IPMA Perspective Competence Element — Power and Interest
In my last article on IPMA, I wrote about the third competence element in the Perspective Area, Compliance, Standards and Regulations. In this article, I am writing on the fourth competence element: Power & Interest.
This competence element aims to enable the individual to use power and interest techniques to achieve stakeholder satisfaction and deliver the agreed outcomes within the constraints of time and budget.
Each of us has our ambitions and interest, and these are very individual and personal. There will be people with similar ambitions, and some are having the opposite while they are in the same team. This difference is a potential trigger for a conflict. Such is the reality and why knowing Power & Interest is an essential aspect of a Project Manager.
If you are visiting a potential client’s company, who do you think could be the most critical person to determine your opportunities? Granted, those decision-makers, and you will present your best in front of them for sure. But, how about when you are arriving and communicating with the front desk or even the cleaning team. They will likely not be keen on your business proposal, but they do have unofficial powers. They could affect how those decision-makers look at you and if you can successfully secure the deal.
I once travelled to another country to discuss the details of a technology implementation project. Due to some reasons unknown to us, the country representative was reluctant, not helpful, and creating lots of hurdles for the project to proceed. Upon returning to Singapore, I met up with the APAC Director for a quick debrief and shared the situation and potential risk. He arranges for a conference call immediately and states his concern about the project, and suddenly all the hurdles disappeared, and the person agreed to all the implementation process.
This situation is a very typical Power & Interest play out. The person in the other country was not interested in the project, and he sees himself in a higher position than me. When we are on a call with the APAC Director, he has much higher authority, and he’s keen to see the project implemented successfully. Even when the APAC Director casually brings the matter across, the other person immediately agreed to the entire plan.
As a Project Manager, it is crucial to know these relationships and leverage these for the project’s benefits. It is beyond our technical skills and critical to the project, programme, or portfolio you are running.
Execution of this CE depends on the other CEs and cannot happen in a silo. The other CEs include Personal Integrity and Reliability, Personal Communication, Stakeholder, and many others, supporting each other.
Thank you for reading, and I hope it gives you a glimpse into this Power & Interest CE. I will write on the next competence element in the Perspective Competence Area, “Culture & Values”, the last CE in the Perspective Area, in my subsequent sharing.
If you are keen to know more about PMAS, you can check this link out https://pma.sg/ and follow my hashtag to learn more about the CE in IPMA Individual Competence Baseline (ICB) Version 4.0
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