Greetings Leaders!
I was teaching class last night and we had a very lively discussion about Resource Management. Here was the scenario..
- A Project Manager and a Line Manager meet to discuss getting a team resource for the project.
- The Project Manager doesn’t like the team member that the Line Manager is going to give him.
- The PM and LM get into a disagreement as this engineer has spouted off in front of the customer on past projects, causing a LOT of trouble.
- The upcoming project demands a lot of customer interaction.
- The Line Manager basically says too bad. He agrees to attend the PM’s meetings to ensure the engineer stays in line, but during the first few meetings, the LM is a no show.
- The engineer ends up calling the customer inept in a meeting, and the customer threatens to reevaluate the contract.
What could you have done as the PM to prevent this from happening?
Some suggestions…
- As you plan a project ensure you discuss how resources are assigned to a project
- Have your project stakeholders involved in resource management
- Use Risk Management as a way to raise risks around resources and team members
- Ensure there are standards for performance and behavior that are clearly in place across the organization and the project AND place people on performance improvement plans when behavior crosses the line
- Actively manage/lead your team members. In this scenario, there are a LOT of “what ifs” that we could talk about as it relates to why this engineer was behaving in this manner. Some things that came up in class…
- Personal problems in the engineers personal life
- Poor leadership skills of both the PM and the LM
- Lack of training
What are your thoughts?
All the best!
All the time!
JT
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Since you’ve already set clear expectations and guidelines with your staff for the meeting that stress the company’s objectives, some additional options could be:
6. Find another person to represent the Engineer at the meetings, so further damage can’t be done with the customer. Preemptively discuss meeting issues with the Engineer so you can capture his thoughts and exclude him from the meeting.
7. Selectively invite the Engineer to certain meetings that are “safe” for the customer and the company.
8. Invite the Line Manager’s boss to a meeting to reinforce expectations.
9. Have two meetings with separate objectives and participants or invite the Engineer to portions of the meetings.
Sounds like a good discussion.
Hi Jeff! It’s always god to hear from you!! Great ideas. The class really liked this exercise as this happens a lot. Lots of what ifs… See you this weekend.