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A project managers optimism and stress management and IT project success

D.C. Smith, M. Bruyns and S. Evans
Department of Information Systems, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine how the soft competencies of an information technology (IT) project manager, specically optimism and stress, can affect project success. Design/methodology/approach The research was exploratory. Experienced IT project managers were requested to relate a structured story regarding a signicant, personal experience relating to optimism or stress and how this affected the project outcome. In total, eight stories were captured on the optimism theme and ve on stress. Themes from these stories were identied. Findings Qualitative analysis of the stories identied several project managers optimism themes that strongly inuenced IT project success. In addition, it was concluded that IT project success was both positively and negatively inuenced by stress. To improve their chances of project success, it was concluded that IT project managers should have a positive but realistic degree of optimism based on a well-accepted project plan. Whilst the project team should expect and embrace stress during the project, this should be carefully managed. Originality/value Six important project management practical activities were deduced from the analysis which could assist project managers and their teams to better handle optimism and stress. These activities, when applied effectively, could lead to improved project outcomes. Keywords Project management, Management stress, Competences, Information technology Paper type Research paper

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Received May 2009 Accepted December 2009

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business Vol. 4 No. 1, 2011 pp. 10-27 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1753-8378 DOI 10.1108/17538371111096863

1. Introduction Information technology (IT) project failures worldwide are still signicantly high (Johnson, 2006). These failures continue to occur despite attempts by project management bodies such as the Project Management Institute (PMI) to provide managers with frameworks and methodologies to assist them in their activities. These initiatives include the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) (PMI, 2001), which prescribes processes, tools and techniques relating to specic knowledge areas of project management. The competencies of an IT project manager project manager can be categorized as hard skills and soft skills. Essentially, the PMBoK focuses on hard skills. This research focuses on the soft skills required by an IT project manager working in a matrix organizational structure whilst building complex, risky IT artifacts. Soft skills span a wide range of personal and emotional dimensions and the skills of interest in this research are levels of optimism and stress management. The objectives of the research are to: . investigate the effect that a project managers level of optimism has on IT project success; and

investigate the effect that a project managers stress management has on IT project success.

The paper rst analyses the research covering the soft skills of an IT project manager focusing on optimism and stress. In the next section, the research design is explained including how the story telling approach was applied. In the discussion section, themes were extracted from the stories and related to previous research ndings. In the nal section, the implications of the ndings are presented and conclusions drawn. 2. Literature review Organisations have historically followed Webers concept of bureaucratic structures. More recently, the project management organisational structure has been used specically in highly dynamic and technological environments (French et al., 1985). The project manager in this organizational structure becomes the focal point for information and activities related to a specic project. The overall goal is to focus an organizations resources towards the completion of a specic project. Implementing a project management approach can involve dramatic changes in the relationships of authority and responsibility. The matrix organizational structure evolved from the project management form Kolodny (1979). It represented a compromise between the traditional bureaucratic approach and the autonomous project management approach. This matrix organization has permanently established departments that provide integration for project management. The matrix form is superimposed on the hierarchical structure, resulting in dual authority and responsibilities. This reporting relationship combined with the changing nature of new products in the IT industry serves to make the role of an IT project manager stressful. The competencies of an IT project manager Competence encompasses knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours. Goff (2006) believes that these four factors are linked through the relationship of opportunity and experience. Competence is generally categorised into soft skills and hard skills (Crawford et al., 2006). Hard skills identify the basic resources that are required to perform an activity. From an IT project perspective, hard skills strongly correlate with the PMBoK. Soft Competencies can be identied as personal behaviours, traits and attitudes and include attributes which enable the project manager to guide, motivate and inuence stakeholders and team members (Bourse et al., 2002). Competence can relate to project success in two ways: rst through the assertion that the project managers competence is itself a critical success factor, and second through the need for the project manager to be competent in those areas that have the most impact on successful outcomes (Crawford, 2000). Optimism and project success According to Peterson (2000), optimism can be viewed as expectation or agency, which together can also be described as hope. Hope relates to a persons expectations that goals can be achieved. These goal-directed expectations describe agency (the persons determination that goals can be achieved) and pathways (the persons belief that

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successful plans can be generated to reach goals). Hope was measured using questions such as I energetically pursue my goals (agency) and, there are lots of ways around any problem (Peterson, 2000). Unrealistic optimism can have severe effects on the success of a project. However, project managers with prior experience of a difcult problem that they have some control over will demonstrate learned mastery and more resilience (Peterson, 2000). Optimism, more often than not, generates a much greater level of enthusiasm than it does of realism. According to Lovallo and Kahneman (2003), there should be a balance between optimism and reality. The results of inaccurate project estimates and poor project outcomes are often due to IT project managers succumbing to false optimism, otherwise known as Delusional Optimism (Lovallo and Kahneman, 2003). This tendency towards over-optimism is believed to be unavoidable mainly due to the overestimation of an individuals inuence and ability. Henderson (2006) acknowledges one of the reasons why large IT projects fail is that there is too much optimism as to the potential benets of IT and as to the cost of delivering those benets. Stress and project success French et al. (1985) argue that stress itself is not necessarily bad. The term stress can be considered neutral with the words distress and eustress used for designating bad and good effects. (p. 707). They propose a model that denes an optimum range of stress in terms of its effect on performance. They claim that stress levels that exceed an optimum level result in decreased performance and eventual burnout, whereas stress levels that are below a minimum level result in decreased performance. According to Peterson (2000), Richmond and Skitmore (2006) identify technology, boundary spanning, role conict, workload, and uncertainty as expected major stressors in IT projects. Gallstedt (2003) concluded in her research that uncertainty was a high stress-inducing factor and resulted in longer working hours. Much of the stress was felt at the beginning and end phases of the project. A stressor could be regarded as a condition or situation that elicits a response such as anger/frustration or anxiety/tension (Anantharaman and Rajeswari, 2003). The effects of these stressors are therefore the stimulation of a negative response. Richmond and Skitmore (2006) offer a number of approaches to reducing stress. These include coping strategies (for example, the effective use of planning, risk management, time management and communications); updating managerial and technology skills, using support networks which provide coaching and consultation and access to higher levels of authority). Haynes and Love (2004) believe that higher stress levels are experienced by project managers compared with general management due to the demands of balancing the differing demands of project stakeholders. The impact of stress is high and is often a hidden cost in organisations, both in terms of employee turnover and job satisfaction (Thong and Yap, 2000). Lim and Teo (1999) conclude that the above average turnover in the IT industry arises from the stressful environment. Burnout and turnover are not the only impacts from IT project induced stress: high stress levels have an impact on the productivity of the IT workforce (Sethi et al., 2004). This research examined how an IT project managers degree of optimism and their approach to stress management affected project success.

3. Research design Owing to the highly descriptive and exploratory nature of the research, a qualitative approach was adopted. Storytelling was used to collect data. Storytelling as a research method is gaining in popularity as it allows researchers to capture both tacit and explicit knowledge (Denning, 2005). The storytelling framework applied in this research has been used successfully by Hoffman and Laufer (2000) for project management education at NASA for many years. A total of 12 highly experienced IT project managers working in large organisations were identied for this research. All of them had worked in the IT industry for at least 10 years and had managed a number of large projects. After agreeing to be part of the research project, they were given a specication of the focus of the story and the format the story would take in its nal form. The stories were captured using interviews with tape recordings. The transcribed data was then further edited into a nal story form. Eight optimism stories and ve stress stories were collected. These were analysed using the invivo software package and themes were identied. 4. Discussion The following sub-sections describe the themes that were identied from the analysis. The inuence of optimism on IT project success In describing their experiences, the project managers were asked to provide details about the background and specic circumstances under which the project was being undertaken. Included in these descriptions were accounts of the various risks and problems that had been faced, either initially or during the project lifecycle. While elicited under the context of factors that had created the need for optimism, in many cases the project manager described these issues as those which had impeded the cultivation of optimism. The latter was due to the fact that these encountered difculties often hindered project progress, thus creating despondency within the team and negativity about the outcome of the project. In turn, this negative attitude led to the need for a shift toward a more positive mindset in order to rise above the challenges. In this sense, the factors outlined below were described as having both prevented and necessitated optimism in the project. Factors relating to the project specications The restrictions placed on the project by the project management requirements of on time, on budget and on specication were often the source of despondency in projects. The most signicant of these was time management as six out of the eight project managers mentioned time constraints in one form or another. The most denitive statement in this regard was that of OPM-5 who described the opinion that the project could not be done, part of the reason being that the timelines were perceived to be very tight. The sentiment that the project was impossible to complete was echoed in a number of stories. In some cases, this belief was as the result of the perceived complexity or riskiness of the project, while in other cases it was due to past failures that created a negative precedent for the current undertaking. OPM-1 saw the need to overcome this precedent as he was the third project manager to be brought onto the same project. OPM-6s story related the second attempt at an implementation that had previously

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failed completely. In both these cases, the project manager found the precedent of failure to be an indication of a need to counter negative perceptions through a more positive approach. A nal noteworthy project-specic factor is that of uncertainty. A number of the project managers expressed their initial concern over the fact that they or their team lacked the experience that was required for the project. In some instances, the type of project that was being undertaken had never before been attempted within that company, within the country or at all. In more than one story, the inherent uncertainty and intangibility of IT projects was also highlighted:
I.T. is not like building a house where you can see the bricks and mortar on top of each other where you say you can lay so many bricks per hour, in I.T. its is a lot more fuzzy you cant see what is being built (OPM-3).

Venturing into unchartered territory was described as preventing optimism in that it increased uncertainty (OPM-5, OPM-7) and limited the ability to foresee a positive outcome (OPM-1). OPM-8 felt that the inherent intangibility of his project (and similarly other IT related-projects) enforced the case for a positive attitude when trying to promote the concept to the client. A lack of support for project objectives The importance of creating support for project objectives was referred to in relation to sponsors and users as well as to the project manager and team members. The stories often related instances in which parties external to the immediate team were not convinced of the benets of the project. A lack of buy-in on the part of the users was described in one story to be a serious hindrance for project progress:
You could implement the technology, have everything perfect, but without the buy-in from the people using it, it was nothing. We found that at points we implemented something new and then found out afterwards that people werent using it and had gone back to the old system. If we didnt get to the point where they actually wanted to use the system, were positive about its possibilities and looking at it as a positive thing, it wouldnt have succeeded (OPM-6).

In general, the lack of support whether this was on the part of team members, sponsors or users was found to impede project progress, thus perpetuating the negativity from which it stemmed. Factors that nurture positive attitudes in IT projects In their descriptions of the background and context of the project, the project managers related a number of factors that had promoted a more positive project environment. These factors were found to facilitate the creation and nurturing of optimistic attitudes and were often the source of optimism. The existence of and need for a healthy working environment was the underlying sentiment in many of the stories. The opinion was most clearly stated in the following quotation:
[. . .] a good environment to work in can help fuel optimism [. . .] One can turn very easily into a pessimist if the environment is not right (OPM-3).

The most conspicuous and inuential environment is that of the project team. Having a team that was well established, competent and experienced was found to promote a more stable project environment and create more optimism about their abilities. It was also

found that where the team was competent, they had a better understanding of what was required of them as individuals and of project objectives in general. This would lead to a more optimistic approach. Understanding is the obvious antithesis of the uncertainty that was previously described to hinder optimism:
Optimism and understanding go hand in hand. If theres understanding, theres more likely to be optimism. If theres lack of understanding theres more likely to be anxiety or concern. Projects are generally uncertain, so if it becomes more certain, you are bound to be more optimistic about its likelihood of success (OPM-4).

A project managers optimism 15

In OPM-3s story, the complexity of the project and likelihood of failure motivated the team since they would receive signicant professional recognition if they were able to succeed. OPM-8 admitted that part of his drive to succeed was as a result of a desire to be seen as successful by a range of people, both within [the] company and externally. Another story supported the existence of this attitude:
Once the [project] got under way there was both great tension and great excitement. Individuals expressed their pleasure at being part of a historic change in the business. Many felt that this was also a career enhancing opportunity and were keen to make a huge success of it. The team was on a high [. . .] (OPM-7).

The team members in another story found encouragement as a result of the lure of monetary benets:
That was the real driving force: if we didnt meet the deadline we would not get our bonuses. So there was a monetary incentive for everyone to get involved and work well together (OPM-3).

The impact of optimism in IT projects More than one project manager mentioned the effect of optimism in building relationships and loyalty within the team. OPM-8 found that because his project had started with a positive attitude, the core project team gelled quite early on. As a result of the loyalty that personal relationships such as these engendered, team members were prepared to work harder for their project managers:
[. . .] because I had a friendly demeanour and a personal relationship with everyone, they were willing to go the extra mile to get the project in place (OPM-3).

One project manager was able to use a positive attitude to improve relationships with parties outside of his immediate team. He had met with members of the team that had previously failed the implementation and found that his approach in doing this was vitally important:
[Our] attitude allowed us to get some very valuable feedback from the other company in the beginning, since they knew that we were not out to get them, and we were able to use that to avoid some of their mistakes (OPM-6).

The most interesting impact on individuals was that the optimism of one team member was found to affect the disposition of team colleagues. Project managers furthermore related how their own positive attitude transferred to their team members. OPM-5 found that his own optimism boosted team morale. In this sense, optimism was described as having a contagious effect. The following two extracts illustrate this:

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People always want to have optimists around them, people who believe that it can be done. It makes them feel better about themselves and the future. These are the less tangible points of optimism it makes other people feel better, uplifted [. . .] (OPM-3). The impact that one has on colleagues or fellow workers has more of an effect than one realises (OPM-8).

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This contagious effect of optimism has implications for the collaboration of team members in working towards common goals. The link between optimism, the building of intra-team relationships and the collaboration of team members in realising project objectives is described in the following excerpt:
That optimism that was there at the start of the project meant that the core project team gelled quite early on. We hadnt worked together prior to that project, but we really came together in the rst month, building on a common understanding of what we wanted to achieve. We werent at wits ends and debating things and resisting different solutions. We were more collaborative. In this way, the initial positive start led to better problem solving down the line (OPM-8).

This and other stories described how optimism resulted in faster problem-solving with more successful outcomes. Of the eight project managers, ve mentioned this as one of the impacts of optimism in their team. OPM-5 found optimism to be key in change mindset from stuck in the problem to what do we need to do now? This change was important in the teams ability to create solutions. The idea was extended in OPM-4s assertion that when you are positive, you tend to nd solutions and possibilities much easier than if you were negative. This link between optimism and superior solutions provides further insight into the reasons why cohesive groups were seen to be more successful. The role of the IT project manager in creating and maintaining team optimism The stories revealed the project manager to have an important role in cultivating optimism in the team. OPM-3 felt that he had a responsibility to remain positive throughout the project. He believed this responsibility was amplied by the fact that team members look to management to know how to act and to gauge the condition or situation of the project. The opinion expressed by OPM-3 highlights the importance of the project managers countering negative attitudes in the project and ensuring that they metered their reactions:
It took a lot of effort to try to understand everything to remain that optimistic. If people showed negativity that something wouldnt work, it required effort on my part to understand why it would work, and counteract the negative arguments: rst in my own mind and then passing that on. We found that in this way, optimism would emerge, after showing that the negativity had no grounds (OPM-4).

This project manager found that it was important that he take time to digest the problem before reacting, an opinion that was shared by OPM-5. This was to ensure that uncertainties were avoided and a rational response was presented in positive light. Two project managers also saw their role in cultivating project optimism to be through protecting the project team and their objectives:
As a project leader you have to have a hands-on approach to the vision or objectives you are trying to achieve. You need to protect those and understand their relevance at each stage of the project. And optimism from that creation lters down [. . .] (OPM-4).

Techniques used by IT project managers to create and maintain team optimism In realising the importance of their role in cultivating optimism within their teams, the project managers described a number of techniques that they used in attempting to meet this responsibility. With the emphasis that was placed on the bidirectional relationship between optimism and effective problem-solving, a number of stories related techniques for managing this interaction:
The rst reaction of the team once a problem arises is usually of doom and gloom that the entire project is blown, with a bit of fear of management re-action. The project manager can either follow this reaction (which makes him part of the team) or act in the manner the team expected management to react (promises of repercussion and seeking to blame someone). A third option is to check your response, and divert attention from what happened, to what is required to recover (OPM-5).

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The stories of other project managers supported the attitude behind this third option. They believed that it was important to treat difculties as problems that can be solved satisfactorily (OPM-2) or as challenges that would have come up anyway (OPM-3). These approaches helped to create a more positive attitude about the problems and the ability of the team members to nd satisfactory solutions. The creation of a perception of achievability also extended to the attitudes towards the projects requirements and objectives. OPM-1 believed that in order to create an optimistic attitude, it was important for the project manager to create realistic goals for his team and translate these goals into actionable steps. By breaking the project up into milestones and specic, actionable tasks, team members were able to more easily foresee their ability realise success in an otherwise daunting undertaking. The creation and management of positive perceptions was the technique that the project managers found to be most effective in establishing an optimistic project environment. Many of the managers, particularly those that were undertaking the project as an external consulting rm, believed that it was important to consistently portray the perception of competence and optimism to the client or sponsor. One manager created this perception through his attire and general appearance when meeting with clients:
I really believe that dress makes a difference; it makes you have a powerful effect. When I go to a board meeting I always put on a tie. I may be the most overdressed person in a room, but I would rather be overdressed than under dressed, and I do believe that it gives me some power in delivering my message. Even if the message is sometimes a bad one (OPM-1).

He and three other project managers (OPM-4, OPM-3, and OPM-6) also mentioned using their mannerisms and demeanour when interacting with people to enforce a positive perception. This was believed to be important right down to the way the manager verbally communicated with others:
Any project manager can say the right things but how one says it and the energy and the enthusiasm that you say it with often translate into benets later that you cant measure but that you can see (OPM-8).

The inuence of stress on IT project success Project objectives and the project environment were found to be the major sources of stress.

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In each story some reference to project limitations and stresses brought about by the stakeholder requirements was made. Specically, the aspect of time was highly emphasised as the most relevant stress inducing factor. SPM-3 mentioned the need for time management, whilst the bulk of SPM-1s story revolved around meeting time deadlines. SPM-2 clearly stated that the main stress driver was the timeline. It is interesting that this latter project manager makes reference simply to the fact that the project came in on time, with no mention of in budget or in specication. SPM-1 similarly confers credit primarily towards the time factor: We knew we had to make the weekend a success and deliver the new working equipment on time. The degree of uncertainty present in the project was found to further create stress. SPM-1 found the inability to test key project tasks before they were to be carried out to create a large number of unknowns. SPM-2s experience on the other hand was focused towards unknowns due to the fact that historical skills and experience did not entirely exist. One project manager stated this sentiment quite succinctly:
You are going into the unknown, and to the extent that that bothers you, its going to cause stress (SPM-3).

The existence of uncertainty was made more visible when the project managers were forced to learn on the job. In some cases, complexities prevented the ability to obtain the correct training prior to project commencement, such as the inability to travel overseas for courses (SPM-1). The project manager found this need to learn on the job to be a massive challenge to the project. The concept of uncertainty is particularly important in the IT project context:
[. . .] because the industry moves as fast as it does and because we dont have templates to the same extent as a bridge builder, you are essentially doing something that is relatively unknown, or is not likely to be repeated in exactly the same form again (SPM-3).

SPM-1 related a lack of sponsor involvement and interest, citing the possible reasons for this as a lack of understanding of the risks involved the project. This stress became more visible at critical stages in the project life cycle:
We had planned a very tight schedule so that we would do this easily if no problems occurred. Then John casually walked in and said that we would have to delay the takeover for at least one hour [. . .] I looked at him in disbelief. How could he do this? [. . .] I accused John of not supporting me. I said I would walk off the job and resign (SPM-1).

SPM-1 describes this lack of management support not only as stress, but as unhealthy stress. The level of IT project work experience if experience existed at all that the project manager or team had, was identied as a stressor itself. From a management position this was quantied by the size of the current project as compared with previous endeavours. The project SPM-3 described was the largest he had ever managed, and this project manager found the lack of experience to create stress for him personally. Another project manager noted this impact of stress as:
I had just come off a project where we had worked just as hard; therefore the stress was not as unusual for me as it was for others (SPM-2).

It was also noted that where previous experiences involved failed project outcomes, this carried over into the new project.

From a team perspective, this stress was even more prominent where some team members were brought in on a temporary basis. This was found to be further aggravated if those team members came from a non-project background. SPM-3s story indicated the additional stress that existed for a person whose work previously was not centred around deliverables but rather on a predictable operational way of doing things. Team dynamics were found to play a role in the creation of a more stressful project environment. One particular story showed the belief that time spent working on the project, rather than quality of the work products, determined perceptions of commitment. Team members that were better moderating their time outside the project were seen to not be as committed as others who were spending all their time at work:
[. . .] you bought your commitment by the time you spent working on the project (SPM-2).

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Factors that alleviate stress in IT projects In their descriptions of the context of the project, the project managers identied a number of factors that had promoted a positive project environment. These factors, they claimed, made stress more manageable, creating a context in which a more healthy stress could exist. The need for a social network was a common theme among all project managers. This support network included the sponsor, general management, or other IT project managers. The inclusion of these reference groups allowed for faster idea formulation and solution implementation (SPM-3). SPM-2 referred to the stress alleviation and motivation that came through stronger team members assisting weaker members to accomplish their goals. This was found to alleviate the stress the weaker members were experiencing, while providing motivation and further stress alleviation to the strong members. The latter was believed to be the result of a sense of doing something for the greater good not just your own agenda. This need for support was extended to that of the project sponsor and management bodies:
[. . .] having good executive support and sponsorship helped us stress-wise (SPM-3).

The construction of a detailed project plan and establishment of tactics to remain on schedule was found to reduce general stress levels over the life of the project (SPM-1). This introduction of structure from the beginning of the project took the form of management plans and work structures. Structures included peer reviews, feedback processes, progress reviews and objective analysis regarding people productivity. In one case, the lack of these factors in other words the lack of stress management resulted in stress spiralling out of control. Surprisingly, this lack of control was seen to be the factor that enabled the project to get delivered (SPM-2). This is an extreme case however, and the impact of such an environment in which stress is uncontrolled is mentioned in a further section. The stories further highlighted that stress can be alleviated through the realisation of successes and accomplishments. In SPM-1s project experience, the successful handling of a pressurised situation was partly attributable to the positive effect gained from successes along the way.

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The PMs identied previous experience, competence, and skills produced a less stressful environment. This improved time management, the ability to prioritise, and self awareness of what they could and could not inuence. This opinion is most clearly stated in the following comment:
Simply gaining experience and maturity in general management techniques and project management techniques was important in handling the stress (SPM-3).

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Various aspects of team culture and structure were shown to contribute towards stress alleviation. The stability of the team was one such aspect. It was found that the more stable the team, the better their ability to manage stress. A second team aspect was the inclusion of key team members who had the ability to keep a calm head during some of the difcult times on the project (SPM-3). The concepts of competence and culture were highlighted in the following extract:
[. . .] the team was a group of highly capably, driven, and motivated people by nature. This meant that the team was one of those that were very happy to put in extra hours, take on the stress and take on the challenge (SPM-2).

Two themes were uncovered relating to the alleviation of stress through factors external to the project. The rst of these was the removal of external interference to the project. The project managers found it was necessary to ensure that peripheral activities those that did not directly contribute to enhancing the overall project value did not divert the attention of the project team away from their objectives:
[. . .] the sponsor/owner/champion of the project must jealously guard and protect the project from outside resources and ensure objectives are not altered by outside interference [. . .] (SPM-1).

Attempts to remove external inuences included activities such as the provision of breakfast for the delivery team (SPM-2). The second theme highlighted as external to the project was the need for stress outlets. These outlets were seen as an important means to alleviate stress. One manager found that, while he did see a build up of stress levels over the project, they seemed healthy. A possible reason provided by this PM was that the team members were all sportsmen and relieved [their] stress that way (SPM-1). The availability of these outlets was not only important but their use also needed to be encouraged and supported. One project manager highlighted the importance of understanding individual needs in the use of these outlets:
Each person has different needs and that needs to be accounted for as well. You cant always just apply one stress management technique to everyone, as different people have different ways of alleviating and managing their stress (SPM-2).

The impact of healthy and unhealthy stress on IT projects The stories referred to a measure of healthy stress in IT projects. This stress was seen to be a motivator, increasing productivity in that team. SPM-2 stated that it was the lack of stress management that enabled the project to come through [. . .] a lot of the team rose up to nish it, took the drive and pushed each other. Another project manager provided this view of healthy stress:

Stress is healthy if managed well. With condent t staff and a clearly understood plan, stress allows the team to be motivated and productive (SPM-1).

Two of the project managers identied that stress can create a high and it is possible to feed off this sensation in order to be productive. Although SPM-2 claimed that the lack of stress management enabled the project to come through it is evident that the team ventured into very unhealthy territory. The project experienced high levels of resignations, illness, burn-out and stress leave. These are some of the effects of unhealthy stress. It was further found that on some projects, a conscious choice was made to continue working in this unhealthy way even though the negative effects were known. The main driver for this appeared to be the perception that project delivery was key:
I think it is better that you get there and pick up the pieces, than you dont get there in the rst place (SPM-2).

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Stress has a major effect on the time spent working on the project. The stories identied time as the most important factor, since deadlines often remained rigid while scope or costs could be adjusted. A positive relationship between stress and time spent on the project was indicated in the stories. SPM-1 found that due to the immoveable deadline he worked every other weekend to ensure the project progressed. These longer hours inevitably consumed what should have been time spent resting and recuperating, which reduced the ability to perform at full potential. This impact of stress on the ability to rest has another dimension: stress itself results in less time allowed for sleep. This is depicted in SPM-1s statement referring to Sunday night before handover, we decided we must sleep (if possible). The ripple effect due to a lack of rest caused further implications in other areas of the project. Mention was made that in short spurts lack of rest is possible, as shown in SPM-1s success, however IT projects usually span longer periods than the body can cope without recovery. This inevitably brought forward the aspect of productivity:
[. . .] stress often resulted in people working inefciently in trying to meet deadlines, working a 16 hour day but only delivering an 8 hour day due to burnout and simply not being able to think at the level they needed to (SPM-2).

The project manager also pointed out that longer hours without rest can be a hazard to the project in general. This identied risk was the positive correlation between time spent and the probability of mistakes. Owing to unnecessary complications caused by the sponsor in SPM-1s experience, risk was passed on to the sponsor, as expressed in the following excerpt:
I advised him that his request would mean that Mike and I would have 2 hours less sleep over the weekend than planned which could lead to fatigue and mistakes. I told him it was his risk now and we were not going to be accountable for mistakes over the weekend leading to a possible failure on Monday (SPM-1).

One of the effects of stressful IT projects is a deterioration of health, not only physical health but also mental health in terms of burnout. The typical development environment was described as a factor contributing to a decline in health since it cultivates an atmosphere most suited to fast food, and often does not support exercise:

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People gained weight, some 20-30kgs. People became sick, needing to take time off to recuperate [. . .] After the project I was physically a mess. I couldnt even run 500 meters (SPM-2).

SPM-2 was most clear with these consequences:

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People did not look after themselves personally: their social life, family life and their relationships. We saw a lot of relationships breaking up, long term girlfriends, marriages. And each time it would result in lost delivery time (SPM-2).

Stressors can have such an effect that the cost of pursuing a career does not match the benets. This nding demonstrated a breaking point that exists in IT project stress where incentives such as nancial rewards no longer outweigh the associated outcomes. This scenario is put into context in the following quotation:
We saw people resigning a month before big bonuses were supposed to come through, even though they knew it was coming, simply not being able to handle it any more [. . .] during the project about a third of the team left. It wasnt about money, opportunities or job environment they simply couldnt be repaid, could never get back what they were putting in (SPM-2).

Similar events took place in SPM-3s project. However, he adds another perspective to this in that perhaps they just werent the right people. The behaviour altering effects of stress was the most visible of the factors, sometimes resulting in verbal or physical violence. Stress manifested itself in personal conict between team members (SPM-3). SPM-1 further stated that I swore in the worst possible way [. . .] in front of the operations staff and Mike. Techniques used by IT project managers to control stress The stories distinguished between techniques for personal stress management and project stress management. One approach mentioned was the need to create realistic goals. This approach was also described as breaking the project into milestones and actionable steps:
We also tried to put in milestones along the way to manage the project down into sections that people could actually see themselves accomplishing something in. Otherwise it just looks as if youre never going to get there. We then associated some kind of reward with particular milestones (SPM-3).

As well as the creation of realistic goals was the need for the creation of contingency plans:
[. . .] we had lots of contingency plans in place due to the many uncertainties [. . .] we also had a contingency to go back to the two old machines, but this was a very poor option (SPM-1).

If team expectations were managed effectively, actual and perceived values became closely aligned:
I think thats what it comes back to: understanding whats really expected of you and having a realistic expectation of whether or not you can deliver what is being asked of you (SPM-3).

This also applied to client expectations:

Manage expectations from a client point of view. Spend time with your client training them in what to expect and how to manage things. And then keep them updated on your schedule, whether youre ahead or falling behind (SPM-2).

The stories also highlighted a need for individuals to be aware of their personal capabilities. Inability to manage these could in itself add unnecessary stress:
With personal stress management, while you do need to take responsibility and accountability for your role, you need to understand that there is a limit to which your personal involvement can go, and a limit to what you can accomplish (SPM-3).

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One approach which seems difcult for inexperienced PMs to apply is:
I guess that my primary trick for stress management is saying no when I have to! (SPM-4).

SPM-2 pointed out that people tend to respond very well when its not their life that theyre looking after. Putting accountability in place through which team members were responsible for each other was found to create meaning. These responsibilities must be clearly dened for internal and external stakeholders:
A sponsor must know more about the project and what their responsibilities are. They should be very protective of the project objectives and schedule (SPM-1).

Another project manager also regarded this practice as important and challenging:
I grappled with making sure that we had roles and responsibilities clearly dened and that people were taking responsibility and being held accountable for the parts of the project that they should have (SPM-3).

The stories highlighted the use of rewards and celebrations of milestone successes. These rewards were mentioned in the form of nancial benets or fun activities. The incentives were found to be motivators and were actually claimed to have inuenced project outcomes due to the reassurance that the effects of the stressors would be compensated for. The existence of a breaking point was also mentioned, after which no incentive or reward was worth the stress:
It wasnt about money, opportunities or job environment they simply couldnt be repaid, could never get back what they were putting in (SPM-2).

It was argued that incentives enable the majority of individuals to sustain higher stress levels as they create a motivation to work through the stress in order to reap the benets:
They started providing us breakfast and other meals [. . .] but there was not enough of that up front (SPM-2).

Allowing for recuperation time is another factor that was an evident method to manage the stressors. Lack of recuperation not only had effects on productivity but also resulted in burnout. It was suggested that this recuperation time be an enforced company standard:
Those staff involved closely to implementation must be given rewards and leave to recharge their batteries. They must not move immediately onto the next project (SPM-1).

All the project managers used reection, whether they consciously realised it or not, in solving problems and identifying solutions. In SPM-1s story he illustrates clearly how his reection on the stressful situation resulted in a healthy solution:
[. . .] we would lose at least 2 hours, I started to rant. I swore in the worst possible way [. . .] I would walk off the job and resign, and many other things [. . .] I took Mike back into our

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ofces and we sat down and considered our position. We looked at what losing 2 hours would mean in the plan. We calmed down and decided objectively if it was possible to continue this weekend or to abort the implementation. I went back to John with an apology and a plan [. . .] (SPM-1).

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5. Research implications The effect of optimism Optimism appears to have a positive effect on project outcomes. This was found to work through the following channels: . Optimism created better relationships both within the team and with external parties. Improved intra-team relationships meant that team members were willing to work harder for the project manager. External relationships benetted the project through the availability of assistance and information from these parties. . Optimism facilitated better collaboration, better problem solving and therefore improved team productivity. The research literature did not directly mention the relationships between optimism and project success. What was presented was the view that optimism affected the overall disposition of the project manager and that this inuenced the ability to lead. The stories collected did, however support the view presented in the research. In fact, a comment by one of the project managers may shed light on the literatures lack of clear distinction in the relationship between optimism and project outcomes:
It is very difcult to dene but if you had to ask me for a gure Id say optimism contributes about 20%. But you need to understand that it ties in with other things as well being able to work well with people, a strong communicator, understanding technology and all those things have an element of optimism in them [. . .] If you take all of those aspects into account then it is more than 50% so if you look at everything combined and you look at all the aspects that optimism affects then I would say more than 50% from the point of view of the project (OPM-3).

This project manager attempted to assign a gure to the effect of optimism, but subsequently changed this gure on reection of the many other project aspects that are affected by an optimistic outlook. The inuence of stress Stress can inuence projects in a positive and a negative way. Stress can be healthy in a project environment and can lead to high motivation. This motivation is due to the underlying stressors positively affecting. Stress can become unhealthy if the exertion becomes unmanageable. Negative stress impacts productivity, physical and mental health, personal balance, and overall individual behaviour in a destructive manner. The stressors that were reported in the research literature are similar to those faced by the interviewed IT project managers. Controversy existed around the social support aspect of IT projects. According to the interviewed PMs, it is a widely used mechanism for coping with stress. This is contrary to previous research suggesting it to be associated with high stress levels (Haynes and Love, 2004).

The interviewed IT project managers conrmed the need for adequate levels of skills and knowledge in the project team to better cope with stress. The analysis of the stories provided an in-depth understanding of the role of the soft skills of the IT project manager. The project manager is important in terms of cultivating optimism and managing the stressors on the project, especially those most that inuence the team. The project manager also had a positive impact on the realisation of IT project success. The research literature supported the ndings of the stories. This is typically enabled through the project managers competence, skills and an underlying foundation on which to base optimism as well as their leadership, behaviour and personal attributes. 6. Conclusion IT projects are difcult to manage and a large percentage of projects fail. A project manager responsible for the successful outcomes of an IT project needs to have considerable soft skills. This research investigated the inuence of IT project managers optimism and stress on project success. In total of 12 highly-experienced IT project managers produced eight stories on optimism and ve on stress. Based on the analysis of the project managers stories, optimism and stress were shown to have an inuence on IT project success. Being a realistic optimist and managing stress were identied as important skills for a project manager to assist them in increasing the possibility of project success. To create a realistic level of optimism and to manage stress effectively, the key themes extracted from the stories to assist the IT project manager can be summarised as: . Establishing a project with adequate executive support, a committed sponsor and an appropriate project plan increases optimism in the project team. Using the project plan and establishing tactics to remain on schedule and reduce risk/uncertainty increases optimism and reduces stress. . Ensuring that successes and accomplishments are realised and celebrated in a timely manner reinforces optimism. . Building professional relationships and acting professionally increases team optimism. . Motivating a stable team and understanding and managing individual needs reduces stress. . Developing strong general management techniques and project management techniques assists in handling stress. . Developing an ability to keep a calm head during difcult times is an important reducer of stress. . Minimising external interferences to the project reduces stress. . Finally, ensuring that there are specic stress outlets during project execution improves overall performance. The research ndings contribute to the understanding of how project managers can use their soft skills in the areas of optimism and stress management to improve the project management journey and the overall project success. The use of storytelling as a research method provides an additional research output a story that can be re-used for further research, teaching or case study material.

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References Anantharaman, R. and Rajeswari, K. (2003), Development of an instrument to measure stress amongst software professionals: factor analytical study, SIGMIS Conference, ACM, Philadelphia, pp. 34-43. ` Bourse, M., Harzallah, M., Leclere, M. and Trichet, F. (2002), COMMONCV: Modelling the Competencies Underlying a Curriculum Vitae, The Nantes Institute of Research in Informatics, University of Nantes, Informatics, Nantes. Crawford, L.H. (2000), Proling the competent project manager, Proceedings of PMI Research Conference, Project Management Research at the Turn of the Millenium, Project Management Institute, Paris, pp. 3-15. Crawford, L.H., Morris, P., Thomas, J. and Winter, M. (2006), Practitioner development: from trained technicians to reective practitioners, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 24, pp. 722-33. Denning, S. (2005), The Leaders Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. French, W.L., Kast, F.E. and Rosenzweig, J.E. (1985), Understanding Human Behavior in Organizations, Harper & Row, New York, NY. Gallstedt, M. (2003), Working conditions in projects: perceptions of stress and motivation among project team members and project managers, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 21 No. 6, p. 449. Goff, S.A. (2006), Distinguishing PM competence in Training & Development, organizational assessment and certication, IPMAs 20th World Congress, Project Experts, Shanghai, pp. 1-7. Haynes, N. and Love, P. (2004), Psychological adjustment and coping among construction project managers, Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 22, pp. 129-40. Henderson, P. (2006), Why Large IT Projects Fail, preprint, IEEE Computer Society Press, Southampton, May. Hoffman, E.J. and Laufer, A. (2000), Project Management Success Stories, Wiley, New York, NY. Johnson, J. (2006), Standish: why were project failures up and cost overruns down in 1998?, Info Queue, available at: www.infoq.com/articles/chaos-1998-failure-stats (accessed April 18, 2007). Kolodny, H.F. (1979), Evolution to a matrix organization, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4, pp. 543-53. Lim, V. and Teo, T. (1999), Occupational stress IT personnel in Singapore: factorial dimensions and differential effects, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 277-91. Lovallo, D. and Kahneman, D. (2003), How optimism undermines executives decisions, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 57. Peterson, C. (2000), The future of optimism, American Psychologist, Vol. 55 No. 1, pp. 44-55. PMI (2001), Project Manager Competency Development Framework Exposure Draft, Project Management Institute, Pennsylvania. Richmond, A. and Skitmore, M. (2006), Stress and coping: a study of project managers in a large ICT organisation, Project Management Journal, Vol. 37 No. 5, pp. 5-16. Sethi, V., King, R. and Quick, J. (2004), What causes stress in IS professionals, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 47 No. 3, pp. 99-102.

Thong, J. and Yap, C.-S. (2000), Information systems and occupational stress: a theoretical framework, Omega, Vol. 28 No. 6, pp. 681-92. Further reading Alvarez, R. and Urla, J. (2002), Tell me a good story: using narrative analysis to examine information requirements interviews during an ERP implementation, Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 38-52. Broadbridge, A. (2002), Retail managers: their work stressors and coping strategies, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 173-83. Brokenshire, R., Maine, R. and Maphai, K. (2005), The characteristics and competencies of a master project manager, unpublished research project presented to the Department of Information Systems, University of Cape Town, Cape Town. Crawford, L.H. (1997), A global approach to project management competence, Proceedings of the 1997 AIPM National Conference, AIPM, Brisbane, pp. 220-8. Feldman, M.S., Skoldberg, K., Brown, R.N. and Horner, D. (2004), Making sense of stories: a rhetorical approach to narrative analysis, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 14, pp. 147-70. McKee, R. (2003), Storytelling that moves people, Harvard Business Review, June. Corresponding author D.C. Smith can be contacted at: derek.smith@uct.ac.za

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