5 Critical Roles in

Project Management
REF: HBR GUIDE TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT
EAC
Introduction
When you’re managing a project, To meet your project objectives, you need the right people on
board – and they must have a clear understanding of their roles. Here’s a breakdown of who
does what.
Sponsor
The Sponsor champions the project at the highest level in the company and gets rid of
organizational obstructions. She should have a clout to communicate effectively with the CEO
and key stakeholders, provide necessary resources, and approve or reject outcomes. It’s also
important that she have “skin in the game” – in other words, accountability for the project’s
performance.
Project Manager
The project manager identifies the central problem to solve and determines, with input from the
sponsor and stakeholders, hot to tackle it: what the project’s objectives and scope will be and
which activities will deliver the desired results. He then plans and schedules tasks, oversees day-
to-day execution, and monitors progress until he evaluates performance, brings the project to a
close, and captures the lesson learned. The project manager receives authority from the sponsor.
In many respects, he’s like a traditional manager because he must:
• Provide a framework for the project’s activities • Make sure Everyone on the team contributes
• identify needed resources and benefits
• Negotiate with higher authorities • Mediate conflicts
• Recruit effective participants • Make sure project goals are delivered on time
• Set milestones and on budget
• Coordinate activities
• Keep the vision clear and the work on track
 Team Leader
Large projects may include a team leader, who reports directly to the project manager. In small
projects, the project manager wears both hats. The team leader cannot act like a boss and still
obtain the benefits of team-based work. Instead, he must adopt the following important roles:
● Initiator – Rather than tell people what to do, the leader draws attention to actions that must be taken for
team goals to be met.
● Model – He uses his own behavior to shape others’ performance – by starting meetings on time, for
example, and following through on between meeting assignments. Leaders often rely heavily on this tactic,
since they typically cannot use promotions, compensation, or threats of dismissal to influence team
members.
● Negotiator – He gets what he needs from resource providers by framing the project as mutually beneficial.
● Listener – He gathers from environmental signal of impending trouble, employee discontent, and
opportunities for gain.
Team Leader (cont’d)
● Coach - He finds ways to help team members maximize their potential and achieve agreed-upon goals.
Coaching opportunities are abundant within teams because the skills members eventually need are often
ones they don’t already have.
● Working Member – In addition to providing direction, the leader must do a share of the work, particularly
in areas where he has special competence. Ideally, he should also take on one or two of the unpleasant
or unexciting jobs that no one else wants to do.
 Team Members
The heart of any project, and the true engine of its work, is its membership. That is why bringing together
the right people is extremely important.
Criteria for Membership
Although the skills needed to accomplish the work should govern team selection, keep in mind
that you’re unlikely to get all the know-how you need without providing some training. Consider
the following areas of proficiency:
● Technical skills in a specific discipline, such as market research, finance or software programming
● Problem-solving skills enabling individuals to analyze difficult situations or impasses and to craft
solutions
● Interpersonal skills, particularly the ability to collaborate effectively with others – a critical
aspect of team-based work
●Organizational Skills, including networking, communicating well with other parts of the company,
and navigating the political landscape, all of which help the team get things done and avoid
conflicts with operating units and their personnel
Criteria for Membership (cont’d)
When forming project teams, people tend to focus too narrowly on technical skills and overlook
interpersonal and organization skills, which are just as important. For instance, a brilliant
programmer may thwart team progress if she is unwilling to collaborate. By contrast, an
organization savvy person with average technical skills may be the teams most valuable member,
thanks to his ability to gather resources and enlist help from operating units.

Individuals who are strong in all four skill measures are few and far between. Make the most of
the talent available, and take steps to neutralize weakness in your group. Look for people not
just with valued skills but with potential to learn new ones. Once you identify a candidate for
membership, discuss her potential contributions with the sponsor. Consult her supervisor as
well, since team membership absorbs time that would otherwise go toward regular assignments
Criteria for Membership (cont’d)
You may have to add new members and possibly bid thanks and good-bye to others over time,
as tasks and needs change. One note of caution: Team members gradually develop effective
patterns for working together, making decisions, and communicating. Cohesion is undermined
when too many people join or exit the team
Contributions and Benefits
Free riders – team members who obtain the benefits of membership without doing their share –
cannot be tolerated. However, not every member has to put in the same amount of time. For
example, a senior manager who must direct much of his attention to other duties may still add
value to the project by securing resources or by building support within the organization.

Just as each member must contribute to the team’s work, each should receive clear benefits: a
learning experience that will pay career dividends, for instance, or a fatter paycheck or bonus.
Otherwise, individuals will not participate at a high level – at least not for long. The benefits they
derive from their regular jobs will absorb their attention and make your project a secondary
priority.
Alignments
The goals of the project team and those of its individual members must align with organizational
objectives. For that reason, everyone’s efforts should be coordinated through the company’s
reward system. The kind of reinforcement begins at the top, with the sponsor. Since she is
accountable for the team’s success, some part of her compensation should be linked to the
team’s performance.

Moving down the line, the project manager and team members should likewise see their
compensation affected by team outcomes. Such alignment gets everyone moving in the same
direction.
The Project Steering Committee
Some projects have steering committee, which consists of the sponsor and all key stakeholders.
The committee’s role is to approve the charter, secure resources, and adjudicate all requests to
change key project elements, such as deliverables, the schedule, and the budget.

A steering committee is a good idea when different partnering companies, units, or individuals
have a strong stake in the project. Because it represents these various interests, it is well
positioned to sort out complicated interfirm or interdepartmental project problems.

Likewise, It can be helpful if you anticipate many change requests. The downside to having a
steering committee? It involve another level of oversight, and its meetings take up the time of
some of the company’s most expensive employees. So don’t have a committee if you don’t need
one.
15 Types of Difficult Clients and How to Handle
Them Effectively – Addnl (by ciplex)
Every agency has that one client from hell. The one who monopolizes your time, frustrates the
entire staff, and makes unreasonable demands. If you’ve got more than one, you probably spend
three out of four weekends in office. If we apply the Pareto principle (or 80:20 rule) to the
agency-client relationship, 80% of an agency’s resources are utilized in managing 20% of its
clients.

Two things are crucial here:

1. If these difficult clients don’t generate majority of the revenue, you need to start diverting
your resources to the ones who do.
2. If the difficult ones happen to be your highest billing clients, here are a few usefull tips to help
you identify and manage them effectively.
A Field Guide to
The Wonderful World of Clients
Every agency has that one client - The one who monopolizes your time, frustrates the entire
staff, and makes unreasonable demands. But the customer is always right, right?

Here are a few tips to recognize when you’ve got one of these challenges on your hands and
how to deal with them (Hint: Say “No” A Lot more.)
Mr. I’m not really sure what I want
Constant Change of heart; says one thing on a
call but has a completely different opinion in an
email an hour later.

Get everything in writing once an approach is

decided upon; reject major course-correction
after the fact.
Mr. Hey What’s That Over There, aka,
Mr. I Assumed This Was Included
Insistence on getting a little bit more out of
your team each time you talk; frequent request
to expand the scope of the project.

Agree to do out-of-scope work only at an added

upfront cost.
Mr. I Needed This Done Yesterday
General Lack of awareness of the space-time
continuum; belief that simply having ideas
means work is completed.

Be straightforward – if they expect the

impossible, educate them to reality.
Mr. Everything’s an Emergency
Firm belief that he is the only client you could
possibly have and therefore is deserving of 100
percent of your time.

Establish clear time tables and meet all

deadlines so you can show the client everything
is on track. Remind them that you do have
other clients.
Mrs. We Don’t Have a Deadline – Oh,
Wait, Yes We Do and It’s Tomorrow
Flightiness, often in terms of being out of the
corporate loop.

Agree on a timeline as soon as possible, and

remain confident in rejecting requests that will
endanger deadlines or projects for other clients.
Mr. I Don’t Really Care; Just Do
Whatever You Want
Completely hands-off approach, lack of key
information even when pressed for it.

Take advantage of the freedom this client

provides, but always require client buy-in at
critical stages to head off major reworking.
Ms. I Care So Much That it Hurts
Comes to the table with an extremely specific
approach with little room for your ideas, so much so
that you begin to wonder why she hired you at all.

Be Clear on what she is trying to accomplish,

but don’t be afraid to frankly tell them when
their approach won’t work.
Ms. I Don’t Know What I Want, But I
Know It Isn’t That
This client may not know what she wants, but
she certainly knows what she doesn’t want –
and it’s probably everything you’re proposing

This moving target has potential to cause a lot

of heartache for your team; it might be best to
put out the “no vacancy” sign for this client.
Mr. Will This Cost Extra, aka, Mr. I
Emptied My Bank Account for This
Penny-pinching, bean counting, whatever you
want to call it, this client is extremely
concerned about the budget – to the letter.

Agree upfront on the scope of the project – if

they can’t pony up more cash for extras they
want, you just can’t do it.
Mr. What’s a Weekend?
Sending Emails at 3 a.m. everyday; scheduling
meetings for after business hours; wondering
why you didn’t complete that project on
Christmas Day.

Don’t be afraid to say no if what they want will

take too much of a toll on your staff.
Ms. I Hate that Color for No Reason
Propensity for latching onto small feature,
color, font, or word in a project and bringing
work to a grinding halt as a result.

Don’t ask for their favorite color, ask what they

want to accomplish. Display your expertise by
recommending options that achieve those
goals. If they’re still unhappy, consider dumping
them
Mrs. Won’t This Take Five Minutes
A belief that she can do what you do in a much
shorter time frame than is possible.

As this person is clearly detached from reality,

tell her why what she wants won’t take just five
minutes.
Mr./Mrs./Mrs./Mr. Decision-by-
Committee
Usually housed at large corporations, this client
does everything by committee – even deciding
on minor wording or irrelevant aspects of
projects.

Force them to agree on a single contact person

responsible for a majority of the relationship,
even if you are still dealing directly with others
in the committee. This will allow for at least one
comprehensive view of the entire project.
Ms. Lurker
Disappearing for weeks or months at a time,
then suddenly bombarding you with requests
that need to be done immediately.

The best way to block a sneak attack is to be

prepared; set the same expectations for all
clients. If your process takes three weeks for
everyone else, it will take three weeks for her
too.
Mrs. What You Did Was Great, But We Now
Want Something Completely Different
Dream client – until you deliver the finished
project and they realize they want to go in a
different direction entirely.

Make it clear that additional costs may apply if

what she is asking for is far beyond the scope of
the original price quote.
IT’S TOUGH TO PLEASE EVERYONE, BUT IF YOU KNOW THE TYPE OF
PERSONALITIES YOU’RE WORKING WITH, YOU’LL BE BETTER PREPARED TO HAVE
A HAPPY CLIENT… AND STAFF.