Project Management Leadership

Building Creative Teams

Rory Burke, Steve Barron

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781118825402
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Project Management
• Index: Business

Project Management Leadership is a comprehensive guide to the human factors involved in Project Management, in particular the leadership skills required to ensure successful implementation of current best practice. It provides the latest insights on team building, motivation, collaboration, and networking skills, and the way these can be harnessed to manage a successful project. Exercises and worked examples are provided throughout.

Chapter 1
Introduction to Project Management Leadership

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Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Recognize the portfolio of skills a project manager needs to complete projects successfully.
• Understand the leadership content of the project management body of knowledge.

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Project management leadership is one of the special project management techniques that enable the project manager to lead and manage the project team, project stakeholders and other project participants. Project management leadership is a process by which a project manager can direct, guide and influence the behavior and work of the project team towards accomplishing the project objectives. It is, therefore, essential that the project manager understands the characteristics and features of project management leadership to be able to apply the process effectively.

This chapter will introduce the project environment, and the relationship between project management leadership and the other project management disciplines and techniques. It will indicate how the project lifecycle can be used to show where project leadership and its associated techniques can be used effectively as the project progresses along the lifecycle. This chapter will also introduce key bodies of knowledge and identify the knowledge areas relating to project management leadership and project teamwork.

The project manager’s challenge is to strike a balance between the appropriate type of leadership skills and styles, and the level of project management systems – both are required for project success.

How to Use This Book

This book will subdivide Project Management Leadership into a number of sections for ease of presentation and understanding.

The first part introduces the leadership skills and styles that form the backbone of project leadership:

• Project governance and ethics.
• Project leadership BoK.
• Project organization structures.
• Leadership behavior.
• Leadership styles.
• Power to influence.
• Resistance to change.
• Emotional intelligence.
• Leadership vs. management.
• Working with stakeholders.

The second part introduces project teams and shows how to select, build and lead a project team:

• Project teams.
• Teams vs. groups.
• Team roles.
• Team development phases.
• Team-building techniques.
• Coaching and mentoring.

The third part groups a number of key related topics that underpin the project leader’s competence:

• Negotiation skills.
• Motivation.
• Delegation.
• Communication.
• Conflict resolution.
• Problem solving.
• Decision making.
• Facilitation for project leaders.
• Knowledge management.

1. History of Project Management

The history of modern-day project management leadership can be dated back to the 1950s when a number of companies started appointing one person to manage their projects (see Table 1.1). This particularly applied to multi-disciplined projects in remote locations.

Table 1.1: History of Project Management – shows the emphasis is now on project management leadership

1950s	In the 50s the project management leader’s position was established as the single point of responsibility with autonomous authority over a pool of resources. This change enabled complex projects in remote locations to be led and managed by a person on the ground.
1960s	In the 60s nearly all of the special planning, control techniques and project management processes we use today were developed on military and aerospace projects. This included PERT, CPM, matrix organization structures, scope management, configuration management and earned value. The matrix organization structure was found to be particularly suited to managing multi-disciplined projects.
1970s	In the 70s the emphasis of the project lifecycle progressively moved from the implementation phase (where most of the resources were used) to the front-end design and development phase, which had the greatest potential for adding value and the least amount of cost for making changes.
1980s	In the 80s the development of the PC and project management software revolutionized planning and control calculations. Because a common database was used, it forced functional departments to share information. This sharing of information was one of the most significant changes because it integrated the departments and moved the planning and control of information into the project office.
1990s	In the 90s large companies started to adopt a management-by-projects approach through a Project Management Office (PMO). This enabled the PMO to act as a center of excellence for project management leadership.
2000s	With each passing...