ADVISORY ARTICLE
By Harold Kerzner, Ph.D. and Al Zeitoun, Ph.D.
California and Maryland, USA
INTRODUCTION _______________________________________________________
Most project management textbooks have sections, and even chapters, on how project managers must deal with difficult or incompetent team members. Now, let’s turn the coin to the other side. How should team members deal with a project manager that is either incompetent or difficult to work with? Are there any remedies for team members?
BACKGROUND ________________________________________________________
Today, in many companies, project managers have the luxury of being able to request or even select the members of the workforce they want as part of their project team. This is especially true if the project manager has worked with them on previous projects. There are situations where people may have the right to refuse an assignment on a project, but generally they have no choice. Project managers want to be sure, if possible, that the assigned workers can handle the responsibilities needed to make the project a success. If the project manager has never worked with certain critically skilled workers previously, he/she may collaborate with other project managers that had the resources assigned to their projects.
Workers, on the other hand, almost never have a choice of which project managers they will agree to work with, and likewise no input into selection of a project manager for assignment to a project they must support. However, workers need not go into a project assignment blind, so to speak. They can talk to other teammates that have worked for this project manager previously to get a feeling of what they can expect and how they might be treated. If you find yourself assigned to a bad project manager, or one that is difficult to work with, you are certainly not alone. If situations like this have happened previously, there may exist company policies on resolution of issues and escalation criteria to senior management.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A BAD PROJECT MANAGER: _______________________
Project managers are expected to create project cultures that are aligned to the corporate culture and contribute to project success. Unfortunately, some project managers create project cultures that benefit hidden agendas, self-interests, promote team friction, induce stress, lack effective communication practices, fail to engage team members effectively, micromanage, and generate confusion. Even the appearance of as little as one or two signs can make expected success difficult. By understanding the signs of a bad project manager, team members may be able to develop strategies for overcoming the challenges and increase the likelihood of project success.
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How to cite this article: How to cite this article: Kerzner, H., Zeitoun, A. (2025). Working with a bad project manager, PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue X, October. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pmwj157-Oct2025-Kerzner-Zeitoun-Working-with-a-Bad-Project-Manager.pdf
About the Authors
Harold Kerzner, Ph.D., MS, M.B.A
Senior Executive Director for Project Management
International Institute of Learning
New York & California, 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
Strategy Advisor & 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.
In his recent role 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
