A pseudo-psychological inquiry on research personnel management in the United States

Research project management differs from traditional project management in several ways. Besides the greater amount of uncertainty involved in the outcome of a research project, issues such as level of technical communication and intellectual property rights play a significant role in a research project. Efficient management of a research project involves more than just efficient allocation of tasks and planning to ensure that all tasks are completed in a timely manner. This paper discusses the non-traditional project management challenges that a research project manager needs to be aware of (largely in the context of research in the United States), in comparison to conventional project management systems and provides analyses and suggestions for efficient research management. The most important aspect of research project management comes from the requirement to manage dynamics of teams involved in the research. The largely unpredictable and unstructured nature of research renders personnel management crucial to the success of a research project. Expectations, work modalities, throughputs and parameters for evaluation of work can vary greatly between researchers causing numerous opportunities for friction. The research project manager holds the key to solving these issues while ensuring that the researchers are able to communicate in a common language of understanding. The various pseudo-psychological facets of individual personnel management that a research project manager needs to deal with are detailed in this paper.