fjamesfranco

fjamesfranco

QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE PROJECT LEADER
A list of desirable qualities includes:
? flexibility and adaptability;
? ability to demonstrate significant initiative;
? assertiveness, confidence and verbal fluency;
? ambition, drive and commitment;
? effective communication and good listening skills;
? enthusiasm, imagination and creativity;
? being well organized and self-disciplined;
? being a generalist rather than a specialist ? having technical awareness;
? being able to identify and facilitate problem solving;
? being able to make and take decisions promptly;
? ability to promote a motivating climate;
? ability to keep everyone focused on the project objectives;
? having been trained in project management tools and techniques;
? being experienced in project management processes and procedures;
? being respected by peers and management;
? being concerned to achieve success.

6 KEY ACTIONS FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Throughout the programme or project:
? Build trust and inspire good team working:
o Focus on behaviour and problems, not the person.
o Maintain the self-esteem of others.
o Keep relationships constructive.
o Keep the team well informed at all times.
o Encourage ideas and suggestions.
o Involve them in decisions.
o Clearly define roles and responsibilities for all project tasks.

? Create a team identity:
o Clarify purpose and objectives.
o Confirm understanding and acceptance.
o Set clear personal targets.
o Recognize and praise effort.
o Celebrate team achievements.
? Encourage personal development:
o Assess individual abilities and experience.
o Assess training needs.
o Coach individuals to enhance skills.
o Appraise individual performance.

? Seek continuous improvement:
o Evaluate team processes and practices.
o Evaluate team performance.
o Encourage creativity and innovation.
o Devalue tradition and find better methods.
o Reward success.
? Resolve conflict and grievances promptly:
o Treat team members with respect.
o Encourage active participation.
o Listen to the team?s views.
o Support problem solving constructively.

? Champion and support the team:
o Help the team to reach consensus.
o Support team decisions.
o Look after the team?s interests.
o Give guidance and assistance on request.

MANAGING PERFORMANCE
As the programme or project manager you must demonstrate throughout that you are concerned about the performance of everyone involved with the work.
You are responsible for delivering the results expected by the key stakeholders and evaluating your performance regularly will help you improve the way you do the job. Programme and project work requires effective teamwork. If the team is not well co-ordinated the work suffers and you then jump from crisis to crisis. This is made more difficult because the team members often come from different departments or even other sites. You must make an effort to understand your team members and their working environment, what they hope to gain from the work and their personal objectives. The stakeholders should provide the drive, direction and climate for success. Ignore them and you court potential disaster!

Evaluate your own performance continuously. Pay particular attention to:
? helping and supporting your team members;
? coaching individual team members when opportunities arise;
? responding promptly to personal issues raised with you;
? demonstrating your continued enthusiasm;
? reviewing your decisions and being prepared to admit to mistakes if they happen;
? examining your management of time;
? evaluating your attention to detail in administering the work;
? seeking external help when appropriate;
? avoiding making promises you cannot or do not intend to fullfil.
Work closely with your team to:
? understand their personal objectives;
? keep all the team involved and well informed;
? establish clear responsibilities for the work;
? act promptly when conflict appears;
? encourage good communication within the team and with team members? line managers;
? recognize team effort and high performance;
? look after the team?s interests at all times in the interests of success.
You must avoid continual fire-fighting, so ensure you:
? keep key stakeholders regularly informed of progress;
? get them committed to their promises of support;
? involve them in important decisions when replanning or when solving problems;
? monitor team members responsible for other stakeholders;
? encourage the team to maintain good communications with stakeholders.

SELECTING TEAM MEMBERS
The criteria for selecting team members depend on the type of project. Ask:
? What is their relevant technical experience?
? Have they specialized knowledge essential to the project?
? Have they experience of similar projects?
? Have they worked in project teams before?
? Do they have relevant technical knowledge?
? What is their departmental authority?
? Have they other project commitments now?
? When do these commitments end?
? What is their capacity for project work (as a percentage of the working week)?
? What is their current non-project workload?
? Can this loading be reduced?
? What is their forecast future non-project workload?
? Can they be assigned for the whole project duration?
? Do they get on easily with other people?
? Do they like working alone?
? How do they feel about taking on a leadership role sometimes?
? Are they interested in joining your team?
? What do they expect to gain from joining your team?
? Do they have a track record of commitment to high performance?
? Are they well organized and good time managers?
? Do they take their current responsibilities seriously?
? Are they perceived as good team players?
? Is their line manager in agreement with the possible assignment?

BUILDING YOUR TEAM
Clearly, you face many potential difficulties in getting a project team working well. Do not despair. Many are normal in team development and often predictable. Team size can add to complexity if the team is large (more than five or six members). Pay particular attention to avoiding:
? confusion over any aspect of the project;
? unclear responsibilities;
? unclear lines of authority;
? uneven workload distribution;
? unclear task assignments;
? unclear overall objectives;
? failure to identify stakeholders;
? communication breakdowns;
? mistrust between team members;
? personal objectives unrelated to project work;
? lack of commitment to project plan;
? lack of real team spirit;
? lack of concern about quality;
? a climate of suspicion;
? lack of direction;
? conflict and personality clashes;
? rigid attitudes.