Do you always say YES? It’s time to say NO! many project mangers intentionally play this role of a doormat, they mistakenly think it would make them successful or at least get seen as obedient and trying to always please each and every stakeholder, being a doormat destroys the professional image of the project manager it also exhibits some stereotypes of project failure

Don’t be a doormat to stakeholders by saying YES to everything, rather be the door through which their dreams come true by delivering the project successfully

Based on my own observation and interaction with different project managers around the globe on Twitter and also on project management blogs I frequently read, I can tell you that many project managers need a morale boost, we,l project managers, cannot motivate unless we ourselves feel motivated, the core reason for having low morale is the project management maturity in most of companies, and lack of understanding of what a project manager’s role is, in the middle of all this mess, some project managers play the doormat role, they mistakenly think it would make their lives easier and increase the stakeholders and project sponsor satisfaction, conversely this leads to catastrophic results, and demonstrates project failure symptoms.

A doormat project manager is usually a weak kind of person, who says YES to every request, and often times gets intimidated by a stakeholder’s power and influence, he also can accept unrealistic requirements to delight a powerful stakeholder or to make the project sponsor happy without ever explaining his viewpoint or defending the team.

The Doormat Project Manager Syndrome

Although all the project stakeholders and team members will always realize that the project manager is a doormat, The doormat project manager himself may not know that he is a doormat, and that’s where the real irony is! After some thinking I got to list some attributes of a doormat project manager:

• A doormat project manager will always say YES without expressing his point of view
• Will try to delight powerful stakeholders by being submissive to their demands and changes
• Will not object to unrealistic deadlines
• Will initially ( I have added initially in case the project has a CCB, Change Control Board) approve change requests without through study to assess impact on the project’s cost, deadline, and risk
• Will not defend the team members
• May start the project without robust planning phase in order to respond to an externally imposed deadline by a powerful stakeholder or to showcase his quick planning skills!
• May compromise quality to deliver ahead of time to impress powerful stakeholders or to meet their demands
• Can pay less attention to less powerful stakeholders and focus more on powerful stakeholders
• May accept a biased evaluation of bidders in order not to get into conflicts with powerful stakeholders

Apparently, the above list can be longer, but all the symptoms will always take the same theme, that is being submissive to stakeholders and lack of courage to defend the project.

The doormat project manager syndrome can lead to very dangerous results and can lead to project failure, herein some results:

• Scope Creep: if a change request is automatically approved without being well-thought-of, this will absolutely lead to a scope creep
• High Risk: the common denominator of a doormat project manager syndrome is high risk that leads to failure, every time the doormat project manager exhibits any of the above issues the project is jeopardized
• Low Morale Team: when doormat project manager accepts unrealistic requirements, deadlines, cost, etc. to delight a powerful stakeholder by keeping the team under pressure to meet those unrealistic expectations, this will lead to low team morale and will not give a chance to be creative because all team members will be busy trying to meet the unrealistic requirements
• Lack of Respect: No team member will respect a doormat project manager, the doormat project manager will rarely defend team members and will not pay considerable attention to develop the team
• Selecting Incapable Vendor:if an incapable vendor is selected based on a powerful stakeholder’s preferences this may lead to certain failure, I have written an article about how the procurement process can make a project a failure, read Why Projects Fail (Part Four) – Procurement

The project manager should have the guts to say NO, I am not asking to be dismissive, but the doormat project manager should seriously think about it, being a doormat project manager is the worst style the project manager can adopt, it destroys the project manager’s professional image and also put the project at stake, it also distorts the image of both the project management profession and other project managers, if a stakeholder uses his influence to direct the project in a certain direction and he finds a doormat project manager, the stakeholder will think that all project managers are doormats!

To be fair; the organizational structure plays a role in the doormat syndrome, if the project manager works in a weak matrix organization, where he feels powerless and having no authority, the project manager may opt to be a doormat to get the job done at any cost, however that is not an excuse, the project manager should exert some effort to increase the awareness of project management, and also should have self-confidence and guts to defend the project. If you are a doormat project manager and after having read this post you still are not willing to change your style, you will only get to understand when your project fails, and don’t worry it will FAIL.

You Have Something to Say?

Have you met one doormat project manager before? I am sure you have, they are always around, no wonder our profession has got such a bad reputation during past few years, while we all can see great, yes great!, project managers, the majority is mediocre and doormat, I am looking forward to seeing that day on which a project manager will PROOUDLY introduce himself: “I am name, project manager!” without worrying about the ones who really make the profession worse! I strongly believe, as many do, that There are Too Many Projects and Few Project Managers

I would be happy to see your comments below, tell me about doormats if you have seen or worked with one, Thank you!

Related Posts:

• Weak Matrix Syndrome
• Scope Creep and Gold Plating are two sides of the same coin
• First Time Project Manager
• RED Leadership
• Matrix Survival Tips