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What kind of authority does the project manager have?

What kind of authority (if any) does the project manager have or exercise? I think this question is probably subjective and depends on the organization but I would like to know how is it like at your organization. In mine, the project manager has really no authority whatsoever, and resources are managed very softly, and in concordance with their functional manager...
asked 9 years ago by anonymous

1 Answer

In most cases the project manager has no authority at all on the resources, and he's under the mercy of the functional manager. However, the project manager through diplomacy, communications, and by setting himself as an example for the resources, he can impose his authority (even without having formal authority).

In short, if the project manager has any authority at all it is usually informal. The kind of authority that the project manager usually have (when he has it) is the expert authority (rarely, if ever, does the project manager have the reward/penalty authority).
answered 8 years ago by humblepm (17,390 points)

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