Power plays in project management

We are aware of the triple constraints of Scope, Time and Cost and how it can influence the course of a project.

But still there are many other factors which can affect the project. For example, politics; office politics. From one perspective, the office politics is influencing people and getting things done. But I am talking about the flip side of this, where the influence is for not getting things done for the project, but for individual benefits. It is the behavior and motivation of the people that makes the office politics worse.

This kind of office politics and ego can jeopardize any on track project and destroy the morale of the project team.

The project manager is responsible for solving the politics inside a project team, he can use the support of the issues management processes to get these issues resolved. But things get worse if the influence is from outside the project team, and from a position of power.

Here, what one can do is, getting his work done on time; get the buy-in from the stakeholders. These will provide you the support needed for your existence in the organization, or the best way is without fighting, leave the organization. But, I strongly believe the project managers are born to fight !