Administrative or desktop project management is a key aspect of project delivery, but it is not the entire solution.
The administrative or desktop project manager is one who is focused on perfecting toolsets, methods, techniques, and outcomes, ensuring that all administrative tick boxes are checked. They may, however, be less effective at ensuring that project deliverables and outcomes are managed.
Essentially this type of project manager is led by the toolset instead of using the toolset to support delivery. Toolsets are useful. They make the cadence and admin of a project visible and accessible to all members of the project team. However, there can be a tendency to use them as a crutch and forget the human aspects of the project, such as culture, change management, strategy, and teamwork.
An underlying belief that a good measure of a project is the transparency of the paperwork or administrative tools and not the deliverable is the antithesis of good project oversight.
It is important to make the best possible use of toolsets and for all the best-case scenarios of the project to be on show when business looks at the project. Achieving this is a large part of being a project manager, and culture and human aspects can complicate matters. However, that does not mean the latter can be ignored in order to present a clean, uncomplicated picture.
The trick is to strike a balance. It is important to remember to use the toolsets, otherwise reporting to business suffers. It is equally important to maintain the team’s focus on the deliverables and outcomes and to attend to the human aspects of the project.
In WiRD’s visualisation of how project management works, the administrative or desktop project manager sits between project management and the toolset. This type of project manager does not achieve the end goal, where all aspects of project management coalesce.
Our visualisation therefore drives home the principle that a business needs both types of management to drive project delivery. The project manager needs to balance managing the human aspects, project delivery, and the toolsets themselves, or they need to be supported by someone who manages in the different style.
The project is either small enough that one project manager can manage oversight and administration, or it is big enough to need more than one project manager. Administration is an essential aspect of project management, but project delivery relies on more than just using a toolset well.
WiRD can support you in balancing the human aspects, project delivery and administration on projects. Our expert project managers know the toolsets and have the soft skills for effective project oversight. Contact us to achieve this essential balance on your projects.