The Matrix 

No, not the movie... though it is very good. I'm actually talking about the organizational method. It is very popular in larger companies. For those unfamiliar, I'll describe it very briefly. The idea is that you have two different types of managers. You have Project Managers and Resource Managers. Project Managers are in charge of individual projects, schedules, assigning work to people on the project, etc. Resource Managers are in charge of people, independent of your work on any particular project. So for any person in a company, you'll have one resource manager, and potential several project managers that you report to (depending on the number of projects you're on).

In theory, it's a great idea. Theory is the operative word here. Very few companies are able to pull this off successfully (although most companies think they pull it off). The mistake that 95% of companies make is that they allow their managers to be both a Project Manager, and a Resource Manager. It is my contention that this single development has lead to the explosion of IT restrictions and general corporate policies that mean that you're tied down tighter than a weak man at a bondage convention. How's that for imagery?

Here is the problem. If a manager wears both hats, sooner or later he or she will have to choose which hat to wear more often, because there are only so many hours in a day. I guarantee you that a manager will choose to do Project Management tasks before Resource Management tasks every single day of the week (and twice on Sunday). It's the nature of the business. Projects always take priority over resources. More often than not these days, those Project Management tasks don't even involve checking in on the people working on your project. Usually these managers are stuck in meetings all day, working out requirements, vision statements, next tasks to be completed, and status reporting.

So if you have a weak link on your project, surfing the net, IM'ing with people more than working or whatever, you as a manager won't know about it... because you won't have time to simply stop by their cube and check in on them, or email them, or whatever. And so the pressure of making sure that your employees are actually working has shifted from the Resource Manager (who isn't managing resources any more because he's going to project meetings) to your IT department.

This is actually one of the things that attracted me to the consulting firm where I work. We do have Resource Managers and Project Managers (actually they're Account Exec's in my case)... but my Resource Manager doesn't manage clients... she manages me. She's in charge of my career development, making sure things are going ok with me. If I'm unhappy at a client, she'll have time to do something about it.

One of the interesting things that I can to see now, is how companies where I consult handle this situation. It's an interesting experience. In a company, and in a project, people are the key, not tasks. It's time that companies remember that and start spending more time on them.