This document is second in a series about the Seven Deadly Project Sins.

In this narrative, I want to focus on some of the “soft-elements” of the project, some temptations that the project manager needs to be on the lookout for in order to foster success on the project.

The Seven Deadly Project Sins as I have defined them are:

• Elitism
• Project Envy
• Resource Gluttony
• Project Lust
• Personalization
• Over-allocation of Resources
• Best Practice Sloth

The second Deadly Project Sin – Project Envy can affect you as a project manager.

On the Internet at www.wikipedia.com you can view this definition of envy:

“Envy is an emotion that “occurs when a person lacks another’s superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.” At the core of envy seems to be an upward social comparison that threatens a person’s self-esteem: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have. However, what is envied could also be something that is only of personal importance to the envier, even if what the other person has is of little significance in his or her society, or even seen as a sign of inferior status. If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the envier that it just as well could have been him or her who had the desired object.

Project Envy can affect the project manager’s ability to function, to grow and to be effective in the organization.

How does project envy happen?

The project manager looks “outside” his or her sphere of influence and sees a project or a situation that appears to be “better” than what they are working on. In conjunction with this perception, the project manager can perceive that they are inferior due to their current project assignment.

Projects come in all shapes and sizes. Projects have a wide variety of stakeholders and inputs from stakeholders as to what the stakeholder require for the project to be successful. An experienced project manager might be assigned to a challenging, difficult project that crosses multiple organizations and multiple disciplines. Or, an experienced project manager could be assigned to a project that affects one stakeholder in one enterprise organization.

Which of these is better?

The project manager may perceive that one of these project situations is “better”, that one of these project situations is more in line with their project manager skills. If the project manager “looks around” and sees other projects that they want to work on, then dissatisfaction with their current assignment can occur; or simply stated, project envy can occur.

Sometimes project envy occurs at the skills level. “Project Manager “X” gets to go to the PMI conference and gain valuable information on the latest project best practices but “Project Manager Y” does not.

Maybe “Project Manager Y” perceives that “Project Manager X” is the favored person, the chosen one who gets to do all the “good” or “fun” projects – and they get to do the mundane projects.

Sometimes the project manager who perceives that he or she is being assigned the mundane, common projects is correct. But this still does not make “Project Envy” an acceptable situation.

Let’s look at the role of the project manager. The project manager is intended to be the integrator of all the needs, the actions and the outcomes in order to accomplish the identified enterprise need. The project manager is intended to communicate with all of the project stakeholders in order to accomplish the project. The project manager is intended to use interpersonal skills and project management knowledge and skills to accomplish all this.

Simply stated, the project manager is a “tool” that the enterprise uses to accomplish goals.

Project Envy tempts the project manager to lose focus on the project that they are assigned to. When you lose focus on the project, you are no longer an effective tool.

If you are “looking around” all the time, you often fail to focus on the tasks that are to be performed that are right in front of you. If you are “looking around” and trying to compare what other project managers are doing, what they are “receiving” as part of their assignments, you run the risk of failing to meet your own goals and assigned tasks as a project manager.

Often, project managers are utilized on multiple enterprise projects at the same time. It is already difficult for the project manager to split their focus in order to manage multiple projects. If the project manager falls victim to project envy and is always looking at other projects, other situations and other “perquisites” that other project managers receive, the focus on their multiple projects will probably be lost.

Once you lose focus on your projects, your projects are probably doomed to failure.

Here’s hoping that when you manage your projects, you will remember to focus on your projects and not be distracted by outside influences that come from perceptions of other enterprise projects. I would encourage every project manager to watch out for this “Deadly Project Sin” of project envy in the project environment.

By Tim Bergmann, PMP, ABCP