Are All Types of Project Management Power Equal?

In Chapter 5 of Harold Kerzner’s Project Management textbook, he takes a deep dive into the role that authority and power play in being an effective project manager. The project manager uses this clout to motivate team members to complete a project. Power can come from authority that is delegated from management, it can be granted to the project manager by team members, or it can be combination of both. There are 5 interpersonal influences that are at a project manager’s disposal depending on the role and authority given. I do see how these tools can be useful in certain situations, but, given past experiences, I believe that some are more useful than others. A good project manager will use a combination of methods to motivate and won’t abuse the more direct, psychological influences like reward and penalty power as a long-term plan.

The 5 types of interpersonal influences

Legitimate power – is the ability to gain support because the team feels that the project manager has the official ability to do so, likely granted from higher level of management.

Reward power – is the ability to gain support because the team feels that the project manager has the ability to reward (i.e. salary increases, promotions, bonuses, and etc.)

Penalty Power – is the ability to gain support because the team feels that the project manager can dispense of some negative consequence. Formal reprimand or etc. This can be used in conjunction with reward power (team member’s bonus withheld).

Expert Power – the ability to gain support because the team members believe that the project managers contain specialized knowledge that the team members consider important.

Referent Power – the ability to gain support because the team members feel personally connected or attracted to the project manager or his project.

They are all important

Objectively, I can see instances where these are all important and can indeed be tools that a project manager utilizes to meet project goals. Legitimate power is a source that we are socialized to respect our entire lives – there is a reason we do not unpack our stuff on the lectern and log into the classroom computer each class period – so it makes sense that someone who has been given the legitimate authority to manage will have power over team members. I’ll lump reward power and penalty power together since in my mind they seem to go hand and hand, and both can be effective means to motivate. Team members need to understand where they, and their performance, rates in the scheme of reward and punishment. Without this understanding, it’s difficult to identify gains and losses. Certain team members can absolutely be motivated by monetary rewards and the fear of missing out or punishment. However, it’s important not to overuse these methods or you risk normalizing success, which diminishes drive, and demoralizing team members over mistakes. Expert power can gain one the respect needed to motivate individuals to complete goals regardless of if it is specific domain knowledge or simply the ability to manage effectively and remove roadblocks for team members. Lastly, to me, referent power is that intangible leadership quality that makes team members want to work for you – a respect component that motivates (and is not mutually exclusive from expert power).

They are not equal

I think that the 5 types of influence are not equal. It has been my experience that the 3 types of positional power (Legitimate, Reward, and Penalty) are worse motivators when compared to the personal powers of a project manager (Expert and Referent). Positional power is not sustainable, without being bolstered by expert and/or referent power. A team member who is forced to do as they are told for fear of a salary freeze or punishment will be worn down quickly over time. Ultimately feelings of resentment will arise, the “team” mentality will crumble, and with it our commitment to goals will dissolve. Working with a project manager who I respect, either because they are hard working or because they are an expert in their field, has always been a great motivator for me. Someone who makes me feel a part of the team, listens, and knows what they are doing is always someone that I gravitate towards. Everyone wants to be on the “winning” team. However, there are caveats to this. It’s almost a chicken or the egg type of question. How does one get this power? A brand-new project manager cannot expect to just have referent power or expert power from day one, so what are they to do? In my opinion, a good project manager has enough self-awareness to recognize this situation and overcome it with other skill sets.

I do also think that 3 positional powers are useful. I believe that without some sort of institutional authority (Legitimate Power) given to the project manager the project manager will fail (or will have a really difficult time succeeding). If the team thinks the project manager doesn’t really have any say or control (perhaps because of the hierarchy of the organization, i.e. line managers taking precedence), then I am not sure the project manager will be able to easily reach their goal. I also do not want to completely dismiss reward and penalty power and do feel that they can be useful in certain situations but my experience is that they can be over used. In my current role, I have access to these forms influence but find myself downplaying them as much as possible, only using them in the most extreme cases. I am a team member just like anyone else and want open lines of communication and trust. I have seen situations where having reward and penalty power has harmed project goals because it caused team members to hide issues in order to avoid being exposed as inadequate in front of their “manager” (maybe even doing this subconsciously).

Software Development

The software development industry is one of the many places where I believe the above philosophy can be effective. Having been a software developer myself there are 3 things that I looked for in managers: expertise in our field (programming), the ability to remove roadblocks from me getting my job done, and leadership. Money and other rewards are nice but those are realistically tied into team success and a healthy team will produce healthy results guided by a project manager who accomplishes the above. I’m not sure if this is a result of the psyche of the software developers or not (we have a tendency to respect the experts or want things to get out of the way so we can use our expertise) but it just seems to be the case.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is I think that the project manager needs to know the team, know what authority/power that he does have and know how/when to use it to motivate in certain scenarios. I think the ideal scenario may be to use Expert power and Referent power with the backdrop of some sort of Legitimate Authority. Reward and Penalty powers can be used strategically and sparingly to steer individuals towards success through gains and losses. Curious what others may think?

 Found another interesting blog that is worth a read as well: https://pmstudycircle.com/2012/01/best-power-of-project-manager/