Abstract
Project Management tools and concepts have matured greatly over the past few decades. However, incremental benefits of increased management skills are flattening out as the discipline of Project Management matures. Instead of focusing exclusively on more volume and complexity of project management tools, we should be growing our leadership skills and learning how to leverage them for better project outcomes. It’s clear to see why industry has been focused on management: those quantitative tools and techniques help to bring order and predictability to large and complex environments. Corporations would have a difficult time operating today without the order and predictability that result from strong management. The greater challenge we face now is to identify and improve our leadership skills. This can be difficult because the definition of leadership varies, the softer skills are harder to learn and certify, and as project managers we tend to gravitate toward the quantitative and mechanical as opposed to the qualitative and interpersonal. Still, we can identify and learn these skills and by doing so we can get better outcomes from our projects.
Introduction
“Most U.S. corporations today are over-managed and underled” (Kotter, 1990, p3)
It’s important to understand the difference between managing and leading. We may have a colloquial understanding of the terms, but it’s hard to find general agreement on what they really mean and how they are different. For the purposes of this discussion, management refers to the more quantitative and mechanical aspects of running a project and leadership refers to the more qualitative and interpersonal. Some attributes of each can be viewed in the following table.
| Managing | Leading |
| Enforcing standards | Coaching |
| Problem solving | Providing vision |
| Budgeting | Motivating |
| Planning | Aligning stakeholders |
| Reporting and reviewing status | Demonstrating standards |
| Administering task plans | Providing structure |
Project Leadership
“Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing” (Bennis & Nanus, 1985, p20)
Recent History
Over the past century, the approach to solving business problems has been largely focused on improving management tools and skills. This approach has addressed a real need. Industry has made great progress with safety, budgeting, scheduling, and the ability to scale with standard policies and procedures. Over the course of the last 50 years new tools and techniques have been developed such as the Critical Path Method, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, and others. Certifications, such as CMM and ISO9000, have created new benchmarks helping to objectively measure organizational processes and performance against an industry standard.
However, this improvement in management is not a silver bullet. Companies still fail, despite TQM, ISO, and other initiatives. The problem is not a lack of management, but a lack of leadership. This can be difficult for us to address because management problems, such as lack of controls and standard processes, can be easier to identify and frame as a problem than gaps in leadership. However, shortcomings in leadership can be addressed. On our own projects, we can compare the relative health of management and leadership by examining the attributes of each and assessing how well they are represented on the project.
Leadership in Action
There are fewer standards on leadership than on management. The softer skills are not as easily tested and certified. Still, there are commonly agreed upon leadership attributes that we can address and improve upon. Bringing these attributes to our projects, especially those with diverse stakeholders and significant complexity, will help us to achieve better project outcomes. Following are a few of those leadership attributes and a description of what that attribute brings to a project.
Communicating Vision
Vision is important to a project and especially to the team members on that project. A well defined vision sets clear expectations about the spirit of the project. This can be much more powerful than the letter of the law that may be written into a requirements document. A vision should be easy to understand and communicate and it should drive lower level decisions. A clear vision in the minds of a competent project team is much better at driving actions and decisions than an exhaustive policies and procedures manual.
Inspiring and Motivating
A clear project vision goes a long way toward inspiring and motivating a project team. Team members should know what’s expected of them, be given the tools necessary to succeed, and receive feedback relative to their performance as well as the project in general. A positive and clear project leader is helpful in motivating team members. Still, there may be times when a team member is simply a poor fit for the project and no amount of inspiration will improve their contribution to the team. In those cases it’s important to recognize that early and change the makeup of the team.
Being Proactive and Forward Thinking
A project leader should be thinking ahead about roadblocks and obstacles well before they’re encountered. This helps free the other team members to concentrate on their tasks at hand, but it’s also an important aspect of managing risk. The project leader needs to be creative and methodical about addressing risk. By being one step ahead and using past experiences to anticipate challenges, risks can be identified and mitigated without significantly impacting the project schedule or cost.
Listening to and Addressing Concerns
Active and empathetic listening is a critical skill for leading a project. As project managers we tend to be very good at addressing and resolving the challenges that have been identified. Sometimes the greater threat to a project is those challenges or issues that have not been identified; they surface when it’s too late and the project must be delayed or cut in scope in order to address the problem. Active listening, and appropriately reading an audience, will help to draw out concerns that otherwise may not have been expressed. Whether it’s a team member who thinks a task is impossible or an end customer who is uncomfortable with the design, if these concerns are not drawn out early in the project they can cause significant problems later.
Gaining Knowledge and Wisdom
A project leader will typically not be the deepest expert on the project. Team members and stakeholders may know much more about the technology involved or the business strategy being supported. However, the project leaders should be conversant across all areas of the project and know when to budget contingency, challenge assumptions, and ask for help. They also need to have sound judgment and wisdom to help guide team members and make informed decisions.
Leadership Behaviours vs. Traits
The question is frequently asked whether leadership talents can be learned or are an inherent part of personal makeup. One way to think about this is to consider behaviours versus traits. Traits are something we are born with and behaviours are something that we can deliberately influence. For example, some people are naturally inquisitive. In almost any conversation they will show a genuine interest in the other person and continue to ask questions that probe deeper into what was just said. Not all of us have that trait. However, we can all employ the behaviour of active listening. We can remind ourselves to ask open ended (rather than yes/no) questions. We can train ourselves to watch body language and adjust accordingly when someone folds their arms or furrows their brow. In general, most leadership attributes are like that. We may have inherent strengths that make it easier to demonstrate leadership, but where we fall short we can modify our behaviour and ultimately become proficient in that area.