Authority Earned, Not Given
For project managers, the support of their team is critical for completing projects successfully. Yet, a team’s respect cannot simply be assigned like a task. Acquiring and executing project authority with the support of a full project team demands careful and skilled execution.
Project leadership requires a humble yet assertive persona, capable of taking charge when needed and delegating authority wherever possible. A project manager must develop their own skills and lead with principles. Doing so will certainly encourage team loyalty. If a project manager simply presumes authority, they will never earn the backing of their team.
PM Types of Authority
TYPES OF POWER
According to PMI®, the project manager can exert the following types of power:
| The Powers of the Project Manager | |
| Power | Definition |
| Expert | The project manager is an expert with the goal the project focuses on. |
| Reward | The project manager can reward the project team members. |
| Coercive | The project manager can punish the project team members. |
| Formal | The project manager is formally assigned to the role of the project manager. |
| Referent | The project team knows the project manager. The project manager refers to the person that assigned them to the role of project manager. |
- Expert Power - Expert power can only be exercised by individuals who are held in particular esteem because of their special knowledge or skill. The project manager’s ability to use this power derives from reputation, knowledge, and experience.
- Reward Power - Reward power involves positive reinforcement and the ability to award people something of value in exchange for their cooperation. The project manager’s ability to use this power derives from his or her position in the organizational hierarchy and degree of control over the project.
- Coercive Power - Coercive power is predicated on fear (for example, subordinate fears being deprived of something for failing to do what the supervisor asks). The ability to use this power derives from the project manager’s control over the project and project personnel.
- Formal Power - Legitimate power is derived from the person’s formal position within the organization. The project manager’s ability to use this power derives from his or her position in the organizational hierarchy and his or her degree of control over the project, as modified by the organizational climate. Use of this power should be in conjunction with expert and reward power whenever possible.
- Referent Power - Referent power is based on citing the authority of a more powerful person (for example, one’s supervisor) as the basis for one’s own authority. The project manager’s ability to use this power derives from his or her position in the organizational hierarchy.
Organization charts
An Organizational Chart represents the structure of an organization in terms of rank. The chart usually shows the managers and sub-workers who make up an organization. The chart also shows relationships between staff in the organization, which can be:
