Project Leadership Considerations

This B2B project example raises the first central issue regarding work authorization. Project leaders need to make clear who can authorize work, under what circumstances, and with what spending authority. The project leadership responsibilities described in the initiation and planning stages should have covered this issue. The detailed project plan, communications plan, and stakeholder approvals should all be used as guides in determining who can authorize project work. Sanjay was uncertain about the limits of his spending authority. Uma needed to decide this, but instead her memo appears to be an overreaction.

The second key issue in work authorization is the actual authorization itself. Regardless of the level of work or level of the project leader, he or she needs to be capable of making appropriate decisions on a timely basis. Decisions need to be made about which resources to use; when, where, and how to carry out specific work assignments; and a myriad of other issues. Even with very good project plans, many prioritization issues are settled by appropriate authorization decisions. Decision-makers need to have access to adequate data to make informed decisions. They also must have the skill and confidence to make those decisions.

Junior leaders generally have more time and are closer to the action, so they are sometimes more available to make timely decisions. However, senior project leaders often have more perspective and can understand broader issues more fully. The key is to groom the junior leaders to be able to make more decisions as they prove themselves capable by making good decisions on small matters. These issues concerning decision-making also apply to the other project leadership responsibilities during project execution.

Uma is sending a very controlling message to her team. If the expense is in the budget, why is it necessary to receive a second approval? Leaders need to be consistent in their approach. Why delegate all kinds of authority but require extra controls when it comes to money? Is it a trust issue? Most lists of leadership requirements include “trust.” If followers are not trusted, they often feel rejected. Uma has been leading in a very sharing manner, showing that she trusts the judgments of others. So then why does she need to be “updated immediately” if an expenditure below $2,500 is made? This is using “power over” rather than “power with.” She is not empowering her team members and they may well resent it.

Project Leadership Considerations

Not having a plan to deal with changes was a significant error. Why the whole team would need to be involved in a suggested change is puzzling. A good leader involves people who have a stake in a decision. Uma was wise to check with the order department. When she found out this was standard operating procedure, she should have simply told Cecil and apologized for the error. Again, leadership requires the ability to admit error.

FIGURE 4-1 Project Change Request Form

Project leaders need to ensure that appropriate change management procedures are in place. The change order form developed in the example (Figure 4-1) is a good one. The most important issue regarding a change management system is that it be used. A mediocre system that is used consistently is far superior to a well-conceived system that is not used consistently. A key ongoing responsibility of project leaders is to ensure that everyone is using a change control system all the time. This requires discipline and is probably most effective when the project leaders demonstrate by their actions that they use the change control system all the time and expect everyone else to do so as well. A simple system that is quick and easy to use is more likely to be used consistently since it will be less troublesome when people are under time pressure.

Project leaders need to be aware when there is a problem so they can take appropriate corrective action in a timely manner. Many problems, if discovered quickly, are easy to rectify. Those same problems, if allowed to fester, can be much more expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to resolve. Thus, project leaders need to “reward” rather than “shoot” messengers of bad news. A wise project leader develops her project into a learning organization with an emphasis on identifying problems as quickly as possible, correcting them, and removing the underlying causes so they do not reappear. If a project leader has previously done a good job of overseeing the development of detailed project plans, integrating them, and developing appropriate communication systems, she should be rewarded with an early warning system for problems.

Project leaders need to keep in mind a number of additional issues as they monitor progress and control changes. For example:

•  The project scope and deliverables should be in writing, spelled out in detail, in a form that everyone who reads will interpret in the same way. Wise project leaders understand on one hand the customer’s sense of urgency in performing the project and on the other hand the change management problems that occur with starting poorly planned projects. They wrestle with this contradiction, trying to find an acceptable balance.

•  “Touchpoints” are places in a project where work is passed from one person or group to another or where the work of one project intersects the work of another project or the ongoing work of the parent or customer’s organization. Wise project managers challenge their project teams to identify touchpoints in advance that may cause them trouble (some of this should have been done during risk planning and communication planning), but much of it continues throughout project execution. These touchpoints should be carefully monitored and controlled.

•  If the project leaders are effective in creating a learning organization, many opportunities for improvement should appear. Project leaders need to prioritize and continually reprioritize these opportunities.

•  Project leaders need to set the example by personally using continuous improvement and insisting that others do so as well.

•  Project leaders should set good examples by admitting mistakes, accepting blame, and changing systems so the same mistakes do not happen again.

•  Effective project leaders see both problems and solutions before others do. This early insight requires knowing what to monitor, being frequently available for the monitoring (including many informal contacts with all sorts of project participants and other stakeholders), and having the judgment that comes from experience. Once project leaders see problems or solutions, they need to take action or create a situation whereby project participants can also discover the problems and solutions and take action on their own.

•  Project leaders need to learn who gives good advice and who does not. They need to know whose opinion can be trusted. Project leaders should have strategies for helping those who do not yet have the judgment to give good advice.

•  When controlling change (and when performing many other project leadership responsibilities), project leaders need to be effective negotiators. This is such an important skill that project leaders should consider taking some professional training in it.

Project Leadership Considerations

Most organizations will have multiple projects and many ongoing work activities occurring simultaneously. While some project team members will work primarily on one or a limited number of projects and have a limited number of ongoing responsibilities, others have many more varied responsibilities. Project leaders need to help everyone associated with the project balance the needs of trying to accomplish the project—sometimes in the face of severe difficulties—with the needs of other projects and other goals of the parent organization. This can be one of the more interesting paradoxes for project leaders since they are primarily responsible for accomplishing their projects, yet they need to be responsible members of their parent organization and keep the bigger picture in mind. Project leaders need to communicate both of these perspectives to the project team as often as needed.

To be successful at this balancing act, project leaders need to have the ability to:

•  See the big picture and understand corporate strategic needs

•  Analyze complex tradeoffs and understand their consequences, especially when multiple projects or multiple organizations are involved

•  Understand their projects at multiple levels—as part of the larger organization, as a system itself, and as a collection of parts

•  Make timely and sound decisions individually and facilitate groups such as project core teams and other stakeholders so they can also make timely and sound decisions

•  Identify “touchpoints” in advance and continually monitor them

•  Coordinate work, especially between their project and other work responsibilities, and understand how work assignments in one area impact other areas.

Project Leadership Considerations

Scott could have simply stated to Tom in a private setting, “I noticed that you made two errors recently. This is so unlike you. Is anything getting in your way? Is there any way I can be helpful?” A skilled leader speaks to the behavior and the facts, not to assumptions.

In the second situation, private meetings may or may not be wise. Again, a simple factual statement to the team is usually best. The leader might say to the team, “I am aware that some team members are not being invited to meetings they should attend. That can negatively impact the project. I assume that everyone will behave responsibly and not let any external matters affect how we treat each other.”

In supervising work performance, project leaders need to define their work expectations to enable the individual contributors to understand what they are supposed to do, how they should do it, and their degree of freedom. Then the project leaders need to assess the work as it is being performed so they can apprise the workers how their actual performance compares with the expectations. The twin goals at this point are to (1) close the gap between the performance and the expectation so the project work can be completed as planned, and (2) help the workers improve.

A key balancing act at this point is to determine how much focus should be on achieving the project goals versus how much time should be spent on improving individual work performance. In most situations the work of the project cannot be sacrificed for improved worker training and education. A wise project leader will learn how to keep the focus squarely on project work performance while simultaneously giving individual workers immediate feedback that will help in their growth and development.

A few ideas project leaders may want to keep in mind as they supervise work performance include:

•  Lead by example so you can establish trust, integrity, and mutual sharing in both work performance and professional growth and development. A wise leader will seize opportunities to help the hands-on workers improve and to help himself improve.

•  Involve workers in communicating work progress. Project leaders are almost always challenged in terms of time. If she needs to monitor every worker’s performance closely, a project leader may be very limited in her ability to complete a myriad of other project leadership responsibilities. Along with laying out expectations for the work, she also should lay out expectations for reporting the work. (This should have been accomplished in communications planning.) Wise project leaders will begin to understand which workers can be trusted to report their work progress at less frequent intervals versus those who need to be managed more closely.

•  Regard helping others reach their potential as a key responsibility and a source of personal fulfillment. A project leader should help individuals assess their strengths and weaknesses as a means of facilitating their professional growth.

•  Be a good trainer and mentor. Some feedback discovered while supervising work performance will suggest group training needs and some will suggest individual mentoring as the preferred vehicle for improvement. The old saying that “when the pupil is ready the teacher will appear” pertains here. The project leader needs to help the individual workers understand when a teacher is needed and often must be that teacher herself. Project leaders need to decide when more efficient group training is sufficient versus when more time-consuming mentoring is needed.

Project Leadership Considerations

Uma saw a problem, and, based on her experience, she developed a solution. She asked the team to try this process and they all saw its value. During the implementing stage she needed to be seen as a helpful, creative, and effective resource. It appears she successfully played these roles in this situation.

Leading teams involves three major areas in which effective project leaders need to display knowledge, skills, and commitments. They need to (1) understand how project teams develop and evolve, (2) facilitate project team progress, and (3) role-model effective behavior.

Classic team development literature describes forming, storming, norming, and performing as the four developmental stages teams can be expected to go through.¹ Project teams also experience a fifth stage: adjourning, at which time the teams complete their project work. (Chapter 5 covers the adjourning, or closing, stage.)

In executing the work of a project, all participants—senior project leaders, junior project leaders, hands-on project workers, and other stakeholders—can be considered part of the project team. Most team suggestions are directed toward small teams of hands-on workers who are often working together full-time. In many project situations, however, some of the essential participants are working only very part-time on a project. Additionally, some have heavier work involvement at different stages of the project’s lifecycle. For example, senior project leadership will likely have a much heavier load very early in the project, junior project leadership’s heavy load will start during planning, and hands-on workers’ heavy load will be during project executing. The teamwork implication arising from this work pattern is that often those whose work involvement started much earlier are at a more advanced stage in the team development cycle than those who are newer to the project. Project leaders need to be able to deal with this disparity.

To be effective, project leaders need to understand the dynamics of each stage of team development. As teams are forming, project leaders will help team members develop commitment and trust with their teammates, leaders, and other project stakeholders. As teams enter into storming, it is often because of diversity in values, experiences, beliefs, personality, etc., on the part of some of the project team.

Project leaders need to act as facilitators. There are times when a project leader must impose her will to get things done in a hurry, but as often as possible, leading should be performed in a facilitating style. As she tries to lead in a facilitating style, a project leader should keep in mind:

•  Share leadership when possible. It helps team members develop, gives each more of a sense of project ownership, and often allows much more rapid completion of project work.

•  Assess project team strengths and weaknesses to facilitate growth. The Project Leadership Assessment: Team in Appendix C can be used for this assessment.

•  In addition to helping individuals reach their potential, help teams reach their collective potential. If a project leader is effective in this regard, the team will move quickly through the early stages of team development and spend more of their time as a highly effective performing team. Also, when setbacks occur, the project team will retrace its steps through team development more quickly.

•  Encourage team self-management by continuing to have the project team use the operating methods and communications plan they developed during project planning and the charter they developed during project initiating. If they use these documents, the team should not have to appeal to their leaders too often for guidance.

•  Remove obstacles that are beyond the authority of the teams to remove themselves. In this sense, project leaders help manage the boundaries between the project team and all others.

A third major component of leading project teams is for leaders to serve as role models. If teams are to be effective, individual members of the teams need to behave in certain ways that can be enhanced by the team leaders’ example. Some of these include:

•  Strive for interpersonal effectiveness first in oneself and then in others. People are much more likely to exert the extra effort required to excel if they see their leaders doing so.

•  Strive to establish trust, integrity, and reciprocity with everyone. This often requires extra effort, but is well worth it.

•  Seek help when needed. We all need help in performing our work on occasion, but some project leaders may feel it is a sign of weakness to ask for help. On the contrary, not asking for help when necessary is a sign of immaturity that will not only diminish one’s personal performance but will jeopardize the entire project. All project participants need to develop an understanding of when to ask for help and when to just get the job done themselves.

Project Leadership Considerations

Project leaders must work to keep the project team, client, suppliers, executive management, and themselves motivated. Uma and Bob were appropriate as far as they went by noticing problems and creating ways to celebrate milestone completion. Some organizations do not take time to celebrate the completion of important milestones. Properly executed, these celebrations can really help lift the team’s morale. Bob and Uma also tried to identify issues and develop solutions in a participative manner with their team.

Celebrations do not solve all problems, however. The issue here is a real one; each team has different resources and different needs. Uma and Bob need to suggest creative ways of solving the actual problems. Once they are solved and appropriate milestones are met, a celebration of the group’s choosing may well be appropriate.

Project leaders should keep a number of broad considerations in mind as they attempt to keep up project team morale:

•  Project leaders need to spend time meeting people and communicating their vision for the project. They also need to hear and reinforce the visions each stakeholder brings to the project. This can be an effective, proactive way of maintaining morale.

•  Project leaders should use empowerment (as Uma and Bob usually do) instead of fear. In the heat of the moment, when people are trying to meet critical deadlines, it is sometimes tempting for a project leader to order, threaten, or coerce actions. While this may feel like it is solving a near-term problem, it often makes morale more difficult to maintain.

•  Project leaders who have a track record of success or can give their teams other reasons to believe that all will be okay have something tangible to offer. People need to have specific solutions to keep up their morale.

•  Project leaders often do not immediately understand all that their team members are trying to tell them. It sometimes behooves a project leader to become a better listener, often a follower, until they do understand. This can be very motivating for the team member who takes the lead in the situation.

•  Project leaders need to understand that conflict is often the cause of poor morale. The ability to identify and resolve conflict is critical for project leaders. Wise project leaders understand that some conflict—that is, conflict that can energize people with alternative approaches to consider—can be beneficial. However, conflict that becomes too intense and personal can be detrimental to project success.

•  Project leaders need to be able to diagnose and manage stress both in themselves and in others. Projects can be highly charged activities with tight timelines, severe constraints, and high expectations. While some people thrive in this environment, others find it very stressful. Project leaders need to develop methods of relieving their own stress (e.g., yoga, poker, running) and to encourage team members to do the same.

Project Leadership Considerations

The project leaders used extensive testing to convince the customer that the project results were acceptable. Many kinds of projects involve demonstration or testing of some sort. Of course, the project leaders must ensure that the project deliverables will satisfy all of the testing and validation requirements. However, project leaders should develop a couple of other skills if they are to secure customer approval.

First, project leaders need to be able to understand the customer’s culture. The better project leaders understand the customer’s culture, the better they can lead the actual project development and the better they can convince the customer that things are fine. In other words, the actual deliverables of the project can be made more useful to the customer, and the customer’s perception can be influenced. These activities, guided by an understanding of the customer, should culminate in customer acceptance of the project deliverables.

Second, project leaders frequently need to negotiate. This skill can be useful in many circumstances, such as agreeing on the charter terms and securing resources for project work. Project leaders might need to negotiate tradeoffs between some aspect of the project that is not fully developed versus another area in which the client can get more than he bargained for.

The B2B project team successfully addressed the technical part of securing customer acceptance by passing rigorous performance tests. They also created a transition document to help the customer use the system effectively, thereby successfully addressing the need for customer understanding.