• Persistent drive to provide clarity (hence the reasoning behind the name of my consultancy “Clarety” a play on the word “Clarity”)
• Behaving with integrity
• Personal energy and an ability to harness the energy of others
What do these values /behaviours actually mean:-
• Dedicated and relentless business focus. This is the total focus on a project or programme’s business case. This (agreed) document should identify key system features required to achieve specific business objectives /goals along with detailed costings & business benefits of the work undertaken.
A good project manager must make sure that this information is clearly interpretated and communicated down the project /programme organisational structure to minimise the gap between what your project team believes needs to be delivered and the expectations of the business people. This focus on business need and return on capital employed is essential to control change and limit the potential for scope creep.
• Persistent drive to provide clarity. This is often the most misunderstood of the values /behaviours.
It is vital to provide continuous transparency on the essential aspects of a project /programme of work from week to week, in a similar way that a car dashboard provides essential-fit-for-purpose information necessary for your safety and the car’s health. Without this steering or managing a project for success becomes impossible!!
• Integrity. This can be another troublesome area with clients. Organisations where IT projects /programmes fail regularly the incumbent IT management often survive through the use of well practiced Spin Management Techniques. Project Managers with Integrity can be regarded by clients as a spanner in the works of an effective spin machine, which has seen many bonuses paid and preserved many “jobs-for-the-boys”. The fact that a healthy injection of management integrity would help make IT Project Failures less frequent, and therefore reduce the need for a spin machine is often lost on such people.
General information
Projects rely on teams working well, and good teams are built on trust. Also, stakeholders need to be able to trust the project team because, while projects are transient, the customer has to live with the outcomes for many years – long after the project team has gone.
Without integrity trust disappears, teams don’t function effectively, and time is wasted because opinions are not respected. More time is spent protecting positions than in delivering the project. All the Project Managers gravitas and respect is lost, very often for good unless that manager moves to another organisation.
• Energy and an ability to harness energy in others. It is often stated that enthusiasm is a force multiplier where projects are concerned.
In other words the inner energy necessary to push the project forward is just not there. People, in my view, cannot be given this gift. They either have it, or not, and I never waste time mentoring such people. You either have the capacity to work 65 hour weeks, work late at night and run presentations at the weekend together with family commitments or not.
I believe energy is perhaps the greatest differentiation between good and bad project managers. Good Project Managers don’t leave on time, sit back, and monitor history: they actively go out and manage the future.
All good leaders exude and create energy and enthusiasm toward achieving their objectives – and project managers need to be good leaders.
They have to be able to drive the project forward, finding creative solutions and working in partnership to release the power of the individual and the team. They have to be able to motivate people and recognize the importance of acknowledging and rewarding achievement. Determination and persistence makes things happen.
it is about the focused application of influence and determination to find the means to deliver – not finding out why things can’t be done.
Formal Document - ( further information ).
Inspires a Shared Vision
An effective project leader is often described as having a vision of where to go and the ability to articulate it. Visionaries thrive on change and being able to draw new boundaries. It was once said that a leader is someone who "lifts us up, gives us a reason for being and gives the vision and spirit to change." Visionary leaders enable people to feel they have a real stake in the project. They empower people to experience the vision on their own. This is important as it affects other team members around you if there is a confusion and struggle of where to go next during the project , in addition the factor of having a shared vision is mentally important if colleges know that , their leader knows where to guide them , then they will feel comfortable in themselves and it will create a better atmosphere.
Good Communicator
The ability to communicate with people at all levels is almost always named as the second most important skill by project managers and team members. Project leadership calls for clear communication about goals, responsibility, performance, expectations and feedback.
There is a great deal of value placed on openness and directness. The project leader is also the team's link to the larger organisation. The leader must have the ability to effectively negotiate and use persuasion when necessary to ensure the success of the team and project. Through effective communication, project leaders support individual and team achievements by creating explicit guidelines for accomplishing results and for the career advancement of team members. This is important due to the constant job of communicating with fellow team members to discuss what is going to happen next in the project and whether the decisions made are the right ones. It is also important to be a good communicator because of the clients and stakeholders that the project manager will have to talk to regarding the task set and whether or not there is something that needs to be changed suddenly.
Integrity
One of the most important things a project leader must remember is that his or her actions, and not words, set the mode for the team. Good leadership demands commitment to, and demonstration of, ethical practices. Creating standards for ethical behaviour for oneself and living by these standards, as well as rewarding those who exemplify these practices, are responsibilities of project leaders. Leadership motivated by self-interest does not serve the well being of the team. This is important because Leadership based on integrity represents nothing less than a set of values others share, behaviour consistent with values and dedication to honesty with self and team members. In other words the leader "walks the talk" and in the process earns trust.
Enthusiasm
Plain and simple, we don't like leaders who are negative - they bring us down. We want leaders with enthusiasm, with a bounce in their step, with a can-do attitude. We want to believe that we are part of an invigorating journey - we want to feel alive. We tend to follow people with a can-do attitude, not those who give us 200 reasons why something can't be done. Enthusiastic leaders are committed to their goals and express this commitment through optimism. Leadership emerges as someone expresses such confident commitment to a project that others want to share his or her optimistic expectations. Enthusiasm is contagious and effective leaders know it.
You have to be enthusiastic towards the job otherwise the work isn't going to get done, by being the leader it will set the tone that nobody else in your team will be motivated enough to go through with it , so having enthusiasm is key to set the right mood and the right working environment.
Empathy
What is the difference between empathy and sympathy? Although the words are similar, they are, in fact, mutually exclusive. in sympathy the subject is principally absorbed in his or her own feelings as they are projected into the object and has little concern for the reality and validity of the object's special experience. Empathy, on the other hand, presupposes the existence of the object as a separate individual, entitled to his or her own feelings, ideas and emotional history. As one student so eloquently put it, "It's nice when a project leader acknowledges that we all have a life outside of work." Having empathy is important because of the team members need , remembering not too push them too far and to take over their personal life with work and additional task that take a wide range of time, as the Project manager you'll have to understand that it isnt in the teams best nature to have them going into overdrive with a project.
Competence
Simply put, to enlist in another's cause, we must believe that that person knows what he or she is doing. Leadership competence does not however necessarily refer to the project leader's technical abilities in the core technology of the business. As project management continues to be recognised as a field in and of itself, project leaders will be chosen based on their ability to successfully lead others rather than on technical expertise, as in the past. Having a winning track record is the surest way to be considered competent. Expertise in leadership skills is another dimension in competence. The ability to challenge, inspire, enable, model and encourage must be demonstrated if leaders are to be seen as capable and competent. This links back to inspiring a shared vision those reasons are why this is important too.
Ability to Delegate Tasks
Trust is an essential element in the relationship of a project leader and his or her team. You demonstrate your trust in others through your actions - how much you check and control their work, how much you delegate and how much you allow people to participate. Individuals who are unable to trust other people often fail as leaders and forever remain little more that micro-managers, or end up doing all of the work themselves. As one project management student put it, "A good leader is a little lazy." This is important because it shows the colleges around you that you are interested in their work and how well they're doing it , encouraging them to work even harder for praise and a possible raise.
Cool Under Pressure
In a perfect world, projects would be delivered on time, under budget and with no major problems or obstacles to overcome. But we don't live in a perfect world - projects have problems. A leader with a hardy attitude will take these problems in stride. When leaders encounter a stressful event, they consider it interesting, they feel they can influence the outcome and they see it as an opportunity. "Out of the uncertainty and chaos of change, leaders rise up and articulate a new image of the future that pulls the project together." By doing this it shows that you can handle difficult situations and that makes the other team members feel as though they have the same attributes- this is important.
Team-Building Skills
A team builder can best be defined as a strong person who provides the substance that holds the team together in common purpose toward the right objective. In order for a team to progress from a group of strangers to a single cohesive unit, the leader must understand the process and dynamics required for this transformation. He or she must also know the appropriate leadership style to use during each stage of team development. The leader must also have an understanding of the different team players styles and how to capitalise on each at the proper time, for the problem at hand. This is important because the team can become closer and more able to work with each other to complete tasks if not then arguments may occur for petty reasons and ruin what could be successful.
Problem Solving Skills
Although an effective leader is said to share problem-solving responsibilities with the team, we expect our project leaders to have excellent problem-solving skills themselves. They have a "fresh, creative response to here-and-now opportunities," and not much concern with how others have performed them. This links back to cool under pressure - those reasons are why this is important too.
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