The Future Project Culture
SERIES ARTICLE
By Dr. Harold Kerzner
Senior Executive for Project Management
The International Institute for Learning (IIL)
New York and Florida, USA
and
Dr. Al Zeitoun, PgMP, PMI Fellow
Global Future of Work Executive
Maryland USA
INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP __________________
Almost every year, we see changes taking place in project management. We generally assume these changes are improvements for the better and implement the changes. What we often lack is a complete understanding of what caused the changes to occur, the impact of the changes that took place, and how the changes can lead to other significant project management improvements.
One of the most significant changes taking place today is the growth in project management leadership. In the early years of project management, companies utilized a one-size-fits-all methodology, generally referred to as the waterfall approach, accompanied by bureaucratic leadership. Project management was driven by rigid policies and procedures so that senior management would maintain command and control over all projects.
Project leadership during this time focused heavily upon decisions necessary to maintain the planned budget and schedule. Most projects had well-defined requirements at the start. Project management textbooks did not focus heavily upon project leadership or interpersonal skills. Organizations were infatuated with the waterfall approach to project management which had to be used on all projects, and where the emphasis was on task-driven leadership to control the budget and schedule.
The goal of bureaucratic leadership was the profitability of the project with little concern for the workers and even, in some cases, the clients. Decision-making by the project manager frequently focused heavily upon what was in the best interest of just the project manager or organizational executives. This limited the ability of the project manager to motivate workers and to be creative.
Project had time limits. When a project comes to an end, the workers would return to their functional area for other assignments. Project managers were not very concerned about team member leadership because many projects had short time durations, and they might never work with these same people again on other projects. Workers often did as little as possible to receive their paychecks. The leadership style to be used was often dictated by senior management or the project sponsors.
As project management expanded to new applications and longer projects requiring creativity and innovation, the importance of project leadership grew. At first, organizations considered using the traditional functional leadership styles, such as authoritarian, participative, and laissez-faire, on projects. These leadership styles were easy to understand but were accompanied by significant disadvantages when used in project management.
By the turn of the century, the growth in research surrounding effective project management leadership styles led companies to consider the use of centered leadership principles that were used in functional areas. These leadership research studies had a central focus such as:
More…
To read entire paper, click here
Editor’s note: This series of articles is by Dr. Harold Kerzner and Dr. Al Zeitoun, the co-authors, along with Dr. Ricardo Vargas, of the textbook Project Management Next Generation: The Pillars for Organizational Excellence, published by Wiley in 2022. Learn more about the authors in their profiles at the end of this article.
How to cite this work: Kerzner, H. and Zeitoun, A. (2024). The Growth of Metrics-Centered Project Management Leadership, The Future Project Culture, PM World Journal, Vol. XIII, Issue XI, December. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pmwj147-Dec2024-Kerzner-Zeitoun-Metrics-Centered-Project-Management-Leadership.pdf
About the Authors
Harold Kerzner, Ph.D., MS, M.B.A
Senior Executive Director for Project Management
International Institute of Learning
New York & Florida, USA
Dr. Harold Kerzner is Senior Executive Director for Project Management for the International Institute for Learning (IIL). He has an MS and Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Utah State University. He is a prior Air Force Officer and spent several years at Morton-Thiokol in project management. He taught engineering at the University of Illinois and business administration at Utah State University, and for 38 years taught project management at Baldwin-Wallace University. He has published or presented numerous engineering and business papers and has had published more than 60 college textbooks/workbooks on project management, including later editions. Some of his books are (1) Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling; (2) Project Management Metrics, KPIs and Dashboards, (3) Project Management Case Studies, (4) Project Management Best Practices: Achieving Global Excellence, (5) PM 2.0: The Future of Project Management, (6) Using the Project Management Maturity Model, and (7) Innovation Project Management.
He is a charter member of the Northeast Ohio PMI Chapter.
Dr. Kerzner has traveled around the world conducting project management lectures for PMI Chapters and companies in Japan, China, Russia, Brazil, Singapore, Korea, South Africa, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Croatia, Mexico, Trinidad, Barbados, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Venezuela, Columbia, United Arab Emirates, France, Italy, England, and Switzerland. He delivered a keynote speech at a PMI Global Congress on the future of project management.
His recognitions include:
- The University of Illinois granted Dr. Kerzner a Distinguished Recent Alumni Award in 1981 for his contributions to the field of project management.
- Utah State University provided Dr. Kerzner with the 1998 Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the field of project management.
- The Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Project Management Institute gives out the Kerzner Award once a year to one project manager in Northeast Ohio that has demonstrated excellence in project management. They also give out a second Kerzner Award for project of the year in Northeast Ohio.
- The Project Management Institute (National Organization) in cooperation with IIL has initiated the Kerzner International Project Manager of the Year Award given to one project manager yearly anywhere in the world that demonstrated excellence in project management.
- The Project Management Institute also gives out four scholarships each year in Dr. Kerzner’s name for graduate studies in project management.
- Baldwin-Wallace University has instituted the Kerzner Distinguished Lecturer Series in project management.
- The Italian Institute of Project Management presented Dr. Kerzner with the 2019 International ISIPM Award for his contributions to the field of project management.
Dr. Harold Kerzner can be contacted at hkerzner@hotmail.com
Dr. Al Zeitoun, PgMP, PMI Fellow
Global Future of Work Executive
Maryland USA
Dr. Al Zeitoun is a Future of Work, business optimization, and operational performance excellence thought leader with global experiences in strategy execution. His experiences encompass leading organizations; delivering their Enterprise Digital and Business Transformation; guiding fitting frameworks implementations; and using his empathy, engineering insights, and collaboration strengths to successfully envision new business models and execute complex missions across diverse cultures globally.
With Siemens, he was a Senior Director of Strategy responsible for driving the global program management practices, Master Plan governance, and enabling the Strategy Transformation processes and priorities.
In his position, as the Executive Director for Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Abu Dhabi, UAE, he was responsible for creating the strategy execution framework, achieving transformation benefits, governance excellence, and creating the data analytics discipline necessary for delivering on the $40B complex country energy mission roadmap.
At the McLean, USA HQ of Booz Allen Hamilton, Dr. Zeitoun strategically envisioned and customized digitally enabled EPMO advisory, mapped playbooks, and capability development for clients’ Billions of Dollars strategic initiatives. Furthermore, he led the firm’s Middle East North Africa Portfolio Management and Agile Governance Solutions.
With the International Institute of Learning, Dr. Zeitoun played a senior leader and global trainer and coach. He was instrumental in driving its global expansions, thought leadership, and operational excellence methodology to sense and shape dynamic ways of working across organizations worldwide. He speaks English, Arabic, and German and enjoys good food, travel, and volunteering. Dr. Al Zeitoun can be contacted at zeitounstrategy@gmail.com
