by Roger Waterhouse
If you are associated with project management then you will probably have come into contact at some time with a computer sales executive claiming to offer the solution to your project-management problems. This probably took the form of a unique shiny computer system which incorporated the latest software. Efficient storage, analysis and retrieval of information is vital to the smooth running of any project, but even more so when the projects are large, complicated and/or have to be completed within crucial time restraints.
On the whole, computer tools are necessary for success in today’s hi-tech environment, but perhaps we should remember that they are not a recent introduction; in simpler forms they have been used in the production of Bills of Quantities for over 20 years. Naturally there has been a progressive increase both in hardware and software during this period.
However, this increase is clearly inadequate, for ICL marketing manager Rob Bell stated recently in New Builder that, even today, the capital expenditure on computers amounts to just 0.25% of the construction industry turnover. This is considerably less than other industries invest in their hard and software systems, hence the potential for market growth is considerable. He believes that the key to this growth is to raise awareness of the benefits at management level. Such lack of awareness is not present in other industries and recently the construction industry was told by Environment Minister Sir George Young, who introduced the report “Building IT 2000”, to increase its investment in information technology or risk being put out of business by foreign competition.
Tool or management system
Is it surprising, therefore, that, with all this existing and projected development, there is such a preoccupation with the importance of computers and information technology? Regretably no. Regrettable, because this preoccupation with computer systems has elevated their significance to a level where, according to many industry journals, they appear to have become the most important aspect of project management. This is dangerous because it encourages the parties associated with a development project — client, project manager, designer and engineer etc — to look to such systems for solving their problems. As a result, there is a tendency to place too great an emphasis, and therefore spend too much time, on this aspect, at the expense of the vital human elements associated with the success of a project. These human elements, such as negotiating skills, should not be underestimated but given top priority.
Negotiating skills
The key issue for successful project management is “people management” through negotiating skills and not “computer management” via software solutions. Negotiating skills cover so much. The Oxford Dictionary describes “negotiate” as “confer (with another) with view to compromise or agreement”. This, some would say, is the project manager’s prime job, especially if he is performing the role of project co-ordinator(1).
“Skill” is the expertness or practised ability in doing something. Therefore, what are the approaches that the project manager should adopt when “conferring expertly to reach a compromise or agreement” with another party? Or in other words, how should we handle conflict? It is generally accepted that there are five forms of approach:
(1) Winning/losing Where there is a struggle for dominance, this is an assertive and uncooperative approach.
(2) Accommodating This is an unassertive and co-operative approach which, if done too frequently, can be regarded as a weakness.
(3) Avoiding This involves evasion and retreat. Withdrawing from a threatening situation. It may be prudent sometimes, but it does not help to resolve an issue.
(4) Compromising This is an approach where both must forfeit some of their needs and/or objectives. It is a form of arbitration which, if done too often, may be regarded as a weakness.
(5) Collaborating This is an approach without sacrifice on either side, a means of joint problem-solving. It should be used when both parties have important goals which are too crucial to be compromised.
Some might say that the efficient project manager should try to adopt approach (5) wherever possible and that the eventual success of any project, as viewed by all parties, may well be directly related to the success of this form of approach.
Project managers who have controlled successful projects, such as Ian MacPherson (Broadgate), Eric Gabriel (National Gallery extension), Frank Graves (National Exhibition Centre) and David Day (Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre), place great emphasis on the practical issue of negotiation, in particular the “collaborating” approach.
Education and training
A project manager must first be able to identify the various approaches available and the consequences likely to result when each one is adopted. This may well seem rather theoretical, but these approaches can be learned in different ways. Perhaps the most comprehensive way is through many years of practical experience. Alternatively, such knowledge may be learned through education, especially via post-graduate management courses, such as the RICS post-graduate diploma in project management which is open to all professional disciplines and where years of practical knowledge are distilled into theoretical principles.
Theory v Practice
However, learning principles is one thing, being able to put them successfully into practice is another. Therefore, what happens when the problems do not have a set textbook solution, such as a client who is inconsistent in his behaviour? One week he may be in a “win-lose” frame of mind as a result of personal conflicts at home, the following week an “avoiding” attitude may prevail because he has become weary of the home disputes; to be followed by a “collaborating” approach after his personal problems have been satisfactorily resolved. In other words, a situation is seldom black or white: it may be a shade of grey or a series of changing circumstances such as the one just described. An experienced project manager will have learned to “read the signals” in people when such circumstances arise and know when the time is right to negotiate important sensitive issues.
Above all, successful project management is about managing people and effective negotiation. It should not be about power or confrontation, but convincing reasoning. A project manager should be an efficient persuader of people and for this he needs to understand and be able to practise the art of negotiation. No amount of software solutions can help him in this area, it is an arena where the project manager must face the lions alone without net, trident or portable computer.
Reference
(1) The latest RICS/PMA Project Management Agreement and Conditions of Engagement indicates that for PI Insurance purposes a project manager is one whose delegated powers include for the appointment of consultants: a project coordinator‘s duties do not. See also attached matrix as an example of the project manager’s varying tasks depending on the client’s diverse managerial requirements.