Influencing The Project's Cultural Environment
The project manager of the successful project will recognize the need to spend
some effort in influencing the project's cultural environment for the benefit
of the project stakeholders. Every project team member, indeed every member of
the workforce, needs to be persuaded to convey the attitude that, just as they
are stakeholders, every other project stakeholder is also important. It means
inculcating a universal attitude which says "We care!",
and a commitment to service, even if it sometimes hurts.
It also means creating a project management environment in which every decision
and action is designed to make the stakeholder's experience better than it would
have been had the project not been implemented. It requires a focus on the quality
of the stakeholder's experience at every stage of the project, rather than an
overriding preoccupation with computer printouts and weekly progress reports.
Since this relationship mirrors the project manager/team relationship, it is
clear where the process must begin. For in both the short and long term runs,
it is through good team relationships that good project management practices
can be achieved. By attending to what the team members need in order to perform
their respective contributions, the project manager can establish effective relationships
with them. These characteristics of help and support as a cohesive team are,
in time, passed on to the project's stakeholders. This positive environment seldom
goes unnoticed.
In developing project management strategies at the outset of the project, the
project's executive should recognize the important contribution that the role
of human resources development and, specifically, project management training
can make towards improving the project's cultural environment. Such training
provides a powerful tool in developing competency and commitment to the project,
in improving team performance, and ultimately, in final project quality.
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The
Corporate Culture
