A multifaceted performance excellence framework for project-based organisations

Project-based work has become increasingly prevalent in many industries and sectors. However, it presents a particular challenge in terms of managing and assessing the performance of those involved, as outcomes are often the product of complex patterns of involvement from a wide range of stakeholders. This paper reports on a research that has attempted to overcome this difficulty through the development of a multifaceted performance excellence framework for project managers. The framework is based on three interrelated components of managerial performance excellence: role-focused, performance excellence criteria; job-focused, task-task competences; and person-focused, attribute-based competencies. This hybrid approach to performance management provides an evaluative framework adaptable for a variety of applications, including recruitment, development and training, succession planning and deployment. It offers an innovative alternative to normative competence-based approaches, which arguably do little to engender performance excellence within dynamic project-based sectors.