“Trust is applied differently depending on the role played in a project. Project performers need to trust the integrity and intention of the PM to treat people fairly, add value, protect them from unreasonable demands and more. Throw one team member under the bus, and you have probably lost the trust of the entire team. Failure to address accountability for errors and omissions will also result in loss of trust. Once lost, trust is hard to regain.

A PM trusts individual performers and functional managers to provide accurate estimates, report problems, and risks at the appropriate time, and do the work. How far this trust goes depends on the specific situation. The best practice of defining tasks with concrete deliverables no longer than a week or so in duration supports not having to rely on trust. We verify that work has been done, objectives are accomplished, quality results have been delivered, and emerging risks, issues, and changes are identified and addressed.

Project and program sponsors and executives – depending on their perceived criticality of the project, their level in the organization and the number of levels between them and the project manager – trust the project process and the project manager to get things done and inform stakeholders when something unexpected happens. Here we might have a month or quarter between formal checkpoints with regular reports coming weekly or monthly or more frequently, perhaps in the form of a dashboard and informal one-on-one meetings.

Trust is broken if the executive is blindsided or surprised by something that he or she could have been informed about earlier. For example, trusting becomes very difficult when at the last minute before expected delivery there is an announcement that there will be a six-month delay and the budget will be twice what was expected. To be trusted, make sure there is transparency and candid reporting.

Distrust leads to a degradation of performance. Time and energy are wasted in protecting oneself from the weaknesses and failings in others. The mistrusting manager will tend to micromanage. Micromanagement requires excessive intrusions into the work process, over control, performers with a sense of being demeaned, excessive time and stress for the PM and for the performers.

Trust with verification in a trusted system frees performers from unnecessary reporting, communicates confidence in them and reduces the stress that comes from both thinking you need to be looking over someone’s shoulder and having someone looking over your shoulder.” – George Pitagorsky, author of The Zen Approach to Project Management , excerpted from his article, “Trust And Verify In Project Management“, at ProjectTimes.com, click here to read the article in its entirety. [end]

Insightful and well said!  PMO Advisory offers courses throughout the year designed for project professionals interested in Portfolio (PfMP), Program (PgMP), Project (PMP & CAPM) Risk (PMI-RMP) Management, and Agile (PMI-ACP) certifications.