People in Projects

Change Initiative Objectives

To directly address project-manager/functional-manager relationship issues:

1. Appropriately balance authority between functional managers and project or program managers.

   1.1.	Avoid—particularly in large cross-functional projects—having a project manager report directly to a functional manager that is providing resources or services to the project manager’s project.
   1.2.	Ensure that there is a clear escalation path and criteria for when to escalate issues between project managers and functional managers. Generally, this means identifying a steering group or a higher-level executive with the authority to break ties and adjust priorities.
   1.3.	Clearly define project manager authority in a project charter.
   1.4.	By requiring functional ...