760
October 2016
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
P
roject
M
anagement
manager access to financial information at all levels, others
restrict the access to select areas. Transparency into financial
information that the project manager may or may not have
access to is key to their ability to impact that area.
If a project manager has no direct influence over a cost and no
ability to direct it, as occurs in a weak matrix organization,
they essentially serve only the role of reporter or town crier.
This is a very reactive approach and certainly goes against
the objectives of a project manager. In this scenario the
project managers’ authority is reduced to raising the alert
when things don’t proceed well. They can inform the project
sponsor, project owner and as many relevant stakeholders as
possible and they can produce documented evidence of their
concerns but ultimately they cannot change it. Nor can they
perform a financial analysis of the various elements that are
driving the poor results. With their hands tied in this manner
they would most certainly fail when measure against the
PMBOK
®
Guide process groups.
The other end of that spectrum is full financial disclosure and
full authority to direct all parts and phases of a project relative
to cost management. In this scenario the project manager
truly has full authority over the project cost management
knowledge area. Consideration must then be given to the
project manager that has that specific authority. Namely do
they have the knowledge and or experience to navigate that
information appropriately. Appropriately in this case would
be governed by the project scope of work and the leadership
within an organization. It is largely subjective and as difficult
as it is to define “appropriately” we certainly recognize it
immediately when it seems inappropriate! Due consideration
needs to be given to all organizational structures and to each
project manager.
There are varying levels of financial transparency and
responsibility found in the various phases in the project
management evolution.
The financial transparency that a project manager is given
changes with each phase. An example of that appears in
the seller/doer phase. Here there is significant financial
transparency for the individual or individuals that have
project management as a part of their various roles. Because
the company is small, and each teammembers’ roles are many
it can be prohibitive to spend significant time segregating the
financial information. Additionally, it is not unusual for all
parties to be significantly invested in the company’s success
and access to that financial information is a requisite.
As we move into the other phases the transparency is often
reduced and then again increased when we reach the seller
and doer and project manager phase. With the involvement
of more individuals and their roles being more discrete, the
sharing of sensitive information is reassessed.
One of the best things that we can do to improve the
effectiveness of our project managers is to acknowledge
the differences that exist; both internally and externally,
recognizing how they impact an organization.
Raquel Charrois is the executive vice president of Continental
Mapping Consultants, Inc., a Project Management
Professional (PMP), an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist
and Certified Mapping Scientist.
Raquel is very focused on process based approaches that
unite program and business objectives, resulting in portfolio
success.
If you have questions or topics that you would like to see
discussed, please email them to
.
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