IPMA
Leading projects without line authority
In my experience, whoever leads a project is often not the line manager of the team members. They work in their departments, have their boss there and bring only part of their time to the project. Such forms of organisation are called matrix organisations. The ICB4 expects project managers to be able to distinguish functional, matrix and project-oriented organisations and to recognise them in practice.
This leads to a simple question with a difficult answer: how do you lead people you cannot give orders to?
What the ICB4 understands by leadership
IPMA devotes an area of its own, with ten competence elements, to personal and social competences:
| No. | Competence element |
|---|---|
| 1 | Self-reflection and self-management |
| 2 | Personal integrity and reliability |
| 3 | Personal communication |
| 4 | Relations and engagement |
| 5 | Leadership |
| 6 | Teamwork |
| 7 | Conflict and crisis |
| 8 | Resourcefulness |
| 9 | Negotiation |
| 10 | Results orientation |
According to the ICB4, all personal competences begin with the ability to reflect on oneself. In the end, competence shows in agreed tasks being completed successfully, and successfully there means: to the satisfaction of the stakeholders. Teamwork and dealing with conflict and crisis are regarded as particular aspects of leadership.
Influence without hierarchy
In the Perspective area, the ICB4 describes that a large part of influence is informal. Besides the formal power of a position, it names further sources, including expertise, acting as a role model and relationships. Precisely these sources are also open to a project manager without authority to issue instructions.
It follows: whoever leads without line authority leads through trust, clarity and relationships, not through instructions.
Six levers for practice
The following levers are an assessment from practice. The ICB4 competence element to which each is assigned is given in brackets.
- Clarify the mandate before the team starts (Governance, structures and processes). What may the project management decide itself, and what not? Recording this in writing at the beginning means not having to fight for authority later. In HERMES this clarification belongs in the execution order.
- Negotiate with the line managers, not only with the team (Negotiation, Relations and engagement). The time of the team members belongs to their departments. Agreements on who contributes how much time and when prevent later conflicts.
- Be reliable (Personal integrity and reliability). For anyone leading without hierarchy, the most important capital is their own word. Keeping commitments, even small ones, creates the basis for everything else.
- Convey meaning (Leadership, Results orientation). People commit themselves to a project when they understand what it is for and what their contribution achieves.
- Address conflicts early (Conflict and crisis). Without authority to issue instructions, a conflict cannot be ended by decision. The earlier it is on the table, the more likely it can be resolved in conversation. If not, it belongs with the project sponsor.
- Control your own reaction (Self-reflection and self-management). The ICB4 stresses that controlling the first, spontaneous reaction makes consistent behaviour possible. Especially under pressure, this decides whether the team continues to trust the project management.
This becomes particularly clear in small, cross-company teams. There, not only the authority to issue instructions is missing, but often also a common line organisation with which one could negotiate. In my experience, three levers above all then remain: a clear mandate, reliability and sound relationships with the companies involved.
When influence is not enough
In my experience, there are situations in which even good leadership without hierarchy reaches its limits: when team members are permanently pulled away by their line organisation or when two departments block each other. Then it is no longer the project management that is called for, but the project sponsor. HERMES provides the steering level for this. A project management that escalates such cases in good time and objectively is not acting weakly but responsibly.
Conclusion
In my assessment, leading without line authority is not the exception in projects but the norm. The ICB4 describes the competences that count here very precisely. They can be learned, and they can be assessed on real examples in a certification from level C upwards.
Further reading: IPMA project management: competence instead of method · The environment under control: perspective competences according to IPMA · The role of the project sponsor in HERMES
Sources: IPMA Individual Competence Baseline, version 4.0, German edition, chapters 3.2, 4.3 and 4.4 · VZPM, IPMA certification system (in German)