POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

COLLEGE OF ACCOUNTANCY AND FINANCE

A.Y. 2020-2021

PROJECT AUTHORITY, INTERPERSONAL

INFLUENCES, BARRIERS TO TEAM
DEVELOPMENT, AND SUGGESTIONS
FOR HANDLING THE NEW TEAM

Project Authority:

 Can be defined as the legal or rightful power to command, act, or direct the
activities of others.
  A combination of power and influence such that subordinates, peers, and
associates willingly accept judgment and directions.

The project manager should have broad authority over all elements of the
project. His authority should be sufficient to permit him to engage all
necessary managerial and technical actions required to complete the project
successfully. He should have appropriate authority in design and in making
technical decisions in development. He should be able to control funds,
schedule and quality of product. If subcontractors are used, he should have
maximum authority in their selection.

Generally speaking, a project manager should have more authority than his
responsibility calls for, the exact amount of authority usually depending on
the amount of risk that the project manager must take. The greater the risk, the
greater the amount of authority. A good project manager knows where his
authority ends and does not hold an employee responsible for duties that he
(the project manager) does not have the authority to enforce. Some projects
are directed by project managers who have only monitoring authority. These
project managers are referred to as influence project managers.

So, why do we need project authority in project management? Well, it is for the
reason that authority is the key to the project management process. The project
manager must manage across functional and organizational lines by bringing
together activities required to accomplish the objectives of a specific project.
Project authority provides the way of thinking required to unify all organizational
activities toward accomplishment of the project regardless of where they are
located.

Where does the project manager's authority came from? There are three different
sources of project authority.
1. DE JURE AUTHORITY (LEGAL AUTHORITY) - is the classical view of project
authority. It is the legal right to act or command. The sources of such authority are:

 Organization Charter- The memorandum and Articles of Association of

Companies may provide legal authority to the project.
 Organization Policies, Rules, Regulations - The policies, rules and regulations
of the organization may provide legal authority to the project.
 Job Description- The job description provided to project manager and team
members may specify authority.
 Delegation - Superiors may delegate their own authority to the project.

This authority is based upon the rank or position of the person and this authority may be
given or delegated.

2. DE FACTO AUTHORITY (REALITY AUTHORITY) - It is the competence view of

project authority. The manager, has no legal authority but his words are heard
and his orders are obeyed because of his intelligence, knowledge, skill
competence and experience.

 Technical Competence- The specialized knowledge, expertise and

competence of the superior may provide real authority.
 Human Skills - The skills of the superiors for effective interfacing, alliance
building, negotiating, support maintenance and conflict resolution may provide
real authority.

3. PROJECT CHARTER AUTHORITY- It is the authority provided by the approved

project plan. It provides a preliminary description of roles and responsibilities
that outlines the project's key goals, and defines the authority of the project
manager.. The sources can be:

 Project Cost Estimates - They provide spending authority.

 Project Schedule - It may provide authority for schedule changes necessitated
by design changes and situational demands.
 Project Contract - It may provide authority to make changes in the contract.
The critical stage of any project is planning.

 During the planning phase the project team develops a responsibility assignment
matrix.
 The responsibility matrix is often referred to as a linear responsibility chart (LRC)
or responsibility assignment matrix (RAM).

Linear responsibility chart

LRC is prepared to find out responsibility center of all key activities in the project and for
those purpose, LRC is divided into rows and columns and numbers. The rows of LRC
indicate activities, responsibility and authorities. The columns identify the position of the
project participants and numbers indicate the degree of authority and responsibility
existed between rows and columns of LRC, the numbers can be symbol.

So, LRC, in simple words, clearly specify the authority and responsibility relationships
of project participants to avoid confusion and conflicts. It links the project activities or
task to the responsible person which ensures effective implementation of project to
achieve defined objectives within constraints.

The advantages of Linear Responsibility Chart:

 It describes the role of project participants in project matters.

 Communication is more facilitated.
 There is delegation of authority.
 It postures coordination because it clarifies rules and responsibility, authority and
responsibility relationships for project activities among the participants.

Overall, it combines organizational structure with work breakdown structure which

makes it easy to fix responsibility to project participants.

Interpersonal Influences
Project managers are generally known for having a lot of delegated authority but very
little formal power. They must, therefore, get jobs done through the use of interpersonal
influences.

There are five interpersonal influences:

Legitimate power - based on the ability to influence others based on your official
authority and position. Also called “positional power,” this is the power individuals
have from their role and status within an organization. Legitimate power usually involves
formal authority delegated to the holder of the position.

Reward power - based on the ability to influence others by giving or withholding

rewards. It refers to the degree to which the individual can provide external motivation
to others through benefits or gifts. In an organization, this motivation may include
promotions, increases in pay, or extra time off.

Penalty power - based on the ability to influence others by imposing a penalty for
fault, offense or violation. This interpersonal influence mainly relies on fear to induce
compliance.

Expert power - based on the ability to influence others based on your knowledge
and expertise. Expert power draws from a person’s skills and knowledge and is
especially effective when an organization has a high need for them.

Reverent power - based on the ability to influence others based on your behavior,
manner and approach. It is based on the personality and interpersonal skills of the
power holder. A person may be admired because of a specific personal trait, such as
charisma or likability, and these positive feelings become the basis for interpersonal
influence.

Regardless of how much authority and power a project manager develops over the
course of the project, the ultimate factor in his ability to get the job done is usually his
leadership style. Project managers, because of the inherent authority gaps that develop
at the project-functional interface, must rely heavily on supplementary techniques for
getting the job done. These supplementary techniques include factors that directly affect
the leadership style, such as developing bonds of trust, friendship, and respect with the
functional workers. Of course, the relative importance of these techniques can vary
depending on the size and scope of the project.

Barriers to Project Team Development

Most people within project-driven and non-project-driven organizations have differing

views of project management. The differing views can create severe barriers to
successful project management operations.

Divergent Outlooks, Priorities and Interests -The professional outlooks of team

members may differ from project objectives and priorities bringing conflict of interests,
which may be detrimental to the company. A major barrier exists when team members
have professional objectives and interests that are different from the project objectives.
These problems are compounded when the team relies on support organizations that
have different interests and priorities.

Lack of team definition and structure - Many senior managers complain that
teamwork is severely impaired because it lacks clearly defined task responsibilities and
reporting structures. We find this situation is most prevalent in dynamic, organizationally
unstructured work environments such as computer systems and R&D projects. A
common pattern is that a support department is charged with a task but no one leader is
clearly delegated the responsibility. As a consequence, some personnel are working on
the project but are not entirely clear on the extent of their responsibilities. In other
cases, problems result when a project is supported by several departments without
interdisciplinary coordination. Teamwork is severely impaired because it lacks clearly
defined task responsibilities and reporting structures. This would create power struggles
and conflict between team members.

Poor Credibility of project leader - Team-building efforts are hampered when the
project leader suffers from poor credibility within the team or from other managers.
Credibility problems may come from poor managerial skills, poor technical judgments,
or lack of experience relevant to the project.

Poor Selection of Team Members - The project manager may have little say in the
selection of team members. In some cases, project personnel are assigned to a team
by functional managers, and the project manager has little or no input into the selection
process. This may result in low motivation, discontent, conflict, lack of commitment, and
poor performance.

Lack of Commitment -Team members may lack commitment. In this case, team
members have not bought into the team goals, or they don't understand those goals.
The team is unable to make decisions, they lack confidence, and they are afraid of
failure because they don't understand what success is.

Communication Problems - Poor communication is the enemy of team building. Poor

communication practices often lead to unclear objectives and poor project control,
coordination, and work flow.

Lack of Top Management Support - Top management support may was or wane over
the project life cycle. This behavior can result in an uneasy feeling among team
members and lead to low levels of enthusiasm and project commitment.

Project managers who are successfully performing their role not only recognize these
barriers but also know when in the project life cycle they are most likely to occur.
Moreover, these managers take preventive actions and usually foster a work
environment that is conducive to effective teamwork. The effective team builder is
usually a social architect who understands the interaction of organizational and behavior
variables and can foster a climate of active participation and minimal conflict. This
requires carefully developed skills in leadership, administration, organization, and
technical expertise on the project. However, besides the delicately balanced
management skills, the project manager's sensitivity to the basic issues underlying each
barrier can help to increase success in developing an effective project team.
Suggestions for Handling the Newly Formed Team

A major problem faced by many project leaders is managing the anxiety that usually
develops when a new team is formed. The anxiety experienced by team members is
normal and predictable.

Some of the suggestions are:

 Make effort early in the project life cycle to discover conflicting differences.
Fully explain the scope of the project and the rewards that may be forthcoming
on successful project completion. They have to sell "team" concept and explain
responsibilities.
 As early in a project as feasible, ask team members where they see
themselves fitting into the project. Determine how the overall project can best
be divided into subsystems and subtasks (e.g., the work breakdown structure).
 Assure that all parties understand the overall and interdisciplinary project
objectives. Clear and frequent communication with senior management and the
client becomes critically important. Status review meetings can be used for
feedback. Finally, a proper team name can help to reinforce the project
objectives.
 Project leaders need to sell the team concept to senior management as well
as to their team members. Having regular meetings with the team will reinforce
the team notion as will clearly defined tasks, roles, and responsibilities.
 Senior management must help establish the project manager's leadership
role. Clear role and responsibility definition often minimizes competition over
leadership.

The greater the feeling of team membership and the better the information exchange
among team members, the more likely it is that the team will be able to develop
effective decision-making processes. The reason is that team members feel
committed to the project, and they feel free to share their information and develop
effective problem-solving approaches. Third, the team is likely to develop more
effective project control procedures. Project control procedures can be divided into
two basic types. The first type is the quantitative control procedures traditionally
used to monitor project performance (PERT/CPM, networking, work breakdown
structures, etc.). The second is represented by the willingness and ability of project
team members to give feedback to each other regarding performance. Again, trust
among the project team members makes the feedback process easier and more
effective. Without a high level of trust, project personnel are often reluctant to give
constructive feedback to fellow team members

Resources:
https://www.gristprojectmanagement.us/scheduling-controlling/project-
authority.html
https://analysisproject.blogspot.com/2012/02/barriers-to-project-team-
development.html

https://analysisproject.blogspot.com/2012/02/de-jure-
authority.html#:~:text=De%20Facto%20Authority&text=It%20is%20the
%20power%20granted,the%20authority%20in%20the%20project.

https://analysisproject.blogspot.com/2011/08/matrix-responsibility-
chart.html

https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/management/5-major-theories-on-
sources-of-authority-business-management/25725

https://granite.pressbooks.pub/ld820/chapter/4/

https://www.gristprojectmanagement.us/scheduling-
controlling/interpersonal-influences.html

https://www.gristprojectmanagement.us/scheduling-controlling/barriers-to-
project-team-development.html