Introducing a new series of articles by Andrew McGregor

This series of articles demonstrates the value of coaching as a powerful aid to developing project management expertise. Conventional wisdom says that project management competence comes from training and experience. We test this by asking two questions: “What do you know?”, and “What have you done?” Training and experience are clearly necessary, but they are not sufficient.

This coaching conversation explores the idea of what makes for true project management competence.

This is the power of coaching – not by providing answers, but by asking powerful questions that set a framework for discovery, empowerment and transformation.

Coach: What would you like to accomplish in our session today?

Client: I would like to explore what it is that makes for a truly competent project manager. It worries me that so many projects are so stressful and so often do not result in a successful outcome. It seems that even people with PMPs [Project Management Professional qualifications] do not get it right much of the time.

Coach: What else do you think or feel about that?

Client: I don’t really know. It’s just that I interview people who seem to have the right training, they have worked in prestigious companies, they have good qualifications, but somehow they don’t really get to the real issues. We send them on project management training and they do not come back better project managers.

Coach: How do you know that it is a problem? What do you see and hear that lets you know things are not working the way you would like them to?

Client: Here is an example that happened last week in a project status meeting. The project manager had prepared the agenda, had sent it out with the minutes of the last meeting and the updated status report. He had done everything expected of him from an administrative perspective, but when we got into the meeting, we found that two of the key stakeholders had submitted their apologies. Their deliverables were the ones that were crucial to the project moving ahead. Then there was a long discussion about whether the minutes accurately captured the essence of what was said in the previous meeting on a crucial issue – it seemed that there were three interpretations of what was supposedly agreed. Then tensions started rising and it became clear to me that the people on the project team were only interested in watching their backs and had no real concern for the success of the project. I have seen variations of this theme on other projects as well.

Coach: What do you think is happening here?

Client: I don’t know. I looked at the issues from as many perspectives as I could think of. The project schedule is detailed and technically well-constructed and it has been signed off by the relevant stakeholders. All the project documentation is up to date and version control is well implemented. There is a communication plan that shows what must be sent out, to whom and when – and it seems that it is all happening. Likewise for quality management and the budget – it is all in place, but the project simply is not going according to plan.

Coach: What else do you think is happening?

Client: The project manager is doing everything by the book, but the people assigned to the project are not engaged.

[Coach notices that the client is deep in thought and stays quiet, allowing the client to process his thoughts. It seems a very long silence, and the coach thinks of asking how to get engaged to move the conversation along, but resists the temptation to ask it – allowing the client the time and space to think it through.]

Client [becomes animated and thumps the desk]: That’s the problem. They are not engaged because they have other, sometimes conflicting, priorities. The project team is made up of people representing diverse interests from across the organisation. They come onto the project team happy to contribute, but they still have their ‘corporate homes’ in finance, marketing or distribution and do not report into the project manager.

[Coach nods, keeping eye contact, encouraging the client to continue.]

Client: The PM has to get work done through other people who do not report to him. That’s the key – how do you do that?

[Client pauses, coach stays quiet].

Client: This is not about project management, it’s about leadership! How many books, courses, university and business school degrees are there that teach management and leadership? I’ll bet that the vast majority assume, explicitly or implicitly, that the people you are managing and leading are subordinates. That is seldom the case in our world.

[Coach is paying exquisite attention – not thinking of her next question, but recognising that the client is doing his best thinking by talking through his insights. She is wondering what else the client will discover for himself.]

Client: Nobody ever said that leadership is easy, but it’s a whole lot harder when you are leading a team of people over whom you have no authority and who may have different, even conflicting, individual goals. How do you do that?

[Coach is not clear what client means by “conflicting individual goals”, but is not tempted to seek clarification. It is more important to keep the client focused on where his thoughts are going.]

Coach: What do you think is needed to lead a team over whom you have no authority?

Client: Management support, I guess. [gives a sarcastic laugh] That’s a joke.

Coach: Okay [nods and pauses]. It’s possible that management support is needed. But what if it isn’t that? What else is possible?

Client: I guess we need to be really assertive [looks out of the window, disengaged]. No, that might be part of it, but it’s more than that.

[Coach notices that his voice is slightly higher pitched and his breathing is faster and more shallow. It is possible that frustration is building, which would impede clear thinking. She trusts her instincts.]

Coach: Okay, let’s pause for a moment. Take a deep breath [she does it, too]… and listen to your breath as you exhale. Go quiet inside and trust your intuition. What do you think is needed to lead a team over whom you have no authority?

[Client thinks for a few moments.]

Client: Influence. We need influence in the absence of authority. That’s what this job is all about.

Coach: And with that insight, what changes for you?

Client: Until now, I have never really understood the essence of project management. Sure, all the training we do and the accreditations are important – we need to know those things. They are necessary, but they are not sufficient. We need more.

Coach: What more do you need?

Client: We need to develop authenticity. We need to develop an ability to connect with people who represent diverse interests and who have differing attitudes toward the project. We need to inspire them to collaborate, to harness their skills and to build on each others’ contributions.

Coach: And what does that mean to you?

Client: It means that project managers have to be leaders in the true sense of the word. A manager has subordinates, a leader has followers. That’s where we have been going wrong – sitting behind our laptops doing plans, status reports, e-mails – managing the process by the book. These are not what makes people want to bust a gut for the project.

Coach: Do you know what that means – for project managers to be leaders in the true sense of the word, so that people want to bust a gut for the project?

Client: No, not yet. But at least I think I know what we are missing.

Coach: Shall we discuss leadership in the context of project management?

Client: Yes, please. Next time. For now, I want to reflect on what I learnt today.

Coach debriefing

You may have been asked, possibly before age 12, by a parent or teacher: “Why don’t you think before you speak?”.

It is such a pity that we are not encouraged to think aloud. The mind works best in the presence of two things: an insightful question and the knowledge that it is being supported completely in working through the question, with no interruption or judgement.

In this session, the coach had various ideas of her own, but it would not serve the client for her to share how clever, insightful or innovative she is. Coaching works because the client has full ownership of every thought and insight.

It is said that there are two types of listening: listening to respond, and listening to ignite. The former is what we tend to do all the time, so that when our turn comes along, we are prepared to respond as best we can. The latter is where we have no need of our own – not even to understand what the client is saying, but simply to support them as they work something out for themselves. This is empowerment at its peak. 

Andrew McGregor is chief executive officer of Cohesion and a certified meta-coach. He can be contacted via e-mail:

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