The Impact of Leadership Style and Experience in Project Management - Assignment Example

Questions

The Impact of leadership style and experience in the project management

Section 1: Background Information

1. In your own words, how much you define the project management?

Respondent 1

Well, two short definitions hold for project management, which mean the same thing from theoretical context, First definition, presents PM as an application of skills, knowledge, techniques as well as tools to project activities in order to meet project objectives. The second definition, explain PM as application of four functions of management i.e. planning, organising, coordinating and controlling to a project for desired goals. The first definition emphasises on the role of tools, skills and knowledge in meeting project needs, however, these skills and tools are applied to ensure successful results of every process in project activities. The second one emphasizes on management functions applied to project to ensure successful result of every activity. Therefore it can be seen that application of management tools and functions according to these definitions focus on how well the following project aspects i.e. project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control as well as project closing can be transformed into desired project objectives.

Respondent 2

It can be well to define PM from three major perspectives. First, PM refers to recognised and strategic organisation skills and competency of running a project to meet a given set of predetermined goals. For example, every project manager need to possess required skills and competencies in order to manage a project. This definition considers PM as skill, experience and competence that every project manager must incorporate in day to day project activities. Second definition, consider PM as a subject for education and training offered in many schools to equip students with necessary skills to run project to desired results. The third definition, describe PM as a career path concern with initiation, planning, implementation, evaluation, controlling and closing of project activities for specific goals. All these definitions focus on common theme, and link PM as a skill, training and education curriculum, and career path necessary to meet certain goals as well as some specific criteria.

Respondent 3

One definition can better reveal what PM is, and this considers PM as a methodological approach to necessary to plan and guide project processes from the start to the desired end result. This put it right that PM is an approach applied by project manager to run project activities to meet some goals. The guiding element in the definition presents that every project manager must guide all projects through five processes initiating, planning, executing, controlling as well as project closing. Again this definition, explains PM as method applied to almost any kind of project and is widely used to run complex processes within the projects. This also describes PM as one way to plan and organize project resources in order to move specific work, task or event towards completion. These project resources to be managed include both financial and human capital in one time project.

2. To what extent do you think the practice in the project management is important and why?

Respondent 1

Practice in PM is very much important to a larger extent that if not undertaken properly can lead to project failure. This is because these practice is important in managing project risks. As you know every good project is accompanied by plenty of risk that create chances of negative loss or event that leads in asset destruction. PM will helps in identification and evaluation of these risks thereby offering project managers opportunity to manage and control suck project risks. Every project happens in constantly changing environment, thus making it cumbersome and complex for project manager to manage risk. With adequate project management, changes can be managed into success. Quality is one of the important factor to consider in every project results since it remain one of the major project concern. Therefore, with project management practice, quality issues can be identified, managed as well as controlled in a project. These three reasons and many other make practice in PM import to a larger extend.

Respondent 2

Practice in PM to larger extent is significant for project success. This is because PM helps project manager maintain project on budget, it identifies expected cost or expense early on to come up with realistic budget. For example, application of resource conflict solution practice in PM, helps project managers in minimizing the results of funding a new project activity on operating capital by maximizing the allocation of employees. Therefore understanding effective PM practice offer opportunity to project managers to effectively manage integration, project chaos, keep quality at par, lower risks as well as minimise any project disruption. It is also important to note that projects encounter regular and complex issues that need to be managed to meet project objectives. Practice in PM therefore evaluates these issues to identify and clear this issues early on before they negatively affect achievements of project goals.

Respondent 3

Without effective PM and its practice, major as well as minor projects cannot move to meet their goals, since effective practice in PM often push a business project to fullest of its capability thus creating duties that surpasses bad expectation. This is so because poor PM stall project productivity and undermine creativity therefore killing the entire project. Again practice in PM is important to cultivate creativity in all project aspects that provide opportunity to improve quality of project results. For example, regular check as one of the great PM practice, help project managers monitor every step of work to embrace communication and quality important factors in designing project milestones. The practice help in establishing effective and clear timelines, facilitate information flow and communication, defining role to the project team as well as facilitate evaluation during and even at the end of the project. Therefore its rightful to conclude that practice in PM to greater extend is important as far as the success and realization of project goals are concerned.

3. In your own words, please identify the factors that you think are highly significant in determining the success of a project and the reasons you think each factor is important?

Respondent 1

Factor

Reason

Smart planning and clearly defined goals

Comprehensive project planning involving all project managers and stakeholder results in clearly defined goals that are responsible for a project success right from the start to end. Smart planning that set clear project goals often motivate project team toward success and provide direction for every project activities to which the project is designed to go. This help project focus on set goals thus preventing unnecessary deviations.

Competent team members and effective leadership style

The right project team in place have the potential to effectively implement a strategy and plan of the project thus preventing project activities from falling apart. Competent project staffs, manager and stakeholders will practice effective leadership styles that promotes commitment in every project activities, share vision and therefore strive for project success.

Clearly defined roles and responsibilities

Well established roles and responsibility offer opportunities to project team to undertake their respective roles and responsibilities within estimated time and budget. This will prevent unnecessary time wastage and hurriedly done duties that might negatively affect the success of the project since they facilitate easy implementation as well as providing direction.

Respondent 2

Factor

Reason

Constant, open and effective communication

Effective communication provide information needed to run the project successfully. Management of communication frequency and types for various channel is important in providing the stakeholders with progress status and can be used to make decision that are directed toward project success

Careful and well thought risk management strategy

This will help the team to develop confidence when managing risks facing the project therefore helping the project clients feel very much comfortable with the progress of the project. Incorporation of this strategy will help project managers resolve any developing risk factor quickly thereby creating many opportunities for long term project success.

Clearly defined

goals and directions

With clear goals project team is more likely to respect the planned project budget, timelines as well as performance criteria factors that are important for project success. This will also increase the level of project plan accuracy as well as the schedules. These goals will control and evaluation to become more easy, adequate and timely thereby insuring project success

Respondent 3

Factor

Reason

Having smart team and effective management support and leadership style

Smart project team will facilitate easy and efficient implementation of various project tasks responsible for success through effective leadership style. Full management support will add value to the project since they will offer financial as well moral opportunities for success. Full management support and leadership style enable project manager to develop confidence in undertaking major risky project since decision making processes shall involve greater stakeholder support.

Clearly defined project plan with assigned accountabilities and responsibilities.

A clear plan identifies tasks as well as all project deliverables and various risks associated with them. This plan also establishes ways of measuring project deliverables and task accomplishments. This often provide strategic direction that shall help project team meet project goals successfully due to ease created in project implementation. Effective plan identify responsibilities and accountability of team members in risk management as well as communication planning that are directed towards project success

A strong and effective project closure

This creates success because without it, the project will still hold the potential to continue with consuming resources. These resources will be even consumed on unnecessary activities that can result in project failure.

Section Two: Leadership

1. In your own words, is the leadership style in the project management important factor to success the project and why?

Respondent 1

As you already know leadership style encompasses actions leaders involve in leading and influencing workers working within a project or firm towards desired goals. And these style varies and play vital roles in ensuring success of the project since they establish and motivate project teams. These style to varying degree enable manager to inspire project members towards success. These leadership styles also motivate manager and project members to embrace team building in many activities of the project thus ensuring project success. Leadership as you know motivate and encourage members to undertake effective responsibilities within predetermined time schedule and on budget. This helps in avoiding of duplication of duties and wastage of resources since it promotes effective supervision. Effective leadership styles promotes and require excellent project management practices that often include effective resource management towards the achievement of the project mission and goals. From this, simple answer it can be clearly seen that leadership style is an important factor to success of the project.

Respondent 2

Well, leadership style is indeed one of the factors determining the success of every project. Leadership style practiced by a project manager creates effective teaching and learning environment in workplace that allow workers to work on their weaknesses as well as their strengths. These styles will promote better understanding of project processes and practices thus encouraging members to face any challenge that may come on the ways. Development and promotion of effective learning environment in project is responsible for project success. Leadership style is also important for project success since it helps in setting of high performance work standards. This will instil constant pressure on employees who will feel like providing meaningful and appropriate contribution through creative processes that shall determine project success. Appropriate leadership styles, motivate team members to work tirelessly in meeting project goals. It detriment effective reward system as well as promoting team work in all project activities. Teamwork and effective reward system develop project members to practice good practices for the better part of the project.

Respondent 3

Leadership style will remain success factor for every project. This is because leadership style will determine the degree of effectiveness in work assignment, supervision, reward and motivation systems, promotion of learning, control measures and span, flow of authority in place among many other management practices. These leadership style also determine the degree of flexibility to change within a project. Having poor leadership style therefore discourage members when performing their duties therefore leading to project failure. Having appropriate leadership style will positively influence the way workers think about the management of the project as well as the project itself. For instance, bad leadership style characterised by dictatorship and unclear role definition might show that management failure or that the project has failed thus lowering the morale as well the interest of project members thus leading to project failure.

2. Leaders have different styles of leadership that include transformational, transactional, and passive/avoidant leadership styles. In your opinion, which of these three styles do you think is important in achieving project success and what are the reasons for your choice?

Respondent 1

Transformational leadership style is important for project success. This is because it promotes individual development and growth since it helps in transforming member of a project into individuals who can think beyond their self-actualization as well as their personal interest for the sake of the project success. This leadership style make leaders to commit themselves to alignment of their principles and values with that of the project. This leadership style also increase performance since it develops leaders who can perform beyond their expectation as well as those of other people but only for the project. Project often operate in dynamic environment, application of this style therefore ensure and allows changes in every level of the project thus promoting project development. Finally, the style can be applied to management of various project in different setting due to its flexibility. For instance, this style can fit well in military projects, industrial projects as well as hospital and educational projects.

Respondent 2

Relatively transactional leadership is important for project success compared to transformational as well as passive leadership style. This is so since transactional leadership is considered as the simplest and cost effective leadership style since it relies on external punishment and reward systems for motivation. This makes the style easy to be applied by many employees as well as project managers without incurring cost in extensive training. It is clear and easy to follow since it leaves little room for ambiguity or project misinterpretation. This style also offer clear instructions on what a project leader should do, time to do it as well as how to do it compared to other leadership styles. The style is also a powerful motivational tool, since it inspires project employees with money and other tangible assets that are more reliable as well as proven as motivators.

Respondent 3

Right on time, well question, transformational leadership style is the best style to be and to practice. This is because, this style used follower self-actualization as rewarding tool that leads to a more powerful and successful result overtime. This leadership style is ideal and result in more lasting result. This is because, this style is positioned to manage any kind of change that might occur in the project journey and it incorporate elements of change in every project activity. Due to dynamic nature of the environment, this style offer the project leader opportunity to manage change for quality purposes. The style offer well establish platform for development and growth of project team as well as the entire projects. The structure of this style is clear compared to transactional and passive. It clearly reveal employee expectation as well as chain of command within the project. This enables project members to identify their roles, follow project objectives as well as order thus creating value for success of the project. The style is widely applicable and its reward system through individual growth improves performance and long lasting results at all project levels.

3. What are some of the challenges that you have faced in the management of your projects?

Respondent 1

Project management journey is a bothering process coupled with many challenges. One of the major challenges faced was resource deprivation. As you all know, in order for project to run efficiently and effectively, management need to provide sufficient project resources. Inadequate project materials as well as financial resources hinder implementation of various project activities as well as the achievement of the final objectives. Another major challenge faced was impossible deadlines where unreasonable deadline was set that were not feasible as well as too short to achieve with the current resources at that time. Among these challenges, other challenges were faced that were managed appropriately. These included wastage of time by project members, dependency conflict between major project interrelated areas, problematic execution of project activities that wasted a lot of resources, as well as overlapping and redundant project activities. Poor communication was also experienced among some project members who in one reason or the other involved in conflict of interest.

Respondent 2

The biggest challenged faced was inability to meet the project goals and objectives within the set cost, time and quality. This challenged was faced because misalignment occurred between the projects objectives that caused the project manager to change major scope areas. Another problem faced was inadequate project recourses caused by incompetence project staffs, low funding as well as inadequate support from top project management. People employed in the project were unskilled therefore could not deliver according to the project plan. Another challenge faced was bad leadership style. Level managers used passive style that discouraged work hence lowered productivity. Some challenges associated with lack responsibility and accountability were faced where some team member wasted a lot of resources finger pointing and blaming one another for no reasons. The project also had improper risk management strategy that prevented the project team from managing financial as well as marketing risks. Poor communication and limited stakeholder support and engagement were also experienced that negatively affected decision making as well as project support systems.

Respondent 3

Have encountered the following challenges in my role as a project manager; Undefined goals due to poor planning, scope changes due to environmental factors, inadequate project management skills among project team members due to poor selection criteria, poorly defined role and responsibilities, poor risk management measures, poor communication caused by conflict, short deadlines, inadequate project resources, poor top management engagement, dependency conflict poor leadership style among other. From this list, the major challenge that greatly impacted the achievement of project results was poor leadership style. Before considering, transformational leadership style, I was apply avoidant style, which reduced morale and productivity of project team due to lack of supervision, clear structure as well as lack of proper motivational structure. It was therefore identified that poor leadership style caused a major problem in coordination of duties as well as implementation of major project areas.

4. How to address the challenges that you have in the project as a leader?

Respondent 1

A number of ways exist to address major project challenges. One way is by adjusting the current project budget and plan especially when a project is faced by shrinking resources. Manager need to accommodate such changes by stretching fewer resources. Project manager need to consider project objectives, features as well as timelines with current executive management through buy in on various ways of adjusting plan. Mangers need to include processes and strategies of managing scope creep and changes within the initial project plan. This will provide opportunity to project manager to address necessary project changes in timelines. Project managers need to establish feasible timeline and they should involve all stakeholders in the process of establishing these project timelines. Another ways of solving project challenge is by designing realistic project goals, targets as well as strategy. Project manager need to consider technology while undertaking their major project decisions. Technology make work and create ease in solving potential problem thus involvement of technology shall solve scope problem, resource deprivation among others. Proper selection and recruitment of project team should be done. Manager should also practice effective leadership style that shall help in employee motivation as well as in team building. Clear responsibilities and roles of every team member should be appropriately defined to reduce conflict therefore enhancing communication.

Respondent 2

To manage project challenges, project managers need to involve all stakeholders in project planning process. It is important for managers to find appropriate and reliable project sponsors and supporters before initiating any project activity. Manager need to apply transactional and well as transformational leadership styles to offer opportunity for managing project changes such as changes in timeline, cost as well as scope. Project objectives should be clearly defined and all necessary resources need to be in place at the project starting point. Managers need to have competent team that shall accomplish their duties on time hence meeting project goals on time and budget. Managers should avoid setting impossible deadlines and they should engage project stakeholder in every decision they make. Managers should facilitate effective communication by providing direction at very project’s steps. Effective reward and motivation systems should be built in major project areas to stimulate team morale as well as productivity. Project manager need to developed effect risk management plan to help in eliminating chances of unforeseen events that can negatively affect the achievement of project objectives as well as project success.

Respondent 3

One main solution to project challenges is proper planning and goal definitions. The entire project planning process should result in appropriate, achievable and sustainable project activities, process and practices that shall hold throughout the project lifetime. In planning process, project managers need to take into consideration financial resource, human resources, future changes, and risk factors among other intervening factors in order to come up with a viable project management plan. The plan should clearly define leadership style, strategies for addressing changes in timeline and scope, clear roles and responsibilities, appropriate team selection strategy, budget adjustment procedure, among many other positive project factors. Monitoring and evaluation strategies need to be clear and should adequately reveal project milestones in real budget and time performance. Technology advancement has become one of the factors directly determining project activities. Project manager need to incorporate technology such as computer technology in every project phase as this will offer them chance to effectively handle changes in internal and external environments.

Section Three: Experience

1. How many projects approximately have you managed? Please mention some good examples to support your answer?

Respondent 1

Ever since have managed approximately five projects. Three 5-6 years projects and 2 short term projects. This can show that I have been in project management field for the past ten year. Examples of major project have managed include: Australian Food for the Needy and Vulnerable People Program (a five years project under the ministry of finance), Victoria Community Indicator Project (6 years project), City of Gosnells Sustainable Development Initiative ( two years), National Geochemical Survey of Australia Project ( five years) and Centre for Plant Genetics and Breeding Program ( three years).

Respondent 2

Four major projects, two minor ones as well as two major or national projects and these include; Australia Primary Education Development Project (major project - five years), Australia Informal Settlement Improvement Project (five years, major), Promotion of Biogas as Sustainable Clean Cooking Fuel for Rural Households in Australia (minor two years) and Water Supply and Sanitation Project (minor project, still in progress). In general, I have more than ten year experience in project management field and I still believe to be in the same field for the remaining part of my life.

Respondent 3

So far have been in the project management field for five years now, and approximately have managed successfully one project to completion. There are three national projects am currently managing, where one is half way done and the other one was recently started. The project include; Australia Sustainable Agricultural Project (Successfully completed), Improvement in Crop and Livestock Sustainability Program ( have way done), Indigenous Chicken Improvement and Productivity Project (Sub project of Improvement in Crop and Livestock Sustainability program) and Victoria centre for Endangered Species Program ( In progress).

2. Experience of the leader has always been described as critical in determining the success of a project. What do you think is the rationale behind this and what impact does experience have on the success of the project?

Respondent 1

The rationale for experience as a factor determining project success lie on the role of experience in familiarizing a project manager with necessary skills, field of knowledge acquired over a given period of time or actual practices that can be applied in future project management roles for project success. Project management experience is helpful since it equips project manager with transferable skills such as team building and communication that are responsible for project success. Experience builds confidence of the project manager therefore facilitating understanding of various facets of project work as well as helping manager in facing project risk, challenges as well as actions with full effort for success thereby improving performance. Experience enable manager to manage all project activities effectively and efficiently since the manager is in better position to solve problem as well as making better project success decisions that will eliminate challenges thus improving productivity and performance. It help in building project networks that are beneficial for project success

Respondent 2

Rationale behind experience is that it equips managers with necessary skills, knowledge, effort as well as full understanding of ways of solving project problems. Experience impact success of the project since it helps in effectively developing project managers towards success of every project they undertake. Experience help project managers develop problem solving skills to be applied in various setting thus helping the project to stay focus to any project problem. Experience motivate project manager to undertake various challenging project activities and decision that are helpful in realising project needs and results. It help employees develop confident in handling their roles and responsibilities toward project success.

Respondent 3

Experience is the best teacher as far as project’s activities is concerned. Without proper experience one cannot undertake a certain actions even with basic acquired academic knowledge. Experience helps in adding value to the skills and knowledge acquire through education thus adequately equipping project manager with necessary tools to run various project duties. Experience motivate project manager toward success, and it help in building work confident and also responsible for gaining transferable skills. Even without education, experience help mangers gain transferable skills such as teamwork, communication and problem solving skills that is required in every project duty. Experience built social capital and networks that can be valuable and beneficial to project since it will link project manager to other program and financial sponsors.

3. How experience play the essential role to success the project?

Respondent 1

Experience influence management and leadership styles to be applied in managing employees, project resources as well as challenges for success. It influences the way problem are being managed in every projects. Experience equips managers with necessary skills define clear, appropriate, achievable as well as effective project goals, timelines and budgets. Experience results in better and effective project planning responsible for providing the direction towards success. It saves training and employee development cost since employee are competent enough thus no need for training them. Experience grow and develop employees and manager who eventually will work hard to meet project goals successfully.

Respondent 2

Experience facilitates achievement of project goals and objectives within the shortest time possible. Experience develops confident among employees in handling and undertaking activities to increase project productivity as well as performance. Experience also link project to other project, through facilitation of social network building. This will facilitate acquisition of necessary resources as well as skills that are significant to the project success. It enables project save cost that could have been incurred by managers in training and development of employee

Respondent 3

Experience helps in building networks, saving project cost, save time and resources as well as reducing time assigned to every role and responsibility. Experience also helps in improving project performance as well as productivity among others benefits.