Projectification in Work-Life Context of Women Top Managers: “Everything Is a Project”

Abstract

The raise of projectification has been observed at organization and society levels globally. Its impact on individual level has been corroborated too. Calls to explore this environment with growing number of projects and provide insights into more effective organizing have been made by managers, professional project management associations, and researcher community. Therefore, the research presented in this chapter serves the purpose of gaining insights into manifestation of projectification into work and life context. Specifically, it focuses on women top managers who encounter unique challenges in coping with projectification at their workplaces, as well as in their private life. Study is rooted in the ephemeralization perspective of the projectification and recognizes challenges of work-life intensification, while addressing the gaps in our understanding of experiences of women in top leadership positions. The findings substantiate the increasing projectification as experienced by women top managers, resulting in transformations of workplace spaces and increasing psychological pressure. More interestingly, it unveiled gendered tenets that due to projectification impact work and life of women top managers even in the most gender egalitarian country in the world, Iceland. This study emphasizes the need to look at projectification effects in the more holistic, work and life, context in order to address the challenges of top managers in increasingly complex world. Furthermore, it accentuates the need to recognize specific adversities that women top managers face in context of increasing projectification and provides reference points for undertaking these challenges in order to contribute to more socially sustainable workplaces.