1. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
IN A NON-PROJECT CULTURE
Oleg Tumasov, PMP, PRINCE2, MSP
Editor-in-Chief
Project Management Magazine (Russia)

2.  First, from the perspective of the
organization implementing the
project or projects.
I PROPOSE WE LOOK AT THIS ISSUE FROM TWO PERSPECTIVES
 Second, from the perspective
of the project manager.

3. APPROACHES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROJECT
 The project could be implemented
by the company on its own.
 Outsourcing - to entrust the project
entirely to an outside company.
 “Outstaffing” – hiring key
specialists on a temporary contract
to work inside the company for the
project implementation.

4. AN APPROACH SELECTION CRITERIA
 Organization has subject-matter competencies, as well as project
management.
 The deciding factor may also be the time and/or cost of the project.
 May depend on the risk appetite of the company.

5. INDUSTRY PRACTICES
 The introduction of the new version of technical/IT system or complex
business process already in use can be carried out mostly by the
company on its own.
 Introduction of a new technology/IT system or the development of a
fundamentally new type of activity is usually inefficient and impractical
for the company to perform on their own.
 Implementation of the project by the external company is suitable and
effective if only the final result of the project important to you, but not
the technology of its receipt.

6.  In the context of non-project culture, we are often faced with the fact that the
roles and responsibilities of project managers and project team members are
not defined clearly. They may vary from project to project. They flexible.
 The priority of the project will be lower than the priority of operational
activities for project team members involved in the project on part-time.
 In most cases, we can assume that if an employee is included in the
project team spends less than 50% of their working time on your project,
then it will be the priority of the main activities of the project work is
always higher for him.
PROBLEMS ARE USUALLY FASED BY A PROJECT MANAGER

7. The management of company or business unit usually:
 Often afraid to bring in a specialist or a company, because they do not
believe that they will delve into all the details of the company's business.
 For an internal project manager first of all usually pays attention to the
subject specialists or managers who are closest to the project scope.
 Underestimate the complexity of
projects and the need to use a
large number of competencies is
a characteristic feature.
 Believe that they understand how to implement the project.
WHAT ABOUT REAL LIFE IN A NON-PROJECT COMPANY?

8. CASE-STUDY. INCEPTION
IT director has been chosen as project manager because:
 He is versed in the subject area of the project.
 He has a good relationship with the technicians who will form the project team.
 He has the confidence of management,
as he has worked in the company for a
few year and showed an aptitude for
his role.
 The CEO thinks that the IT Director can
easily deal with the management of
the project (and if he needs help, he
always will get it).

9. Project management tools and techniques were used:
 Weekly reporting
 MS Project as a tool for planning and reporting.
What was indicated during the project:
 The staff had great difficulty with the evaluation and reporting of the working
time spent on the project.
 PM good relationship with the technicians were based on the fact that they
were not accountable to him before.
 The members of the project didn’t understand the meaning of tasks.
As a result IT Director has decided to
resign from the company because of his
current responsibilities were for him
incomprehensible and he stopped to
see the benefits of their work in the
company.
CASE-STUDY. RESULTS

10.  It is desirable that PM should have knowledge in the subject area
of the project.
 Flexible in approaches, both in the use of methods and tools (hard
skills), and in dealing with people (soft skills).
REQUIREMENTS TO PROJECT MANAGER
 Leader and mentor.
 Communication skills and ability to
belief of the people.
This may sound strange, but your colleagues can do many tasks well in your
project largely because of the good attitude personally to you!

11. Sergey Korolev – the outstanding project manager in modern history. Hi
organized and carried out the first manned flight into space.
 He brought all the skills that we require
from today's project managers to the
Absolute.
 He was an outstanding organizer, and was
able to find an approach to all people.
 He had outstanding expertise in his subject
area.
 He knew how to make difficult decisions
under enormous risks and enormous
pressure from external factors.
OUTSTANDING PROJECT MANAGER EXAMPLE

12.  Project Manager role seems very attractive to practitioners, even in the long-
term period of 10 - 15 years.
 Profession has long been recognized.
 All major universities have long been in the active training programs in project
management.
DIFFERENCES IN ATTENTION TO PM AND PgM
IN EUROPE AND RUSSIA
 Project Manager role seems as an
intermediate stage in the career for a
period not exceeding 5 years.
 Project Manager profession has not yet
been entered in the register of
professions.
 Universities started to include the
discipline in training programs less
than 5 years ago.
Russia:
Europe:

13.  Try to choose people for whom participation in the project itself can be a
motivator.
 Try to keep the project team members allocated to the project to 100% of their
working time.
 One person who can play multiple roles in a project with a full load is
preferable then rather than two different employees engaged with loading of
50% or less.
 You should be the manager of the motivational fund all project team members
to have real power to the management team.
 Team member’s salary will depend by the results of work performed him on the
project.
These recommendations do not cancel your leadership role in the project.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO PROJECT MANAGERS
IN THE NON-PROJECT CULTURE

14. PROJECT MANAGEMENT STANDARDS AND METHODOLOGIES
 Standards and methodologies combine the experience of many
experts’ practitioners, from various sectors.
 They offer a set of standardized business processes and roles.
 PRINCE2 and PMI PMBoK standardize business processes of
project management.
 IPMA CB or GAPPS standardize the requirements to project.
Important note:
 Recommender business processes, need adaptation to comply
with companies maturity in project management.

15.  Projects are very different in nature and scale (budget & time).
 Requirements and guidelines should be dependent on size and complexity.
 You should be flexible in approach.
 It is advisable to structure the various types of projects and use profiles of
requirements and approaches depending on project’s type.
 Profiling may concern methods of
project financing and may relate
to the requirements for project
managers.
THE NEED FOR PROFILING OF APPROACHES TO THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECTS

16. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Organizations:
 Flexibility is needed trough the approaches, methods and tools of project
management.
 It is recommended to use profiling according to the type of a project.
 Well-recognized and recommended methodologies and tools should be adopted.
Project Manager:
 Communication skills are of great
importance.
 Subject area understanding.
 Highly qualified, but also has
strong nerves.
 Understand future carrier clearly.

17. THANK YOU.
I wish you luck in your projects.
Questions?
Oleg Tumasov, PMP, PRINCE2, MSP
Editor@pmmagazine.ru
Editor-in-Chief
Project Management Magazine (Russia)