This is a guest post byRoland Hofmann.
Are you biased as project manager? You might be surprised. We’ll be discussing the different types and effects of bias in project management in this article.
What are heuristics?
Anchoring bias in project Management
Project management: Availability bias
The representativeness heuristic
Framing bias in project Management
Confirmation bias in project Management
Project management: Belief bias
How to overcome bias
Roland HoffmanA project manager plays a pivotal role in a project’s success. Her leadership and guidance are crucial during planning and execution.
Project managers must understand how heuristics (mental dispositions) and biases affect their decisions. This is crucial for leadership and guidance.
Let’s examine the heuristics, biases, and other factors that can be used to manage projects.
What are heuristics?
Heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules-of-thumb which allow you to make decisions quickly and without having to think about all the details.
Project managers should be aware that heuristics are a natural cognitive function with potentially dangerous implications. Common sense can be confused with irrational decision making. This can occur every day in a project manager’s daily life and can limit her success.
Although they are helpful because they reduce mental overload they can also lead to bias.
These natural human variables are addressed in project management training that is effective.
Anchoring bias in project Management
Anchoring is when a project manager adjusts a estimate closer to a number she has previously heard or seen.
She may not be able to schedule the two months she needs for a task, because the technician said, “Two weeks is enough!”
Even if she disbelieves the two week estimate, the project manager would not likely stick to her two month plan. If the technician had stated, “We will require at least four months,” then the project manager would most likely schedule more than two weeks.
This is what might happen during project scheduling meetings. It is important to keep good minutes of meetings.
Project management: Availability bias
Another irrational intuition is the availability heuristic, which suggests that most important information can be easily remembered.
If a project manager sees a car accident in the morning, she might decide to purchase better insurance coverage for her team even though the statistical probability of a crash is not increasing.
The representativeness heuristic
The representativeness heuristic can also have an impact on projects. This happens when people use representative associations rather than factual analyses.
Here’s an example for the representativeness heuristic. Because she frequently sees skateboarders wearing hoodies during work hours, a project manager might not hire a genius who interview in a hoodie.
The hoodie is a symbol of bad work habits. The project manager decided not to hire the candidate because she didn’t evaluate the candidate’s qualifications and test results.
Next: 10 Killer Interview Questions For Project Managers
Framing bias in project Management
Project managers need to be able to recognize other types biases beyond the heuristics issues.
An analytical bias is a bias that frames the subject. Another experiment that is well-known asked subjects to choose between saving 200 patients out of 600 or losing two-thirds.
Even though the options are mathematically identical, nearly everyone saved the 200 patients. This bias can cause project managers to charge less for a change if the sponsor requested it.
Confirmation bias in project Management
People are more likely to accept evidence that confirms their beliefs than they are to reject them.