The International Project Requires Critical People In A Country
This is often inevitable. Traditional project management has
for over 50 years emphasized getting the best and most critical people on the
team. In general, this has led to the failure of many international projects.
There is a need for people with critical skills and knowledge at certain points
in the project, but this need does not extend across the entire project.
Impact
When you take a critical
person from their regular work and put them into project, you do harm in many
ways. First, the department from whence they came is weakened. The department
must find a substitute—often impossible. Second, the person may be assigned to
the team, but they are pulled off of the project when emergencies or important
work arises. Third, they are subjected to many interruptions. Fourth, they
derive their power and influence from the status quo. The results of the project
may change their importance and weaken it. They are likely to be not as
supportive of the project.
Prevention
What do you do? Aim to get people who have some knowledge
and experience, but who are eager to participate in the project. Taking these
people away will have less impact on the departments. Another step is to have
some turnover in the team so that the project is not overly dependent upon one
person.
Action
If you have a critical person on the team, then you should
assign joint tasks with others. That will protect the project in case they have
to leave the project. Another action to take is to restrict which tasks they
work on. If you cut down on the tasks, then you can get them back to their home
departments sooner.
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