Power in Project Management

Power – What is Power? The simplest definition that I have come across is this : “the capacity to get others to do what you would like them to do”. It sounds simple, even intuitive, yet this is one of the most misunderstood parts of team dynamics that has led to many a ruin.

Enter a meeting room and everyone knows who is the most powerful person in the room. But have you ever wondered why?

Why is this person the most powerful? What does it take to be powerful? Am I powerful? Why are the others less powerful? What is power anyways?

As you will see, the more we think about power, the more interesting it becomes.

But, there are many who find the words power and powerful evil. They are uncomfortable using the word, don’t want to talk about it, find it scary or even un-ethical. Most people find comfort in the blatant lie that power lies equally with everyone.

I ask WHY? Why does power sound evil when it is an extremely important force in nature, similar to fire and wind? And, if power is real, shouldn’t we master power to ensure it works for us rather than against us?

If the game of power is inescapable, it is better to be an artist than a denier or a bungler. --- Robert Greene

Let’s start first by understanding what is power and what kinds of power are there. Then, we will look at how we can use these different types of power into our lives and projects and when do we know we have gone too far?

The first thing to remember is that most people at work are NOT actively looking for power or to understand the power play. This majority of the people are taking their work one day at a time with very little control over their own careers. A lot of this illiteracy (for want of a better word) is willful.

In your projects, you would want a project manager who understands this power play and can use it for the benefit of the project outcomes because otherwise, the person will become demotivated and feel a real lack of control over people and deliverables and will very plainly lead your project to ruins. An anonymous quote reflecting this reality is:

“If people don’t learn about power, people don’t wake up; who doesn’t wake up gets left out”

There are essentially 8 types of power listed below basis my view of the basic to complex:

1.    Power by physical force – the most basic of power as seen in use by Police and the Armed Forces. Mostly nonexistent in project management.

2.    Power of Wealth – money creates the ability to buy resources that can lead to results. This is the power held by the project sponsors and financiers. Their ability to cut funding can ruin the project mid-way

3.    Power by legislature or position – this is the power conferred upon a person or a group by law or special authority. These are your auditors, compliance teams and SOX controllers etc.

4.    Power in numbers – this is the power attributed to a large group of people who individually would not be considered too powerful. In any democracy, this is the power of the people to choose the government. In your projects, it is the coalition that helps adopt change.[i]

5.    Power from social structure and order – senior citizens and senior officers enjoy a larger say in most eastern cultures, etc. This is extremely important to keep in mind when dealing with people and teams from a different country / culture.

6.    Power of Social Norms – this is what others think is okay – and this gets tricky. These norms do not have the centralized machinery of the government but operate on a more softer level – peer to peer, and person to person. These are often neglected but are very strong and can make entire organizations take up radical changes. Read about Zimbardo’s prison experiment here to see this power unleashed !

7.    Power of Ideas – an idea can generate boundless amounts of power if it can mobilize many people or resources to stand for (and sometimes against) it. Many people owe their success to a fundamental idea and the support they received for it.

8.     Power by agreement (sometimes also called Power by Approval – though this does not usually convey the correct intent) – this is the power used mostly by the project managers. This is when people are required to do or to abstain from doing something because of what was agreed upon earlier (usually with the same person) – think of all the action item lists, project charters, Roles and Responsibility agreements, RACI matrix etc. This – if wielded effectively – can be the strongest tool in the arsenal.

What Next?

Our task is now to put this knowledge to work. Our task is to understand people and the power they bring to our projects. This is usually a part of the stage called Stakeholder Mapping and I suggest this should be extended to all participants of the project

And that brings me to the thought we started with earlier –

Power Play is REAL. Would you rise and take charge?

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Endnotes:

[i] Refer to the Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change. One of the most effective steps of managing change in recent times.