Lessons from a Dejected Project Management Group

"Mr Leong…", asked Krish, a mid forty-something Project Manager, "before you start this 5-day Project Management course, may I ask you something?" The atmosphere was unmistakably tensed the moment I walked into the training room - six or seven matured and seasoned software analysts and programmers seated in a U-shaped table arrangement were eager to hear my reply. "Sure I said". Krish asked in a dejected tone, "Would you agree that if our top management doesn't provide us support in our project work, this training we are to undertake is really useless?" Without hesitation, I replied yes. I was surprised to say the least - I had never in my years of conducting training courses to expect such a remark from someone, let alone before I commence the course.

Apparently, the General Manager of this group had made a prep talk before I took over the session. They were visibly upset. The GM left the room in a huff and when I entered, the group were murmuring something, probably dissatisfied with the GM.

I learnt that the GM was warning the group to "buck up" or "face the music" if the group continues to "think inside the box" - i.e., not being creative and taking the initiative to learn new things. The intention of the GM was good - he was trying to instil a spirit of learning and creativity. Perhaps the way he advised them was not proper.

They are from a large public-listed conglomerate in Malaysia. The conglomerate has diversified businesses in real estate and plantation. With a MIS staff force of about 30 and an average 12 years of service, the group is required to meet the computing demands of about 30,000 employees among the many subsidiaries. There is no such thing as project teamwork culture, and because of the workload, each MIS personnel is held responsible and accountable for at least one project from initiation to closeout, including helpdesk and maintenance support, and writing user manuals. This means should any one in the group leaves, the knowledge and experience on the projects would leave together.

Emily injected "Leong, this is the first training we had since 5 years ago!" Krish lamented "Management has not sent us to any training to improve ourselves, and that we are still using BASIC, Pascal and Cobol programming languages!"

The next four days went on successfully, and the group enjoyed the sessions, as much I enjoyed their company and taking the opportunity to learn from their experiences. One thing is very clear - they were demotivated. I knew what I ought to do - I presented my views to the powers that be, with the hope some changes can be made to help them do their work better.

Since then, a major reshuffle in the ranks of top management has been made. The GM concerned has been transferred to head an external project department. The group is retained and now belongs to an internal project department under a different GM. It is learnt that the former GM is a very hands-on person, who would intervene directly in his subordinate's project work; rather than managing the project work function. This is a case where a manager fails to recognise that being a manager, he has to learn to let go of the operational work he so much enjoyed doing himself to his subordinates. He ought to entrust and empower these individuals to perform.