As project managers lead projects in matrix environments it becomes increasingly necessary to acknowledge, understand, and deal with some of the problems that can and do arise from working with someone else’s employee. You have responsibility for these resources, but you really don’t. You have authority over them, but again you really don’t. They need to perform well for you, but that’s usually not where their performance is being the most heavily graded and therefore how they perform on your project tasks are not usually going to be the deciding factors on how good their yearly pay raise is going to be.
So let’s look at how this and the communication and oversight challenges that can result affect projects and how the project team members respond and interact with the project manager and their own departments. Conflicts can arise for a number of reasons:
Career priorities
Some employees identify their career paths with their departments, not with outside projects. They can’t always appreciate the career advancement potential that comes from taking part in projects, especially those managed by people other than their immediate supervisors.
Temporary assignments
Because it’s temporary, your project may be seen as an inconvenient disruption, as extra work. So some employees may assume a different attitude toward project tasks than they do toward their “real” jobs.
Supervisory problems
As manager of a project, you do not determine the quality of corporate life to the same degree an immediate supervisor does, and once the project is over, your team members return to their departments.
To overcome these problems, apply the same rules you use in dealing with managers of other departments. Be aware of the team members’ priorities and conflicts. As long as they are working on your project, they’re in the difficult position of reporting to two people. Do all that you can to alleviate this problem, rather than aggravate it.
Remember, your team members have to meet deadlines on two levels: those of their own department and those of your project (and probably other projects). Work with them to solve conflicts in schedules and to anticipate future problem periods.
Once you discover an emerging problem, take immediate steps to solve it. Never assume the attitude that “you’re part of my team; I depend on you, and you have to keep your promise.” Instead, sit down with the team member and figure out a solution. Either reassign the project phase or adjust your schedule.
The project schedule is your problem and your responsibility. So even when a team member cannot come through as promised, it’s up to you to do something about it. You can create a positive reputation as a project manager by establishing two-way loyalty: from the team by their working together and meeting deadlines, and to the team by your remaining flexible, especially when a team member cannot keep a promise to you.