Ideally, the conductor of an orchestra is often considered as an appropriate metaphor for being a project manager since a conductor can integrate the unique sounds of a variety of instruments to form a slightly coherent piece of music (Ackah, Monday, & Benn, 2016). In the same way, a project manager can incorporate the talents as well as contributions of different experts to complete a project. In this light, the overall role of both a project manager and a conductor is to facilitate the performance of other individuals rather than them performing (Ackah, Monday, & Benn, 2016). Consequently, both are dependent on the individual skills of a person and, therefore, they must understand the contribution each person brings to a team to form a final result.
What Aspects Of Project Managing Are Not Reflected By This Metaphor?
There is no doubt some aspects of a project manager that are not reflected by this type of metaphor. For instance, a project manager is expected to be dynamic to accommodate emerging changes in the process of implementing a particular project (Scott & Armstrong, 2016). However, a conductor is strictly confined within written music during a performance, and he or she is not allowed to diverge from it. Similarly, a conductor has a chance of spending weeks practicing the same music together with a particular orchestra while a project manager is meant to be exceptional and thus carry inherent uncertainties (Scott & Armstrong, 2016). Moreover, since a conductor is fond of interacting with members of a particular orchestra, this type of metaphor fails to capture details of working with various project stakeholders.
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Can You Think Of Other Metaphors That Would Be Appropriate?
There are undoubtedly various metaphors that would be considered appropriate in this scenario. However, that of football quarterback is the most appropriate since a quarterback is dependent on his teammates and must, therefore, utilize their exceptional skills to come up with a successful play just like a project manager (St. André, 2017). In this light, both a project manager and a quarterback has to deal with the imminent uncertainties as well as changes on the process of maintaining a vision that exceeds an immediate play or a selected project plan (St. André, 2017). Consequently, both the project manager and quarterback have to earn the overall confidence, trust, and respect of their players.
References
Ackah, D., Monday, D. N., & Benn, M. K. (2016). Rational Approach & Reputation of Project Management in Organizations. Dama international journal of researchers , 1 (6), 5-14.
Scott, J. T., & Armstrong, A. C. (2016). Using metaphors to understand how educators in faith-based schools view professional learning. Power and education , 8 (2), 140-159.
St. André, J. (2017). Metaphors of translation and representations of the translational act as solitary versus collaborative. Translation Studies , 10 (3), 282-295.
