Panache Protects Your PM Job
By Rosemary Hossenlopp on March 25th, 2009 
Table of contents for Protect
Project management panache packs a punch when project managers are perceived as “having expertise in a critical area.” Andrew Meyer pressed this powerful point in response to the first blog on panache.
Expertise is defined as providing unique interpretations and insight (readmore). Andrew also posited that this is the may be the only protection against project manager job loss. I agree. There are plenty of very good, hard working project managers but only a few demonstrate shrewd panache and expertise.
Having project manager expert status can have specific results:
• Provides clear direction to team
• Produces team cohesion behind a position
• Promotes higher morale when leadership is present
• Positions the team with plans, procedures, and process based on experience
Panache and expertise go hand-in-hand.
Thanks Andrew for this insight.
It can but doesn’t have to work that way. When everybody in organization respect their roles and there isn’t much of politics influencing interactions between people and teams expert status will be a great asset for PM. People will likely follow the leader.
Consider a situation where there’s a competency conflict between software development team and a project manager. Strong position of PM won’t be something developers would be willing to see in their project.
Or another situation when PM is considered as an expert but he’s a primadonna. People doesn’t want to work with him because of his character which undermines team chemistry, no matter how much expertise he brings in.
As far as you consider people there won’t be any single and simple answer which always work.
“Strong position of PM won’t be something developers would be willing to see in their project.” Maybe, maybe not. I think you hit it right – its the primadoma that they can’t stand. Being strong in aligning stakeholders, protecting project interests is always a good thing.
Cheers – Rosemary
Good points Pawel, I just take issue with your first one. In my experience, you have a false premise there. I’d like to see the place where office politics don’t influence interactions much.