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Fractional Project Managers and the PM Role

Fractional Project Managers and the PM Role

By George Pitagorsky

Every conscious activity to create or improve is a project.

As leadership recognizes the importance of project management and its cost, interest in using fractional project managers is growing. This is a practical approach in organizations that do large projects infrequently, or in small—to medium-sized organizations that need project management capability but are thinly staffed.

Fractional project management can also be used in large organizations with or without a strong project office where fractional PMs may be full-time employees or contractors.

Like all attractive ideas, fractional project management can only add value if it is applied skillfully. It can only be applied skillfully if it is well-understood as a complex approach that requires tailoring to each situation.

Fractional project management is a label for a way of working that has been around for decades. Having a name for it is helpful to highlight the approach as an option for handling project management career planning and staffing.

Opportunity and Threat

As a professional project manager, it is important to be aware of any trend that opens new opportunities or changes work relationships.

For example, there is the opportunity to practice the skills required to manage multiple projects simultaneously and use those skills to further your career. There is the threat that organizations will not need to employ and manage full-time project managers. There is the threat that fractional project managers may be spread too thin and assigned ambiguous role definitions and expectations.

It is also important for C-level and other senior decision-makers to understand the pros and cons, risks, and benefits of using fractional project management as a business practice.

Complex Decision

The decision to use fractional PMs is complex. It depends on an understanding of the PM’s role, cultural acceptance, the nature of the project, communication and collaboration infrastructure, and the organization’s strategy for building its project management competency.

While the decision can be made on a project-by-project basis, it is more powerful to consider it as part of the business strategy. A strategic approach recognizes that project management competency is critical to success.

Of course, knowing what “fractional project management” means is a starting point for making the right decision and getting desired results.

Fractional Project Management

Fractional Project Management uses project management experts on multiple projects simultaneously, or are taking on project work as needed. Therefore, fractional project managers. (it is hard to get rid of the image of an eighth of a project manager giving a presentation).

A fractional project manager (FPM) is a professional project manager with expertise in managing multiple projects. FPMs may be internal employees in a large organization or, more likely, external personnel in a contracting arrangement. They work within a flexible framework tailored to the specific needs of a project and its setting.

The specific skills required depend on the role defined for the FPM That role definition is one of the critical factors in making fractional project management effective.

Critical Success Factors

Earlier we identified the factors that need to be considered when deciding to use FPMs. These are the critical success factors:

  • Definition of the FPM’s role
  • Cultural acceptance of the concept
  • The nature of the project – the need
  • Communication and collaboration infrastructure
  • The organization’s strategy for building project management competency.

Definition of the FPM’s role

A project manager is an administrator and facilitator who enables a project team to effectively perform. As an administrator the project manager, using the communication and collaboration platform, collects data, compiles reports, facilitates planning, schedules meetings, makes presentations, and manages change, risk, and monitoring.

The PM must be an expert communicator with deep expertise in the project management process – planning, monitoring and controlling, managing change, quality, and risk, facilitating decision-making, conflict resolution, and closing the project.

A project manager may have significant authority to make decisions and directly manage resources. In other cases, the project is within a matrixed environment in which functional managers and project managers must collaborate to assign and manage resources and influence schedules and budgets.

When the FPM role is limited to administration and facilitation, FPMs can more easily perform across multiple projects. Particularly, if the communication and collaboration infrastructure is sound.

Cultural Acceptance of the Concept

Successful use of FPMs requires the acceptance of “partnering” with an external, part-time resource in a critical management position. Many organizations are averse to contracting or outsourcing services like project management. They do not want to give up control or manage contractor-client relationships. They want to retain knowledge and capability. They want to protect intellectual property and competitive advantage.

Internal stakeholders may not feel comfortable working with contractors. They may not be able to get over an us-vs.-them mindset.

For fractional project management to work relationship issues must be addressed. The goal is for the team to work with contractors as accepted team members.

It is important for all concerned to recognize the benefits of outsourcing or fractionalizing the PM role – external perspective with industry or project-type experience, expertise in applying best practices and state-of-the-art tools not available internally, cost savings, staffing flexibility, risk reduction, and transferring knowledge to build internal competency.

The Nature of the Project

Projects come in all shapes and sizes, from two or three people working toward a mutual objective to projects with casts of thousands across multiple organizations and huge budgets.

Project management differs depending on the size and complexity of the project. The FPM role must be tailored to the project. For example, decide whether to use an administrative FPM or to use a full-time PM, who may be a contractor.

Communication and Collaboration Infrastructure

The Communication and Collaboration Infrastructure is the technology and standards platform that supports project management and performance. A well-engineered and well-understood infrastructure enables the use of fractional PMs

The technology consists of products that enable project planning and control, communication, document management, and calendar management, supported by Artificial Intelligence. Standards are policies, procedures, templates, methodologies, etc.

An integrated overall system maximizes benefits. Because many organizations do not have well-integrated infrastructure it is beneficial to engage a PM contractor that brings state-of-the-art tools and standards.

The Organization’s Strategy for Building Project Management Competency.

The use of fractional project management is a business decision. It depends on the specific situation at hand and the long-term view regarding project management expertise.

Let’s look at a couple of scenarios:

In scenario 1 we have a medium-sized company with 50 employees. Executive management wants to implement a comprehensive system to streamline operations.

Everyone in the company is busy. No one has ever been involved in business process automation. While there are some project management capabilities in the IT department, the staff is primarily involved in maintenance, technical operations, and support.

In this case, the strategy might be to outsource project management and assign an employee to become an in-house project management expert and work closely with the contractor. The degree to which the project manager is full or part-time is negotiable. My goal is to create an internal project management capability.

In scenario 2, we have a large organization with hundreds of employees and a mature project management office. There are many projects of diverse sizes. The firm has found it difficult to hire project managers.

The PMO manager may use either internal or contractor staff to act as fractional PMs. They would have to use the internal infrastructure and report to the PMO.

What’s Next

Economic conditions and the availability of AI-infused project management and collaboration tools are leading toward greater use of fractional project management as a business strategy.

Using your knowledge of fractional PM, decide how you want to approach it.

Do you have the skills and desire to be a fractional PM? Do you make decisions about using fractional PMs? Can you inform or influence executive decision-makers?


George Pitagorsky

George Pitagorsky, integrates core disciplines and applies people centric systems and process thinking to achieve sustainable optimal performance. He is a coach, teacher and consultant. George authored The Zen Approach to Project Management, Managing Conflict and Managing Expectations and IIL’s PM Fundamentals™. He taught meditation at NY Insight Meditation Center for twenty-plus years and created the Conscious Living/Conscious Working and Wisdom in Relationships courses. Until recently, he worked as a CIO at the NYC Department of Education.