Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies

Leading Complex Projects
Module 3
Leading Complex Projects

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects

Pre-Module Materials

Module Overview

Learning Objectives

Assignment

Initiating and Leading Projects

The Project Leader

Characteristics of an Effective Project Leader

Skills of a Successful Project Leader

Leadership Styles

Leading Project Teams

Leading Project Teams

The Flight of the Buffalo: Leaders Who Create Leaders

Activity

Leadership Lessons from Geese

Fostering Leaders

Strategies for Fostering Leadership

Strategies for Developing Leaders

Activity

Fostering Leadership in Your Environment

Planning a Project

Defining the Project

Project Participants and Stakeholders

Project Constraints

Project Activities

Activity Dependencies

Activity Analysis

Time Management

What is Time Management?

Setting Priorities

Developing a Time Management Plan

Scheduling, Budgeting, and Executing

Developing a Schedule

Elements of a Schedule

Useful Scheduling Terminology

Scheduling Tools

Gantt Charts

Network Diagrams

PERT Charts

Compressing a Schedule

Managing Project Risk and Cost Estimating

Risk Management

Methods of Cost-Estimating

Tips

Effective Cost Estimating

Controlling and Closing a Project

Aspects of Project Control

What is Project Control?

Controlling Project Cost

Measuring and Reporting Project Performance

Performance Reporting

How to Close a Project

Closing a Project

Supplemental Material

References

For More Information

Key Words

Knowledge Check

Summary and Transition

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects

Pre-Module Materials

Module Overview

In Module 3 you will learn about project management. The topic discussed will include leading a project tem, planning, scheduling and budgeting projects and well as controlling the project and closing the project. Central to all of these activities are how to develop a project plan and time management.

Learning Objectives

• Work actively in multi-disciplinary teams to complete projects, as demonstrated by meeting the instructor’s criteria for successful completion of those projects.

• Lead and/or function as a team member in a diversely distributed group using a variety of face-to-face and on-line technologies, as specified by the instructor.

• Demonstrate effective skills for interpersonal communication in the workplace through in-class group meetings, transcripts of online dialogs, and evaluations of self and peers.

• Address and demonstrate conflict resolution skills by developing and presenting group role-plays and through debriefing sessions to class members about scenario-based problem situations with evaluation by peers and instructor.

• Demonstrate ability to lead and manage complex projects by applying appropriate tools and techniques to selected major student projects and by presenting projects to peers and instructor.

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects

Assignment

CASE SCENARIO / Team Project Presentation # 3
Working in a Global Business Environment: Conducting Meetings at a Distance
Students are encouraged to use their creativity to conduct a professional business meeting among geographically dispersed, multi-disciplinary parties using technology. The meeting should focus on some aspect of managing a major change initiative and how communications can be enhanced when face-to-face meeting may not be practical in today’s global business environment. Students should research contemporary communication methods and consider the benefits of various communications technologies such as video conferencing, net meetings, voice over IP, etc. as well as the costs.
Deliverable:

• Ten-minute (maximum) technology assisted demonstration meeting among multi-disciplinary and geographically dispersed groups.

• One-page (maximum) paper from each student describing their impressions of the actual distributed meeting they conducted, an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of their chosen distributed communication medium, and the lessons they learned from the distributed meeting experience. The paper is to be submitted in the appropriate Angel Drop-Box.

• Three page (maximum) summary team research paper outlining the process for conducting business meetings, factors to consider when conducting meeting with multi-disciplinary and geographically dispersed groups, technology options, and the strengths and weaknesses of their chosen distributed communication medium. The paper should be based on at least three current literary sources, be properly cited in accordance with APA standards, and contain a “Lessons Learned” section. The paper is to be submitted in the appropriate Angel Drop-Box.

• One-page “job aide” handout to each class member or one-minute (maximum) original digital “video clip” focused on either how to conduct an effective business meeting or tips on how to conduct meetings at a distance

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects

Initiating and Leading Projects

The Project Leader

One of the key ingredients to successfully completing a project is having a competent project leader. Project leaders are responsible for organizing team members and procuring resources. It is also very helpful if they possess expertise in certain areas to avoid the cost and time needed to bring in an outside expert. Project leaders who possess the appropriate characteristics and skills are much more likely to be able to conclude their projects successfully.

Characteristics of an Effective Project Leader

Trustworthy – Since project leaders will be responsible for many things, it is important that both the people they are leading and the project stakeholders see them as being worthy of trust. Trustworthiness goes beyond being an honest person though. A project leader must also be dependable and competent, having enough experience with the subject matter of the project that others will have faith in his or her decisions.
Adaptable – Different situations call for different approaches when leading others. At times, a leader may have to address issues without consulting the whole team. Collaboration will be necessary. When leaders are able to adjust to varying circumstances and adapt the way they lead accordingly, their projects will be more successful.
Patient – Things may not always go according to plan. Project guidelines may be vague or difficult to understand, team members will differ in their level of skill and expertise, and various project stakeholders may push for different objectives. All of these things can cause leaders much stress.
Creative – Leaders who are creative are able to work around limitations and obstacles, finding innovative solutions to their problems. It is essential to be a creative thinker; otherwise, projects may stall at the slightest bump in the road.
Available – Project leaders must be available to the various people related to the project. They will have to meet with project team members and stakeholders throughout the course of the project. Being unavailable to team members will slow the progress of the project because they won’t be able to get the answers they need to move forward, and being unavailable to project stakeholders may cause them to become nervous about the status of the project.
Knowledgeable– It is important for leaders to have adequate knowledge regarding the projects they are working on. For example, if the project is technical in nature, the project leader must have enough technical skills to be able to speak intelligently about any problems that occur and be able to find a viable solution. Project leaders who are uninformed run the risk of delaying the project as they catch up to speed or wait for outside experts to give them the answers they need.

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects

Skills of a Successful Project Leader

Project leaders should skills in the following areas:
Organizing – Project leaders need to be able to organize the details of a project, determining what resources are needed and when they should be made available. They also need to decide which people should be responsible for the various project tasks.
Communicating – It is the project leader’s job to ensure that everyone associated with a project gets the necessary information in a timely manner. Stakeholders need to be informed of the status of the project, and team members need information to fulfill their responsibilities.
Negotiating – Project leaders will have to contend with stakeholders who have differing goals, and sometimes it will be necessary to negotiate between them. Negotiating skills are also useful when conflicts arise amongst team members.
Team-Development – Without the ability to effectively lead the members of a project team, it is unlikely that the project will be completed successfully. Project leaders must lead team meetings, work to resolve conflicts, and be capable of handling associates with diverse backgrounds.

Leadership Styles

Leaders should adapt their leadership style to fit the circumstances. The following are examples of some styles that may be used:
Authoritarian – Leaders who use this style of leadership make decisions without consulting the rest of the team. This style of leadership is best used when a decision is about a trivial issue and consulting the team would be a waste of time. It is also useful when a decision is clear-cut and there is no room for debate.
Consultative– When using this style of leadership, leaders consult team members about an issue, asking for their opinions on the matter, but the ultimate decision is still in the leader’s hands. This style is useful because it can give leaders new insight into an issue, but it can also lead to team members feeling undervalued if they feel their suggestions are being ignored.
Collaborative– When using this style of leadership, leaders discuss issues with the members of their team, and everyone examines potential solutions to the problem until consensus is reached. This is a very effective way to maintain group harmony, but collaboration can be a very extensive, time-consuming process, so there is the danger of wasting the team’s time is the issue is trivial.
Passive– Leaders who use this style of leadership allow team members to lead the group discussion without offering much guidance. This can be a dangerous way to lead in most instances, because without the focus provided by strong leadership, time will be wasted, and possibly fail. However, in instances such as brainstorming sessions, it can be useful.

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects

Leading Project Teams

The following guidelines can be used to help overcome the challenge of leading project teams:

• Have a written scope statement that contains information such as the project goals/deliverables, a timeframe for the completion of the project, and any available resources. This will give team members a concrete document to refer to throughout the course of the project.

• Make sure that the necessary resources are available, which includes choosing resources within a project’s budget and avoiding scheduling activities that require the same resources at the same time.

• Examine the history of others completing similar projects. This should help you when making estimates, and it will give you an idea of what sort of problems can be avoided.

• If possible, include buffer time in the project schedule in case things go off track.

• Refine the time and cost estimates for the project as you gain more information.

• Hold regular team meetings to help build a cohesive team, and address any conflicts that occur between team members as soon as they occur.

• Make sure that the project risks don’t outweigh the potential benefits.

• Make use of status reports to evaluate the progress of a project.

Leading Project Teams

The project leader should staff the project with appropriate team members. If possible, the leader should reserve the right to make staffing decisions based on the required skills identified during the initial objective- and scope-setting phase (Eichelberger, 1994). However, there can be challenges motivating employees. The following guidelines will help you overcome the challenge of motivating project team members:
Empower the team members– In order for a project to succeed, the team members need to be dedicated to each other and the project. Allowing team members to work together to come up with ideas about a project, and then actually implementing those ideas, will give them a sense of empowerment and motivation.
Be truthful with team members – Honesty is an important building block when trying to form trusted relationships. Team members need to know what is going on; hiding information will only make them doubt you and hinder their ability to complete their tasks. When leaders are honest with their team members, they appear much more credible.

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects
Focus on the benefits of the project – Team members will be much more motivated if they feel they have something to gain from successfully completing a project. Benefits that can be highlighted include: personal rewards and success, career enhancement, organizational improvement, etc.
Set a good example – Project leaders must lead by example. If team members see that their leader is devoted to the project and determined to do well, they will follow that example.

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Professional Skills and Core Leadership Competencies1

Leading Complex Projects

The Flight of the Buffalo: Leaders Who Create Leaders

The Flight of the Buffalo: Soaring to Excellence, Learning to Let Employees Lead, (Belasco & Stayer, 1994)creates two metaphors of leadership: buffaloes and geese. The metaphors are used to describe different styles of leadership and their consequences on employees and the work environment.
The Nature of Buffalo
A herd of buffalo is solely dependent on one leader. Wherever the leader goes, the herd will followeven if it’s over a cliff. Without the leader’s instructions, the herd cannot function either as a group or individually.
The Nature of Geese
In a flock of geese, every single bird within the group knows exactly where it is headed and is ready and able to take over the leadership position at any given moment. The goose in the front of the formation leads for a while, but as it tires it will drop back and another goose will take its place in front. Leadership and responsibility are shared by all.
To meet the demands and changes impacting them, many organizations are creating environments where employees at all levels have the ability, willingness, and opportunity to exercise leadership.
Ralph Stayer finally realized that he required a dramatic shift in his leadership style when his company was losing business. He saw that the people in his organization did not work as well as they could, and he was the cause of that. He realized that what he needed was a group of responsible, interdependent workers who would take initiative and responsibility. To do that, he knew he had to transfer more ownership and responsibility to his workers.
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Activity

Leadership Lessons from Geese

What does the geese metaphor tell us about possibilities for human leadership? Below are five facts about the behavior of geese in flight. In the space to the right of each fact, write down what you think the fact implies for human organizational behavior.
Fact / Lesson
1.As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an “uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
2.When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
3.When the lead bird tires, it rotates back into the formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
4.The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
5.When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
/ Suggested Answers:[1]
Fact / Lesson
1.As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an “uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. / People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they’re going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of each other.
2.When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. / If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.
3.When the lead bird tires, it rotates back into the formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. / It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, or resources.
4.The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. / We need to make sure our “honking” is encouraging. In groups were there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one’s heart or core values and to encourage the heart and core values of others) is the quality of “honking” that we seek.
5.When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock. / If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are soaring.

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