I have never heard of multiple project managers for the same project. There can only be one project manager per project. There are department managers involved in multiple projects or one project manager involved in multiple projects. The way a project is being led by the project manager depends on how the organization is structured.
There are 3 types of organizations: Functional, Matrix and Projectized. Functional organizations are where employee has one clear superior. In funcational organizations, Project manager has little to no authority. Projectized organizations is where the project manager has the project authority. He has jurisdiction over the project’s budget, schedule, and the project team. Matrix organization is a combination of functional and projectized organizations depending on what type of matrix structure is being run.
I've never had this experience and I don't know anyone who had worked under multiple managers. I think it's very inefficient to have multiple managers for just one project because it requires strong coordination between the individuals and since they have to ultimately agree on decisions before they carry them out, it can hurt the project because progress is hindered. Another way to think about this is the Law of Diminishing Returns. In economics, there is a principle that if you invest more than you should in a given area of a business (e.g. workers, tools, more facilities) it will actually hurt the business. There is a certain threshold beyond which it will hurt the project. Having 1 or 2 people managing a project can work but having multiple people work on a project won't make the project progress faster. Ultimately, the project manager(s) has to make decisions regarding the work, and if you have more people managers, they will spend more time brainstorming and arguing about what is the best course of action. It's best to have 1 or 2 managers assigned to a project and to always avoid investing too much in a given area.
I never worked on a project under multiple managers, but I would imagine that it would be harder than having one main manager. Although is all depends on the project and managing environment, things may get a little complicated, as multiple managers may have different commitment and responsibilities which would hinder the project flow and the timeline as well as leads to some communication concerns, multiple planners would also be an issue if each manager have a different point of view and different expertise which could cause some conflicts. Advantages would include having wider thoughts and different point of views and counter opinions which would influence the project positively in the long-term.
I've never had the pleasure of having two project managers on my projects, but I feel for anyone who is in that situation. I feel that when there are two project managers, the engineers get stuck between the two sides of the managers. The two project managers would have different or conflicting opinions, and when an engineer completes a task and informs the PM's about it, they would respond differently. This would make the life of an engineer so difficult. I would have to disagree with the closing comment that zha7 made before me saying that " Advantages [of two PM's] would include having wider thoughts and different point of views and counter opinions which would influence the project positively in the long-term." I feel that idea is only beneficial at the start of the initiating phase where ideas get flows around and tasks get divided up. But when it comes to communicating with the engineers, two PM's would be a harder to work cohesively and be productive in the long-term.
Having multiple project managers that work on different parts of project management would not be a bad idea under two conditions: 1. The project is a huge undertaking where there is too much for one manager to manage and 2. They have their own manager or supervisor to report to. I believe the second condition is necessary because without it, their is a bigger chance of there being a power conflict as the managers step on each others toes trying to do what they think is best to overcome any obstacles and would just cause more obstacles in the long run. With a supervisor of their own whose only responsibility is watching over them and making sure they work together rather than against each other, the project is more likely to be successful with multiple project managers working with their teams. The first condition is pretty self explanatory, there is no reason to have multiple managers on a project where one manager can handle the responsibilities alone just fine.
I have had a very bad experience working under 2 managers. One of the managers was responsible for dispatching the device while the other one was responsible for closing the order. I went for the installation of the device at the client-side with instructions that all things have reached and I have to install and train the people at the site, to my surprise one part was missing in the package. I called the manager responsible for dispatching the machine, he stated that he had sent what was ordered and that part order was not placed, while the other manager said he had placed it. In this mix-up, the client was suffering and I was at the receiving end me being the company representative.
To avoid this in future I used to communicate with both the managers in advance and then proceed to the destination only after communicating with both.
I have understood that it does not matter if there are different managers for one project if it is a complex one but they should have proper communication among themselves so that the company doesn't suffer.
I have never worked on a project with multiple project managers. However, based off my experience working on projects with one, I think it could definitely have some benefits to have multiple. For example, often it is beneficial to have a system of checks and balances to make sure decisions concerning the project don’t have any loopholes. This is not saying that one project manager is not sufficient, but people make mistakes, or overlook things sometimes, and to have a second person in charge checking decisions, coming up with ideas, and solving problems could be a very beneficial thing. However, the one problem I do see being detrimental, is when the multiple project managers strongly disagree over a topic of the project. If this situation can be avoided, then I can see this system of multiple project managers working efficiently.
I am a master's student with no prior experience of working in the industry. My knowledge of project and project leader was limited to final graduation project or summer research program. I have always seen and experienced classes between team members and the leader of the team. So I used to think that having more than more leader or in more technical term a project manager is like "Too many cooks spoil the broth". But recently I have started my master's thesis under a professor. But he can only give me so much time. So i have to work under other graduate student and I also have to teach my junior students. Now that I think of having several project managers, its more like few team leaders under a project manager who overlooks the whole process. For such a heavy role, the project manager won't have time to check every nitty gritty details of the project. So to help the project team leaders of different groups are assigned to help the members as well as to make the project a success.
Having multiple project managers, in general, is a bad idea. A company I used to work for had multiple project managers who would collaborate on different projects. I can only say that the accountability for individual tasks would get lost among the masses. Often times a smaller team is stronger and accomplishes more than a large one. That being said, I'm sure that there are companies that have huge projects that require multiple project managers. For instance if a company operates from multiple locations but all their locations work on the same project, it could be useful to have a couple of project managers that split up by region to oversee work done across all of them.
I had worked for an IT company and in my project there were multiple project managers, each one responsible for a specific task of their own team. I believe this is a better strategy as doing this way there is a normal amount of pressure on the project manager and he is not overwhelmed when given a normal amount of work.
It also varies project to project , if it is a smaller project then may be a single manager might suffice, but if it is very large project, we might need more than one manager to distribute the work.
I have not had the opportunity to work on a project where there were multiple project managers, although depending on the size of the project, I do think this method could be more efficient in some cases. Having multiple project managers most likely means the scope of the project is quite large, and therefore it can be helpful to have a clear division of responsibilities distributed from each manager. Additionally, it could also provide multiple support systems when clarification or assistance is needed on specific activities of the project. And obvious benefits of collaboration and diverse perspectives are also relevant to this case.
On the other hand, if the scope of the project is not large enough, or if subsets of the project are dependent on others and not maintaining a similar pace in progress, I can see how multiple project managers can become counter-productive.
The project I am currently working on actually had 2 project managers for a couple of months. The reason was this: project manager A was the main one on the project however she went on maternity leave. This is when project manager B took over. Project manager A then came back and re-joined the project. They were working on the project together for several months and had plans to each manage different phases of the project. For example we are wrapping up phase I which would be completed by project manager B and then project manager A would take over phase II. This was working okay. The two managers have different managing styles, both with strengths and weaknesses. It was overall going smoothly. The troubles with the projects where that we are pursuing two regulatory pathways HCT/Ps and Biologics. In my opinion it's more like two projects in one so splitting up the work with two project managers kind of made sense. However, project manager A was needed on a different project so now the project is back down to 1 project manager. While in this case I think having two managers was helpful given the extent of the project, I do think it is not a good idea otherwise. It becomes difficult to understand who to go to with questions/concerns/comments. Having too many people assigned to something can cause miscommunication which leads to mistakes.
Multiple project managers could be a good idea depending on the scope and hierarchy of the project. In a large scale project, large or complicated tasks could be delegated to other managers. It is important that the hierarchy and accountability are maintained. Even if other managers are in charge of certain portions or tasks of the project, the person with the title "project manager" needs to maintain accountability. Multiple "project managers" are responsible for their portions of the project. However, there should only be one person responsible for the overall outcome of the subtasks.
Projects can be run by a single or multiple project managers (PMs) depending on the nature of the project. This is generally found in non IT companies, where there are 2 project managers, where one is from the business and the other is the technical project manager. This arrangement or type works on projects that have a clear distinction between business and technical responsibilities. So to proceed in such cases and to avoid any roles and responsibilities related confusion, there must be clear roles and responsibilities defined among them.
I have never worked under multiple project managers
I thought this is Interesting .Take a look
I personally have never worked on a project where there was more than one project manager but I think the idea is great depending on the size of the project and the amount of moving parts. If the project is small and doesn't require much personnel, then it would make no practical or financial sense to hire more than one project manager. However, if the project is large and has a lot of aspects to it, it would be both good for the managers themselves and the workers. If there is a big project and everyone is going to one project manager with their problems, that manager may become overwhelmed which will eventually lead to mistakes on their part. If there are multiple managers then different people can go to their respective manager and it would take the load off of a single project manager.
