The Organizational Lens

The organizational lens examines project initiatives from the standpoint of norms and differences relative to what is expected by personnel in the workplace. If a project management process can be demonstrated to support a currently existing process or aspect of a company’s culture, that initiative will likely receive enthusiastic support. In instances where introducing a project management initiative cannot be tied to a current organizational norm (or worse yet, if it conflicts with one!) the project manager must place special emphasis on “selling” the value of that initiative. For instance, a project manager who wants to create a risk management plan in an organization where that would be perceived as “overly pessimistic” needs to reflect on past experiences in the organization and how the risk plan would have circumvented impacts. This turns the “pessimistic” view of risk to a view of optimistic outcomes by avoiding those risks. Better yet – find a project in the work environment that was successful that did leverage risk management and demonstrate how risk management contributed to the success of that project.

The organizational lens can sometimes be the most difficult to sway toward change. Habits, compensation initiatives, and “turf protection” often require the project manager to navigate through perceived power shifts to bring an initiative to fruition. These power shifts are difficult to implement, as they often will have a perceived adverse affect on people who have been considered instrumental to the success of an entity. In addition, the attitudes and priorities of the employees at large must be changed. This is accomplished by constant communication that is supported through the entire sponsorship team, and compensation/reward initiatives that will instill change. Without these, employees will revert to their “tried and true” ways that have brought them success and praise from their immediate leadership. As a project manager, working with your management and sponsors to create an incentive for adopting a new project management process (no matter how obvious it may be to the seasoned project manager with knowledge of PMBOK®) can be critical. It doesn’t have to involve a significant amount of money – or any money at all – it just needs to include a visible reassurance that management recognizes the adoption of a change or new initiative and compliments the employee who embraces them.

The organizational lens involves how the structure of the various areas where key stakeholders reside, will react to a project, and the change it is intended to bring. Processes are critical here, as people will perceive the value of a change against the ease of which they can continue to execute the processes that make them successful, based on their own perceptions. These processes may be documented, consistently carried out and known to others. However, some may simply be happening informally and not documented and may not be done consistently across the organization. If we as project managers, do not understand all of the “current state” or “as-is” processes, the solution may not solve the stakeholders needs, which is instrumental to project success.

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