Leading Project Teams

This page focuses on the management and leadership skills needed for a project manager to effectively lead a project team.

Leading Others

When people are given authority, accept responsibility, and are held accountable for the results they achieve and the resources they expend, they are in positions of command. People in positions of command will be more successful if they can both manage and lead. Management is the application of intellect to the functions of planning, directing, organizing, staffing, controlling, and coordinating. Leadership is the art of influencing others to accomplish the objectives desired by the leader.

Leadership skills are essential for project managers because project managers must influence the behavior of others to accomplish project work. In fact, leadership is the predominant contributor to the success of the ad hoc project manager. In small projects, good leadership can succeed even in a climate of otherwise unskilled management.

In project management’s comparatively brief history, there has been a clear shift in the relative importance of different skills for project manager success. We see that when selecting project managers, the leadership component is of significant value and that its relative importance is on the rise.

A project manager has three major leadership roles: communicate, motivate, and solve problems.

Communicate

The project manager’s responsibility is to convey information and evoke responses that indicate understanding. Communication involves eight fundamental factors:

1.  Intent

2. Sender

3. Encoder

4. Message

5. Medium

6. Decoder

7. Receiver

8. Effect

The effect of the message depends upon three closely related elements:

1. The sender’s ability to incorporate within the message those stimuli that will evoke the desired effect.

2. The medium’s distortion of the message.

3. The receiver’s sensitivity.

For instance, if the sender desires to communicate to the receiver the message “Come here,” the sender has nearly infinite options—each of which will likely evoke a different effect. The sender encodes the message in a language either understood or not understood by the receiver, realizing that the not-understood language will not evoke the desired effect.

The sender selects a medium to which the receiver has access. The sender could prepare the message for transmission by sound using voice directly over short distances, by enhancement using a megaphone, or by conversion and transmission by telephone or voice mail. The sender could prepare the message for transmission by sight using semaphore, sign language, a sign, a note, e-mail, or text message. The sender could use touch by sending the message using Braille. However, none of these will achieve the desired result unless the receiver has access to and the ability to use the same medium.

The effect or result will vary according to the sender’s ability to compose, to encode, and to use the chosen medium. The effect also depends on the receiver’s ability to use the same medium, to decode, and to comprehend.

Synchronous communication involves transmitting and receiving information in real-time, such as face-to-face conversation, telephone, or instant messaging. Asynchronous communication involves some delay in the receiving of information by the receiver, such as with voice mail, e-mail, letter, or text message.

To communicate well is to write, speak, and listen well, along with the ability to read body language and other nonverbal cues. The use of tone, inflection, metaphors, and examples are also important in communicating effectively. One must be clear, concise, and complete to be understood. Leaders communicate person-to-person and with groups. Find ways to communicate that will appeal to the entire audience. That may mean drawing pictures, sending e-mail, talking over the telephone, or addressing an assembly. Using words and grammar incorrectly will lead to misunderstanding. The responsibility to overcome barriers to communication normally rests with the sender. However, in a leadership situation, the responsibility falls to the leader in all cases, whether one is sending or receiving.

Motivate

Motivation is the ability to stimulate another’s performance in an activity. Motivation requires that you know yourself and the people you are trying to motivate. Several tools exist that will provide insight into individual personality and preferences. Exploring these instruments may enhance your knowledge of yourself and others.

Your professional competence is a necessary precondition to your credibility. Your ability and willingness to set the example is a motivator. Avoiding situations because you do not know how to act or because you are fearful will not endear you as a leader. By the same token, you do not have to be able to do all the jobs of your followers. You must be able to do your own job.

Your actions must also be beyond reproach. If you make an error, you must admit it readily, explain the results, and overcome the consequences. However, there are instances when a single error can damage your credibility to a degree that it cannot be regained. Reproachable behavior is contextual—it varies between organizations and cultures. What is acceptable in one instance may well be damnable in another. In this era of globalization, there is increasing opportunity for cultural confrontation. Whether you have individuals from other cultures under your control or you are working in a culture foreign to your own, the opportunity for unintentional errors with unimaginable consequence is significant. Prepare yourself for diversity through knowledge and understanding.

Your presence is also needed as a leader. You must know what and why, who and how, and when and where. It makes you more able to respond to change, to learn from the past, to foresee potential risks, and to mitigate them. As a manager, be consistent and fair. Reward your subordinates publicly and correct them privately. Never pass a fault; never fail to praise. Your needs should be satisfied last as you strive to fulfill the needs of others. You need to give others the room to perform and to back them up when required.

Perhaps your greatest challenge as a project manager will be to motivate individuals in an organization. All of your understanding, credibility, good intentions, and effort may fail to motivate anyone when the organizational context creates irresolvable demotivators. A corporate climate of poor pay, lack of recognition, long hours, faulty tools, impractical bureaucracy, misguided prioritization, intolerance, or unreasonable expectations can quickly defeat your best efforts.

Solve Problems

Solving problems means overcoming the obstacles to success. It is the responsibility of the leader to solve the problems that cannot be solved by subordinates. It is also the responsibility of the leader to provide subordinates with the tools and techniques that will enable them to solve problems, thereby minimizing the number of problems that are elevated for resolution.

Problem solving is part mechanics and part creativity. Mechanically, the process is to:

• State the aim

• State the problem

• Analyze the problem

• Create viable options

• Apply evaluation criteria

• Choose the best course of action

• Secure necessary approvals

• Implement the solution

Creativity is essential to the production of viable options. It may be that you find a solution only when you create synergy by bringing together a number of individuals. The collective solution may be more viable, workable, practical, and successful than that derived from the analysis of any one of the same people working alone. Synergy occurs when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Directing Others

Leaders provide direction to others. It is inherent in the relationship and is a communicating and motivating activity. There are four simple, common-sense steps to giving direction to others: plan, prepare, deliver, and confirm.

To plan is to answer who, what, when, where, why, and how. To prepare is to put into place the conditions for success by arranging for the necessary resources, such as tools, equipment, facilities, funds, and people. To deliver is to express the desired action so it will be fully understood and work can begin without delay. To confirm is to ensure that there has been understanding. In the simplest, yet all-inclusive form, this could be the template:

“In order to achieve [why], I need [who] to [what] at [where] by [when]. I have arranged for [tools, equipment, facilities, funds, or people] to be made available to you. It is [imperative, likely, desirable] that the work be undertaken [how]. Is there anything I need to clarify? Do you have any questions? Get back to me by [date] should you have any questions.”

This could now be delivered in person or by electronic or written means. You should choose personal delivery if your presence will add to the delivery of the message or if questions are likely to arise immediately. Choose electronic or written means if your presence is not required to reinforce the delivery, if the receiver will need time to digest the contents, or when the consequences demand complex instructions. In some cases, you may choose to deliver the direction personally while providing a hard copy. In all cases, the planning and preparation processes are important.

Managing Others

Management is also a motivating activity. There are three simple common-sense steps to managing people: observe, react, and evaluate. To observe is to watch the work or the results of the work while it is in progress. To react is to intervene when issues, problems, or new requirements arise and you need to make changes in your direction or in the work. To evaluate is to judge the results and feed this judgment back to the individuals who have done the work in order to improve future work. You must actively manage to be aware of the need to correct either the direction given or the work undertaken.

Conducting Meetings

Because project managers are involved in lots of meetings, it is important to know how to conduct meetings efficiently. Meetings expend time and effort—yours and that of others. When you conduct a meeting, it’s your responsibility to ensure that the time and effort expended returns value. Meetings are a mechanism of leadership, but are dependent upon the functions of management. You must plan, organize, direct, staff, control, and coordinate in order to communicate, motivate, and solve problems. This is your orchestra and you are the conductor.

As a project manager, you will be required to conduct all types of meetings, including:

• Routine staff meetings

• Management briefings

• Interviews

• Critical design reviews and major milestone reviews

• Status reporting meetings

• Meetings with clients

• Meetings with independent oversight and regulatory bodies

• Meetings with vendors, suppliers, and other third parties

• Quality control of intermediate and final deliverables

• Crisis meetings

This section reviews key elements that can help you conduct successful meetings of all types. Specifically, the concepts, tools, and techniques in this section will help you conduct meetings by determining participants, setting agendas, directing discussion, and summarizing results.

Planning for Meetings

It is important to plan for a meeting by doing the following:

• Establishing an objective prior to the meeting.

• Writing an agenda for the meeting. State the established objective. Describe the topics in sufficient detail and include estimated times for topics to be covered. For example, “Decide to accept or reject the marketing proposal attached to this agenda.”

• Determining the start and end time for the meeting.

• Determining the necessary participants and inviting only those needed to achieve the objective.

• Assigning a scribe to take minutes of the meeting, especially the decisions and assignments.

• Assigning a moderator or facilitator, if needed, in addition to the person conducting the meeting.

• Distributing the agenda and supporting documents to participants prior to the meeting. Give them sufficient time to review the documents and come prepared for discussion and action.

Conducting Meetings

Your role in conducting a meeting includes the following:

• Starting the meeting on time, according to schedule. Do not delay the start for latecomers.

• Stating the objective of the meeting and briefly reviewing the agenda.

• Following the agenda items. Encourage discussion of the topic at hand and discourage discussion of items not on the agenda. If a new issue is raised, offer to hold a separate meeting to address it.

• Summarizing the points discussed in the meeting, decisions made, and assignments given.

Following Up After Meetings

After the meeting has concluded, be sure to do the following:

• Distribute minutes of the meeting and lists of assignments as soon after the meeting as possible.

• Periodically hold meeting reviews to evaluate the effectiveness of your meetings. For example, you could distribute a questionnaire to request feedback.

Improving Meeting Effectiveness

The following questions may help you improve the effectiveness of your meetings.

Before

• Is the meeting objective clear?

• Is this meeting necessary? Could the objective be achieved in some other way?

• Who must be in attendance to achieve the objective?

• Where will the meeting be held? Is this convenient for the attendees?

• When will the meeting be held? Is this convenient for the attendees?

• Who will take the minutes?

• What will the seating plan be? Is this ideal for the objective of the meeting?

• Will there be refreshments and what should they be?

• If audiovisual equipment is needed, has it been scheduled, and are you sure it will be set up on time?

• Can the agenda and supporting documents be distributed early enough to give participants sufficient time to review the documents and come prepared for discussion and action?

• Have there been pre-meeting discussions with selected participants to address the potentially contentious issues?

During:

• Is the meeting starting on time?

• Are the topics beginning and ending on time?

• When topics surface that are not on the agenda, are they being recorded for future action?

• At the end of the meeting, do you summarize the points discussed, decisions made, and assignments given?

After:

• Are minutes of the meeting and lists of assignments distributed soon after the meeting?

• How often do you request feedback from the participants on the effectiveness of your meetings?

Interviewing Others

An interview is a common tool for collecting information in project work. At the project’s outset, interviews clarify goals, objectives, and requirements. Early in the execution phase of the work, interviews may help document workflows, operations, problems, and opportunities. In the control stages of a project, interviews are used to determine status, variances from the plan, and opportunities for corrective action. In addition to their use as fact-finding tools, interviews can reveal other important elements in a project. Specifically, they may point to personality and political conflicts, they may illuminate hidden agendas, and they may uncover potential breakdowns or breakthroughs early enough to intervene in a helpful way.

Interviews, like all meetings, have a specific purpose. Interviews are used to draw out as much information as possible on a specific topic. Interviews may be easier with a project team member who is readily available and with whom you already have a relationship and know the individual’s personality and primary objectives. Interviews may be more difficult with a stakeholder you don’t know who is not readily available. You may only have one or two opportunities to interview such a person. In this case, it will be important to prepare in advance, carefully target your questions, be flexible, and allow proper time to handle surprises that may come up during the interview.

Interview Checklist

Advanced preparation is key to successful interviewing. A preparation checklist is provided below.

• Make a complete list of potential interviewees.

• Know their job levels in the organization and their job functions.

• Decide whether to interview individually or in a group.

• Write questions tailored to the issue. Include both closed-ended and open-ended questions.

• Pretest your questions with similar parties within your own organization.

• Prepare your list of questions with sufficient space to record the answers.

• Prepare a separate file folder for each interview (person or group).

• Prepare for the interviews.

• Determine in advance the most appropriate location for the interview.

Technical Questions

When you have to ask technical questions, be sure you ask them of the individuals who have the technical understanding and experience to properly answer them. Ask these questions early in the interview because they are easier to answer, will put the interviewee at ease, and you will be sure to get them answered before running out of time.

General and Organizational Questions

Use general and organizational questions to draw out cultural, communication, and organizational issues. Senior managers should receive a higher proportion of these questions. When interviewing senior managers, keep organizational questions specific and strategic. End users and technical staff can handle questions worded more generally in this area. These people will gladly tell you what’s going on.

Ask the general questions later in the interview, when the interviewee is more open. For most end users and technical staff, the problem won’t be getting them to open up; the problem may be in keeping them from running over their time.

Respect the time of the interviewee. Senior managers may only offer you fifteen minutes for an interview. Other project personnel may have more time available. Some may have a vested interest in “lobbying” you and may try to monopolize your time. You may want to prepare an exit strategy for each interview.

Becoming an Active Listener

Keep interviews as short as possible while still getting the information you need and giving the interviewee time to bring up all the issues. Technical staff and end users may view you as a potential rescuer and tell you all the things they believe management has done to them. Be wary of endless venting from interviewees. Listen to what is said as well as to what remains hidden. Ask open-ended questions in a variety of ways so you can confirm or validate responses. Periodically pause and use a technique called reflecting. For example, “Let me make sure I’ve understood your last point. You believe that departments X and Y have sharp conflicts regarding the location of the pilot plant. Is there anything we need to add to this so I’ve got a complete and balanced picture of this issue?”

During the Interview

Follow standard meeting etiquette during interviews. At the beginning, review the purpose of the interview from your point of view and ask the other person for his or her purpose. Also review the general procedure and time considerations. Ask easy, closed-ended questions first. Be flexible. Don’t hesitate to rephrase a question to get the information you need. Different words mean different things to different people. If you’re not sure about an answer, paraphrase what you think you heard and ask for feedback. When dealing with technical staff and end users, be ready for an onslaught of issues they may be harboring.

After the interview, thank the interviewee for her time and honesty. Ensure her that her opinions are important and will be taken under consideration. Provide her with a means to forward more information to you if she thinks of anything after the interview process.

Consolidating Information After Interviews

It may be tempting to ignore the post-interview processing. A common belief is that after listening to all of the interviewees, you know exactly what’s going on. Although this may be partially true, generating statistics and sample answers from the interviews will be highly revealing and also add credibility to the results. For technical questions, use a database or spreadsheet to consolidate answers. For open-ended questions, derive a consensus by reading responses and select one or two specific examples that demonstrate the consensus.

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To learn more about the concepts discussed on this page, see Improving Your Project Management Skills.

Recommended Books

Improving Your Project Management Skills.

American Management Association.

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