they plan
to ask for a change or leave and when they need
to start taking actions.
The average ones end up feeling helpless and
constrained and blame the system and the
younger generation for all the chaos they have
to deal with.
Level Three Change Management Challenges
• Organization Changes
The organization constantly keeps making
changes to its policies and processes in
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November 2007 NHRD Journal