successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

The critical issue in project control, however, is that every project team member
should be in control of his or her own allocated work. We refer to this as project
management at the micro level. A project manager can achieve control at the macro
level only if it is achieved at the micro level. In virtually every management situation
there are three basic elements to be taken into account for control purposes. These
are:
• the needs of the task;
• the needs of the team; and
• the needs of the individual.
These needs are often in conflict, and sometimes the temptation is to let short term
needs of one element overshadow the others. This, inevitably, produces a backlash
later, which disrupts all three elements. It is important for the manager to keep all
three in mind at all times, especially when planning. The priorities for each situation
should be assessed accordingly. For a fact the needs of the three elements will
seldom coincide, so it is incumbent upon the manager to ensure they overlap if the
project is to be a success. Figure 8A portrays the ideal scenario.
Figure 8A The three project needs.
Task
Individual
Team
Area of maximum performance
It is where the needs overlap that we have the area of maximum performance, and
the successful manager needs to carry out activities in each of the three areas. The
activities could be as follows.
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