A very small percentage of project managers are "born leaders". The rest of us work to develop such talent.
There are also different types of power exercised by project managers or others in the organisation which one are you?
1. Coercive power
Power that force someone to do something against their will. It can be physical or mental enforcement. This type of power is often used by dictators and bullies. The interesting part is that its goal is compliance. Harm is often the threat if compliance is not met. It is often seen as negative.
2. Reward power
Money is one of the form of reward. But there are other types. Anything that we find desirable can be a reward. Reward power is the ability to give to people what they want and ask them to do things for you in exchange.
3. Legitimate power
This type of power is invested in a role. It might come from a higher power, often one with coercive power.
4. Referent power
This is the power from another person liking you or wanting to be liked. It is the power of charisma and fame by celebrities or local leaders. We hope that some of that charisma will rub on to us. Sometimes those with referent power use it for coercion as people do not want to be excluded.
5. Expert power
When we have knowledge and skills that someone else requires, than I have Expert power.
The point is, that we need to use appropriate power relevant to situation.
Leadership
Project management work is not like any other 9-5 job. Lessons must be learned from previous projects. We must retain what is positive and disregard what did not work.
We must have a degree of professional confidence, especially if we play a key role in the project success.
The leadership style will highly depend on the project scope, time, budget and the people of the organisation. Different business cultures demand different management styles.
In truth, only few project managers have the flexibility necessary to adapt their style according to the business.
The tactical, numerate and IT skills mean nothing if the project manager cannot motivate and inspire. Developing genuine project leadership skills require application of study. We must also apply the knowledge in actual workplace. Different cultures demand different styles.
Recruiting Staff
Securing a service of good people is critical to project success. The more senior the person the more impact they have. We need to inspire a genuine spirit of a team. Create a team that operates together. Create harmony with different skills.
A simple and accessible team development model was presented by Bruce Tuckman (1965). He breaks down the team development into four stages:
Forming - the group first comes together. They are dependent on the leader to help identify the way ahead. In this stage the leader must help the team to get to know one another and help them to become clear on roles and responsibilities.We can't tell people to just "get to work"! An introducing dinner might be a good way to get to know each other.
Storming - people focus on interpersonal issues. Emotions can dominate the work. Small groups may form and the work output remains very low. Here, the leader must influence and persuade to assure team members that they are on track. Conflicts might occur and those must be dealt with as soon as possible.
Norming - individual develop more harmony with each other. People adapt to each other with more flexibility. The leader needs to adopt the participative style and share decision making.
Performing - group structures themselves around the tasks and work together almost automatically. Output can be very high. This is a delegative style that is required from a leader here. There should be a real enjoyment.
Through the stages effective leadership is imperative. Leadership needs to be different at each stage. Once the team reaches Norming - a lighter leadership can be exercised.
Team Players
It is useful to have mix of knowledge and experience in a team. Sometimes people want to influence the project is exactly the same way as it is always done. Sometimes are less open to new solutions. The leader, therefore, needs to be an open-minded person.
People have different strengths and weaknesses. A wise project manager will prepare accordingly. There are nine team roles identified:
Plant - Creative and imaginative. Solves difficult problems. May lack effective communication.
Coordinator - Mature and confident. Good chairperson. Clarifies goals and makes decisions. Can often be seen as manipulative. Off loads personal work.
Monitor evaluator - Sober and strategic. Sees all options. May lack drive and ability to inspire others.
Implementer - Disciplined, reliable and efficient. Turns ideas into practice. May be slow to respond.
Completer Finisher - Anxious. searches out errors and omissions. Delivers on time. Reluctant to delegate.
Shaper - Challenging and dynamic. Has the drive to overcome obstacles.
Team worker - Co-operative, mild and diplomatic.
Specialist - Single-minded and dedicated. Provides knowledge and skills. Dwells on technicalities.
It might be useful to fill out personal questionnaires and evaluate personal characteristics. It is also wrong to "pigeon-hole" ourselves in one of the personalities.
The roles strengthen the need for balance. Experienced project managers will evaluate the balance accordingly.
Unfortunately many project managers only focus on the technical aspects of their work. They plan, schedule and allocate work to people, then watch the project to self-destruct.
Very often the issue is with how the people are managed. If we can't handle people, we will have difficulties managing projects.
Far too little attention is paid to team building.
The team building begins on the first day of the project. At the start there is certainly a problem of commitment.
One important rule when developing commitment is through project planning. People should participate in preparing the project plan. Planning requires estimating on how long the tasks will take and evaluation of resource availability.
Very often when we assign tasks to people, we give them unrealistic time to perform. That's where the commitment is likely to suffer.
When organising project team:
Decide what must be done using Work Breakdown Structures, problem definitions, and other planning tools,
Determine staffing requirements to accomplish the identified tasks.
Recruit members for the project team,
Complete plan with participation of the team.
The selection and recruitment should be based on the following:
- candidate possess the skills necessary to perform the required work and the speed needed to meet the deadlines,
- the candidate will have his needs met trough the participation,
- the applicant has the temperament that will fit the current team,
- the person will not object to overtime requirements, tight timetables, or other project work requirements.
Develop Mission Statement
We know that excellent organisations "stick to their knitting". They stick to what they are good at. They never forget their mission. The same happens to project teams. When they forget their mission, they deviate and do their own thing. Therefore, it is imperative to develop the Mission Statement. It can be a very good team activity.
Resolve objectives conflicts
The teams work best together, when their individual needs are met. Sometimes people have personal objectives that they do not want others to know about. The team leader needs to bring the hidden ideas into the open. This way, we can help them to achieve them. If the team member has different goals to the team, re-assignment to more suitable role might be required.
Ensure people understand their roles
Roles must be clearly defined. The problem is with failure to solicit feedback from the team members to ensure that they understand their contributions to a project. We must establish a climate of open communication.
Work Out the procedures
The key word here is process. The work must be done as effectively as possible.
Manage interpersonal skills
The best way of trying to avoid conflicts is to train the team members. We have never been taught on how to work out differences with others. Interpersonal skills, training is therefore very important.
Develop commitment
If the team is made of people only available and not best for the job, the commitment might be low. March and Simon presents five steps for developing commitment among the teams:
Have the team members interact frequently so that they gain sense of being a team
Ensure that individual needs are being met through the participation in the team
Let all team members know why the project is important
Make sure that all members share the goal of the team
Keep competition between the team to a minimum. Let people complete with others outside of the team.
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