Project Management:

Managerial Leadership

Project Leader Skills

"A manager is not a person who can do the work better than his men; he is a person who can get his men to do the work better than he can." – Fred Smith

 

Project Leadership Self-Assessment1

Complete the following self-assessment, using a 1 to 5 scale:

1 = never

2 = sometimes

3 = half the time

4 = most of the time

5 = all of the time

  1. My projects are completed on time

  2. My customers are satisfied with the project management process and the final deliverables produced

  3. Stakeholders are satisfied with the project management process

  4. My projects are completed within budget

  5. I use a participatory project management method involving the team in the project planning and decision-making with intensive horizontal information flow

  6. I never begin a project without a charter

  7. I hold a participative kick-off meeting to introduce the team to the project

  8. I make sure that the customer need is well understood

  9. I make sure that customer requirements are clearly defined

  10. I make sure that the team identifies and manages stakeholder interests

  11. The team defines the scope boundaries for the project

  12. A subproject tree, showing clear accountability for subprojects and deliverables, is completed by the team for each project

  13. A risk assessment is completed for each of my projects, and countermeasures to reduce risk are identified and included in the project plan

  14. My schedules include a contingency factor for unforeseen problems

  15. Staff effort requirements are documented in the project plan

  16. Project plans are reviewed and approved by the sponsor, customer, and key stakeholders

  17. Change-management procedures are included in each project plan document

  18. The main project team focuses on deliverables and allows the subprojects to focus on activities

  19. Interdependencies are carefully managed at both the main project and subproject levels

  20. Subproject leaders are empowered to get their pieces of the work done and held accountable for the results

  21. All project status reports use a standard format

  22. Staff effort actuals are documented on the status report form

  23. Project teams perform customer evaluations as part of the close-out process

  24. Lessons learned and recommendations for improvement are included in the close-out report

 

 

 

Entrepreneurial Approach to Project Management

Today, project managers have to master the business systems approach and think of projects as having two parts:

  1. Project itself, which creates an outcome.

  2. The project outcome lifecycle, in which the outcome is used or sold.

 Discover much more!

Project Management

5 Factors that Make a Project Successful

GREAT Model

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New Management Model  (45 slides)

Project Leadership

Project management provides a foundation for the art of leadership. The best project managers are also outstanding leaders.

Evolving Entrepreneurial Role of the Project Manager

 

Today project managers have to go beyond the traditional project delivery practices and master the business systems approach. This new system requires thinking of the project as a business enterprise and managing the project as a business venture. Thus you have to consider not only the success of the project itself but also the success of the project outcome. You need to understand how your organization creates value for its major stakeholders - shareholders, customers, and the business team, and also take responsibility for delivering that value.

The new role of the project manager requires an ultimate knowledge of the strategy the project is supporting. Taking the business systems approach requires also knowledge of organization, motivation, marketing, accounting, cost control, finance, and quantitative decision making from the project manager's perspective.

The entrepreneurial approach to project management essentially expands two dimensions of the project management process - time and boundaries. Considering the project outcome and its lifecycle expands time beyond the traditional horizon of project completion. Project boundaries are also expanded. Stakeholders start playing more important role as partners. On the other side, market forces now go beyond the customer and end-user to include additional factors such as competition.

The Key Project Leader Skills

  1. Developing a grand vision

  2. Building the project management team and leading the team through the steps of the project management process

  3. Leadership skills; leading the project team through the stages of team development

  4. Communication skills: verbal, both one-on-one and with a group, and written

  5. People-management skills such as constructive feedback, conflict resolution, managing individual styles and personalities

  6. Facilitation skills

  7. Skills at interfacing across the organization and removing obstacles for the team

  8. Ability to accept criticism, feedback, and input from others

  9. Skills in using team-based tools such as brainstorming, organizing, decision making, project management, conflict resolution, and so on.

  10. Selling skills. The ability to promote and sell the project both within and outside the organization. Presentation skills.

5 Factors that Make a Project a Success

By: Eric Verzuh, the author of The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management

To be successful, a project must have:

  1. Agreement among the project stakeholders – the team, customer, and management  – on the goals of the project... More

Creating a High-Performing Team

Creating a high-performing team takes commitment on the part of the project leader to lead both the project management and team processes. You need to be a good facilitator, helping the team work through the steps of these processes. Here are some tips on being a good facilitator as suggested by Martin and Tate1:

  • Allow equal opportunity for participation by all team members

  • Maintain a safe environment

  • Acknowledge each person's contribution

  • Enforce the team ground rules

  • Focus on the team and project management processes, not the content

  • Respect each person as an individual

  • Resolve conflicts as they arise

  • Keep the group on track

Developing Team-Based Skills

While developing your team and mastering teamwork, you'll need to hold regular team meetings so that team members can monitor progress and solve problems as they arise. You may also want to focus on your team skills, such as:

 

GREAT Model

By: Michael S. Dobson

To make your project team function effectively, the first thing you need to know is the GREAT model: Goals; Results; Expectations / Performance; Accountabilities / Abilities; Timing.

The GREAT model specifies what people must know before they can work together effectively... More

 

 

 

Bibliography:

  1. "Getting Started in Project Planning", by P.Martin and K.Tate

  2. "The Project Manager's MBA", by D.J. Cohen and R.J. Graham

  3. "ICB - IPMA Competence Baseline", by International Project Management Association (IPMA)

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