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Running head: PROJECT LEADERSHIP AND TRAITS 0
Project Leadership Skills and Traits
Project Name: ALS Walk – A Walk to cure ALS
Leadership Traits Necessary for Leading the Project
Having excellent interpersonal and communication skills is very critical during this project. According to Muller and Turner (2017), excellent communication and interpersonal skills enable the project manager to effectively communicate with stakeholders and employees at different levels of the lifecycle of the project. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills will help the project manager to clearly articulate the mission, vision, objectives, and goals of the project to the employees and the concerned stakeholders. This skill will also help articulate the expectations of the employees regarding their roles during the project, helping to effectively lead the project.
Integrity is another leadership trait that is required when leading a project. Novo, Landis, and Haley (2017) posit that integrity allows a project manager to gain the trust of the team members. This is very important in fulfilling the goals of the project of raising more than $5,000 and influencing more than 10% of the employees to pledge long-term support for the ALS Association. Without integrity, employees will view the project as a scam project. Integrity will thus help effectively lead the project by giving the employees and stakeholders a reason to commit to the ethical practices and values of the project, ensuring the success of the project.
Decision-making skills are a vital trait of effective leaders. According to Muller and Turner (2017), decisions project managers make have a direct impact on the success or failure of the project. To effectively lead the project, the project manager should be knowledgeable to make informed decisions. The project manager should also be responsible and accountable for any decision made. Delegating duties to competent team members and taking responsibility should drive the project manager. Decision making is thus a leadership trait that can help effectively lead the project.
Project Team Members and their Roles
Project Manager
The project manager will be responsible for developing the project plan, recruit the project staff for the event, develop project schedule and phases, lead and manage the team members, define the methodologies to be used, assign tasks to the team members, and regularly update the top management (Meng & Boyd, 2017).
Business Analyst
The business analyst will be mandated to define the project, collect requirements from users, document the business and technical requirements, affirm that project deliverables meet the project and test solutions to validate if the objectives of the project.
Project Sponsor
The project sponsor(s) will approve the budget of the project, ensure resources are available, make the major decisions regarding the project, and communicate the goals of the project to the employees and stakeholders involved in the project.
Project Team Members
The team members involved in the project will be expected to provide expertise, complete individual deliverables, document the processes, market the merchandise, and contribute towards meeting the goals of the project.
Security Team
The security and emergency team will be involved in safeguarding the commuter route and ensuring the safety of the participants.
Emergency Team
The emergency team will offer first aid to those who may need medical assistance during the walk and the injured.
Traits of a Productive Team Member
Traits of a productive team member include being flexible, being reliable, have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, they show genuine commitment, they listen actively, they support others, are organized, and are respectful to the project members.
Eight Traits of a Successful Project Manager
Effective Communication Skills
Successful project managers should be able to effectively communicate and bond with people from all levels and share the project vision with them.
Good Decision-Making Skills
Project managers should have better decision-making skills to explore available options and select the best solutions.
Strong Leadership Skills
Successful project managers should have the ability to motivate their teams driving them to achieve maximum performance to achieve the goals and objectives of the project.
Team Builders
A successful project manager should help the teamwork with unison and eliminate the chances of having disputes that might hinder the success of the team members.
Better Negotiators
Conflicts are bound to occur in any project. Therefore, the success of project managers lies in their ability to settle issues that arise. Negotiation skills can help successful project managers settle issues that may arise restoring harmony among team members and ensuring the success of the project.
Are Empathetic
Successful managers should show care for their employees and the project team members and appreciate their efforts. This will make the employees feel valued. They should also show the understanding of the needs of the project and the stakeholders.
Ability to Cope with Pressure
Successful project managers should have the ability to work effectively under pressure. Some projects might test the patience of the project managers, thus they should be able to stay calm to avoid negatively impacting the relationship with their team members.
Competent
Successful project managers can initiate projects and handle challenges that arise from the project confidently to deliver the expected outcomes.
Conditions Supporting the Development of High-Performing Teams
Support
Project managers need to support their employees to build high-performing teams. High-performing teams should be provided with resources like pertinent information, education, and training to make them high-performing.
Rewards
Rewards can also motivate teams and make them feel appreciated, increasing their performance. Rewards offered without bias can boost the morale of the teams, making the teams to be high-performing.
Competent Coaches
Competent coaches can play a vital role in helping employees overcome the challenges they might face in the project. A competent coach would expose employees to take advantage of the available opportunities and how to make the right decisions. Coaching thus helps produce very competent employees and teams.
Environment
Creating a conducive working environment can also help high-performing teams. A conducive work environment should have a diversified composition of employees who can complement each other whenever they are stuck and the project manager is not around (Powell & Pazos, 2017). Diversity will ensure the team is composed of teams with different skills that balance and can help the employees develop problem-solving skills.
Sense of Direction
Finally, high-performing teams should have direction. Leaders tend to give the teams the destination of the project, forgetting to give them the direction (Powell & Pazos, 2017). To have a high-performing team, project managers should try to give the team the direction to help them reach the desired destination. The direction given to the team should be challenging, clear, and consequential.
Strategies to Manage Dysfunctional Conflict within Project Teams
Mediate the Conflict
During meditation, the project manager might be required to step in and try to intervene and to negotiate for a resolution. The project manager helps conflicting parties resolve their differences using reasoning and persuasion to find a common ground establishes suggestions. Mediating helps reduce the chances of having a lose/lose situation for both parties.
Arbitrate the Conflict
Arbitration allows the project manager to listen to the conflicting parties and impose a solution to the dysfunctional conflict (George, Erikson, & Parhankangas, 2016). The objective of arbitration is to allow the project to win, not the parties involved. The solution chosen by the project manager should thus allow each of the affected parties to save face.
Control the Conflict
One of the effective strategies that can be used to manage dysfunctional conflict is by reducing the intensity of the conflict. This can be achieved by interjecting humor or smoothing the differences that brought the conflict. The project manager can adjourn interactions if feelings escalate to allow the parties to cool down. The conflict can also be controlled through rearranging project assignments to prevent the parties from working together if feelings escalate affecting the project.
Accept the Conflict
When the conflict is likely to outlive the life of the project, the project manager can choose to live with the dysfunctional conflict (George, Erikson, & Parhankangas, 2016).
Eliminate the Conflict
Eliminating the conflict may be the only solution for the project manager in situations when the dysfunctional conflict escalates to a point where it cannot be tolerated anymore (George, Erikson, & Parhankangas, 2016). To eliminate the conflict, the project manager may be forced to remove the parties involved in the dysfunctional conflict from the project if they are both at fault, or a single party if he/she is at fault. This gives other members of the project such behavior cannot be tolerated.
References
George, B., Erikson, T., & Parhankangas, A. (2016). Preventing dysfunctional conflict: examining the relationship between different types of managerial conflict in venture capital-backed firms. Venture Capital, 18(4), 279-296.
Meng, X., & Boyd, P. (2017). The role of the project manager in relationship management. International Journal of Project Management, 35(5), 717-728.
Muller, R., & Turner, J. R. (2017). Project-oriented leadership. Routledge.
Novo, B., Landis, E. A., & Haley, M. L. (2017). Leadership and its role in the success of project management. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 14(1).
Powell, A. W., & Pazos, P. (2017). Building high-performing autonomous teams in complex manufacturing settings: A naturalistic research approach. Engineering management journal, 29(3), 206-219.
