Project Management in the Twitter Era

By Lon Roberts, PhD

Texas, USA

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This paper was originally presented at the 5th Annual UT Dallas Project Management Symposium in Texas in August 2011 and first published in the conference Proceedings.  It is republished here with permission of the authors and the University of Texas at Dallas.  For information about the annual UT Dallas PM Symposium, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/graduate/execed/
projectMgmtProg/projSymposium/

Abstract

Project managers are facing a revolution that will have a profound effect on their jobs and their profession.  The shake up is fueled by a widening gap between the demands of contemporary projects, and the skills and abilities—in certain critical areas—of the humans who support them.

The dynamics of this revolution are already underway.  While on one hand projects in general, and project management as a profession, are increasing in complexity, on the other hand our society is becoming one that thinks, reasons, and communicates in “sound bites”—a condition that is enabled by the growing use of social media tools, such as Twitter and Facebook.

This paper is not intended to stake out a position for or against social media, nor is it a diatribe condemning the direction our society is heading.  In fact, certain tools that fall under the social media umbrella are being used successfully to address the communication and collaboration challenges that are inherent in projects where team members cannot be collocated.  Rather, the intent is to help project managers recognize and come to terms with the gap between the demands of contemporary projects and the direction our society is moving with respect to what some describe as an “addiction” to social media.

Drawing on research and expert opinion of prominent neuroscientists, this paper will describe how social media is changing not only habits but also the “hardwiring” of the brains of an entire generation.  Furthermore, since these changes give rise to challenges as well as opportunities in the project management arena, this paper will explore the ramifications of these changes—the good and the bad—in the context of planning, managing, and executing projects.

Envision this scenario.  You are the manager of a multi-billion dollar project—a project so large that it accounts for three-fourths of your company’s total revenue.  Needless to say, maintaining an excellent relationship with the client of this project is of paramount importance.  Everyone on the project team knows and understands this—or so you believed before learning that a key member of your team has “Twittered” several offensive remarks about your client to his massive network of followers, many of whom “Re-Tweeted” them to their followers.  If there is a root cause to this problem, ferreting it out won’t do anything to eliminate the damage that has already been done.  You can fire this individual in the hope of making amends, but your client understands that you and your company bear more than a little responsibility for hiring him in the first place—all the more so after the client discovers that this individual has a reputation for making insensitive remarks in public.

If one of the following is an accurate portrayal of the individual in this scenario, which would you choose?

• Individual 1: This individual is a highly paid member of your project team.  He is 55 years old, the father of two children, and has worked for several well-known companies. He is not noted for being technically-savvy, but his job as a “goodwill ambassador” for this megaproject doesn’t require him to be so.

• Individual 2: This individual is a 25-years old software engineer who is an avid user of social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.  In his college years he formed a rock band and gained a reputation for writing lyrics that earned him a large following among his peers because they “pushed the edge of the envelope.”

Since this is a fabricated story, there isn’t a “right” answer, but as a reminder that stereotypes are often wrong, consider the following real-life story.

More…

 

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About the Author Lon Roberts, PhD Author   Dr. Lon Roberts is a principal partner for the Plano, Texas-based firm, Roberts & Roberts Associates.  He is in demand as a keynote speaker, trainer, consultant, and executive coach. As testament of his speaking abilities, Lon has been invited to present to the New York City chapter of the Project Management Institute for five years in a row.  Spanning a 38-year career, Lon has held positions with E-Systems/Raytheon, the Alliance for Higher Education, and Texas State Technical College. He has expertise in measurement systems, project management, process reengineering, and transformational leadership.  And he is especially passionate about the role of “systems thinking” in the project management arena and also bridging the communications gap that serves as a barrier between technical specialists and their non-technical peers.  Lon has authored numerous articles and five books—his latest titled Leading Accelerated Projects, as well as the Quality Press bestseller, Process Reengineering: The Key to Achieving Breakthrough Success. He has also designed and developed over 30 training programs and is a frequently contributor to Defense AT&L magazine, an award winning publication of the Defense Acquisition University in the United States.  Lon earned a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma and B.S. and M.S. degrees from Oklahoma State University; he has also studied at the University of Dallas and the College of William and Mary.  His e-mail address is Lon@R2assoc.com and his website is www.R2assoc.com.     Editor’s note: Second Editions are previously published papers that have renewed or continued relevance in today’s project management professional world, or which were originally published in conference proceedings or in a language other than English.  Original publication acknowledged; authors retain copyright.