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Module 7

Jessica Baker

OGL 321: Project Leadership

Professor Pandya

February 28, 2022

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Module 7

“Project leadership, most simply, is the act of leading a team towards the successful

completion of a project. But of course, it is much more than that. It’s about getting something

done well through others. But project leadership requires skills in both managing people and

tasks. It is a soft skill; part art, part science,” (Project Manager, 2022). Project leadership is more

robust than any single task or trait.

Project Leadership Assumptions

Eight weeks ago, I ventured into the realm of project leadership. I thought I knew what

makes a great leader and the responsibilities that person must accomplish in order to complete

the task at hand. I have had several great examples of leadership through the years, and they

made it look much easier than it is. This led my assumptions to be vastly understated.

I started the course with an overview of one of my previous leaders, Joe and he still helps

me define a good leader mainly because he will always support his team. He will be the first one

cheering you on when something goes well, and he will the shield from above when something

goes awry. Of course, this is only a portion of what makes a good leader. In the video, How to

Be a Great Leader: Project Management, Jennifer Witt talks about the top ten traits of a great

leader, (2012). These work as a groundwork or a baseline to be a great leader. If I had to pick

just one of these, I don’t think I can. My top two are so intrinsically linked that I feel that you

can’t have one without the other. These traits are building cohesion or teamwork and motivating

people. A great leader can’t be a leader without a team to lead.

The other assumption that I had before this course was that project managers are innately

skilled at time management delegation. These are two traits that I struggle with. I tend to take on

too much and feel compelled to complete the work myself. As I read through the materials in this
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course and more specifically, blog posts, I learned that these are fields that a lot of people

struggle with. I think I realized this on some level but that didn’t change the fact that I assumed

people needed to be naturally good at both time management and delegation. I think this mainly

stems from my awareness that I have room to improve these skills. Throughout this session, I

have read several blogs related to time management. A lot of the suggestions seem pretty

obvious, but I did stumble across a blog that provides a list of small tasks that can build to make

a big difference. The suggestions that I feel I need to incorporate are “trust your processes [and]

take a break”, (Herrin, 15 Clever Ways to Save Time, 2022). I’ve mentioned a few times that

confidence is a area of opportunity and if I can remember to trust myself and my processes, I

think it could save me a lot of time and energy spent overthinking. Some of the added bonuses

are if the process is documented, then it becomes much easier to delegate the task which in turn

would allow me to take a break.

Breaks are vital for sanity much like sleep is required to for good health. But so often I

deprive myself of breaks because I don’t delegate task to others. One of my goals moving

forward is to remember to take my breaks, with the intention that “I’ll come back refreshed, with

more energy and a clearer head to face the rest of the day. [And to] delegate as much as you can

to as many people as you can. Say no a lot,” (Herrin, 15 Clever Ways to Save Time, 2022).

Saying “No” is something that I have been working on for several years and I have managed to

make some small progresses.

One final preconceived notion I had coming into the class is that I’m not sure that I have

what it takes to be an effective leader. This sounds a lot more pessimistic than it is. I know I have

a lot that I can provide to a team from several viewpoints. What I actually mean is that I don’t

know why someone would want to be a part of team where I am the leader or manager, and I
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don’t feel that I have the confidence to properly motivate a team to the desired results. I had a

shock this week when I had three separate people tell me they are excited to be a part of a project

that I am working on. And the best part is these three people are people who have been on the

project for years which mean they know the project and the required responsibilities, and they

believe that I have what it takes to excel at this project.

Project Leadership Applications

When I took the quiz titled How Good Are Your Project Management Skills? I was torn

between what I currently do and what I should be doing. This quiz is intended to help provide

insight in ways to better understand project management and how to guide someone to be a

better leader therefore it provides a point value to different skills as well as descriptions of what

each skill involves. I don’t recall having taken the quiz before preparing for this paper, so I don’t

have any comparison data. When I took it this week, I scored a 64. There were some answers

that I knew were not necessarily the correct answers based on what we learned in this course, but

they are how I approach the topic. This stems from a couple different reasons. The first is that I

am not a project manager in the traditional sense, at least not yet. The other main reason is that I

am still inexperienced in many of the skills related to project management especially

communication and team motivation. One of the key points that was noted with my responses

states, “Understanding client needs and meeting their expectations in a timely manner are

universal requirements. Use the information you gain here to improve specific project

management skills – as well as your general workplace skills, (Mind Tools, 2022). I think so

often people forget that project management is much bigger than traditional projects. Courses

can be considered projects. Purchasing and moving into a new home can be a project. Helping

children work through scouting ranks can be projects. This is merely the tip of the iceberg. Not
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only can a project be anything but the traits that make a good project leader can be applied to any

number of things, project or not. Conflict resolution can be applied to breaking up a fight

between siblings or even working with a cashier at the grocery store who scanned the potato

chips too many times. Risk management can be applied to day-to-day life. We lock our homes

and our cars when we leave to minimize the risk that our items will be stolen. These are some

very simple representations of how project management can be applied to day-to-day situations.

In my job, I am routinely responsible for training new people as well passing along

communication from the client to the team. This communication usually comes from word of

mouth but it can also come from training sessions or process updates. Something that is so

important about communication is that it comes in many ways and there will never be only one

way to communicate and more ways you are willing to learn to communicate the better

communicator you will be.

This leads me into a specific example of how I plan to use communication in my future

projects. I have a project that I manage each year and there are numerous stakeholders. This

project is the annual popcorn sale fundraiser that my sons’ Cub Scout pack participates in. This

is a project that I have considered a success each year I have managed it since we have been able

to meet and exceed our goals each year. The main components have always been communication

and participation. We manage communication by email, Facebook, in person (or Zoom

meetings) and with word of mouth. These methods seem a bit casual from a corporate

perspective but when we are dealing with around fifty families it’s a great method. Even if it’s a

great method, there is always room for improvement. This next season I plan build the

motivation by incorporating scout spotlights and challenges between the grade levels. And

maybe even a recurring newsletter to send to the families that will include updates on our
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popcorn sale with information like our regional and national rankings. I have a small team that is

just as passionate about this project as I am and this past year we were able to motivate our

scouts to be as passionate as we were. The scouts were able to sell over $108,000 and rank

number six nationally. I never in my wildest dreams expected this. This is a perfect example that

with the right project leadership skills anything is possible.

Personal Approach to Project Management

After several attempts with the Harvard Simulation, I have decided that my approach to

project management remains mostly consistent. My current approach is flexible to deal with the

situations as they arrive. Part of this is based on my personality. I am naturally very high strung,

and I want things to happen a certain way. This certain way very seldom happens the way I

expect so I have adopted a much more laissez-faire approach but not quite as I will interfere

when needed. I would like my approach to be firmer handed where I am confident in giving

direction and delegating tasks to team members. It’s said that awareness is the first step and I’m

hopeful that with that awareness I will be able to develop confidence and learn to embrace it.

I have a tendency to not want to upset people which is why I have a hard time with

delegation. The approach of avoiding confrontation often gets me in trouble because I will take

on the task and the twelve other tasks I didn’t delegate to others. What I need to remember is that

if I am managing a project, my priority is to manage the project not to work the project.

Elizabeth Harrin said it in a great way. “It’s your job to do the hard stuff and to bring others

along, improving their skills,” (Harrin, How to Delegate Tasks, 2022).

Situational leadership is said to be the next big thing in project management. This is

because one approach might work best to motivate someone while another approach might work

best to teach a team member and yet a third approach might be to step back and let a team
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member direct himself. The best part is one leader can embody each of these approaches. The

trick is knowing when to use each approach. The Siuational Leadership II Model shows four

different styles, directing, coaching, supporting and delgating, (Northouse, 2013, p. 100).

However, the styles listed in sitautional project management leadership are slightly different. The

blog, 5 Project Management Leadership Styles (and When to Change Yours), lists five styles,

collaborator, commander, coach, catalyst and consultant (O’Laughlin, 2019). I think people often

forget that much like communication, there is more than one right way to lead.

I feel that the concept that there are different leadership types is coming to center stage

lately. A few years ago, I joined a book club where we read 5 Voices. This book focuses on the

natural voice of the reader and how to develop the voices that don’t come naturally as well as

how to interact with voices that are different from your own. My natural voice is the nurturer,

“the champion s of relational harmony and oil the gears of relationships in groups. Naturally

wired to put others’ needs ahead of their own,” (Kubicek & Cockram, 2016, p. 45). I realize this

was not one of our required readings but I highly recommend it should you have the chance. I

was able to better develop relationships with my teammates based on their natural voices and

learn better ways to communicate with them. Oddly enough the person who set up the bookclub

left and it fell to me to finish. While the scope, timeline and nonexistent budget were already set

and there was no room for error, I was able to manage the remainder of the book club as one of

my earliest attempts at project leadership in my current role.

Simulation Examples

As I ran through the scenarios, I was surprised each week with the new challenges that

arose and how I was able to manage or not manage them. The challenge that I enjoyed the most

was in scenario C when the timeline was shortened to beat the competition to market. Based on
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how I managed my scenarios this one seemed like the slam dunk. Scenario F threw numerous

challenges at us and that was the scenario that I think taught me the most. In this scenario, I was

able to work out a satisfactory number of meetings and the balance between status meetings and

one-on-ones. This was also the scenario where my budget came in closest to meeting

management targets. In this scenario, there was a car accident, there was an addition to the

project and there was material shortages that changed the timeline. I feel that this scenario was

most like what would be encountered in a real project. One thing that I would like to have access

to within the simulations is team building. What I mean by this is the ability to build a team that

has different skill levels. For example, a team of four members would have one team member

with a high skill level, one with a medium skill level and two with a basic skill level. I feel that a

team with varied skill levels would provide a better representation of a team.

Simulation Advice

Having worked through six scenarios in the Harvard Simulation, there were several

situations where things felt that they went sideways within the project. Some of these fall into the

realm of expected risks, such as material shortages. and others are less expected, such as car

accidents. I have a few tips and tricks that I wish I would have known before taking on the

Harvard Simulations.

 Don’t be afraid to retry something that you ruled out in an earlier simulation.

After a few simulations, I decided that outsourcing wasn’t working for me as it

took too much time communicating to the team to meet the project scope. As I

reached the last simulation, I realized that with the right combination of skill

level, prototypes, and meetings, outsourcing is no longer a hinderance.

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 Be sure to plan for an initial run through to determine what risks will show up in

this scenario. Each scenario is different, and the more they seem the same early on

the more risks will show up to differentiate the scenarios. Since each scenario will

be different be sure to keep an open mind as you change your settings to complete

your project within scope.

 Communication is key. Be sure to include enough meetings that your team feels

like they know what is expected of them and that they know what is going on with

the rest of the team. The magic level of communication changes based on where

you are in the project, and it makes a huge difference based on the level of

outsourcing.

 Prototypes might feel like they don’t make much of a difference, especially in the

early scenarios but they make a huge difference in morale and risk avoidance.

Maybe risk avoidance isn’t the right term, more like risk awareness.

 Pay attention to you task completion levels. Early in the project you can gage how

your team is performing based on the task completion. When your project comes

to a close, pay extra attention to how many tasks are left because you may be able

to conserve a portion of your budget.

 The team structure needs to stay mostly consistent. The more you change the skill

level and the number of team members, the more communication will be needed

to ensure the team members are aware of the expectations of the project.

 Always try to complete a project above the minimum management targets. If you

have the opportunity to complete your project early or to provide a higher-level

product, go for it. The simulation will provide extra points, but this also provides
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a better project for the management team. There is still a balance to ensure you

can meet the budget requirements and that you don’t overshoot what management

needs out of the project.

Conclusion

While the Harvard Simulation may have some limitations compared to a real-life project,

it provides plenty of opportunity to deal with risks that hopefully never come up in your real

projects.
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References

Harrin, E. (2022, January 23). 15 Clever Ways to Save Time at Work. Retrieved from Rebel's

Guide to Project Management: https://rebelsguidetopm.com/15-clever-ways-to-save-

time-at-work/

Harrin, E. (2022, January 22). How to Delegate Tasks. Retrieved from Rebel's Guide to Project

Management: https://rebelsguidetopm.com/how-to-delegate-tasks/

How Good Are Your Project Management Skills? (2022, February 27). Retrieved from Mind

Tools: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_60.htm

Kubicek, Jeremie & Cockram, Steve. (2016). 5 Voices. Hoboken: Wiley.

Northouse, Peter. (2013). Leadership; Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publishing.

O'Loughlin, E. (2019, December 13). 5 Project Management Leadership Styles (and When to

Change Yours). Retrieved from Capterra: https://blog.capterra.com/project-management-

leadership-styles/

Project Manager (2022, February 28) The Ultimate Guide to…Leadership in Project

Management. Retrieved from ProjectMananger.com:

https://www.projectmanager.com/leadership-in-project-management

Witt, Jennifer. “How to Be a Great Leader: Project Management.” YouTube, uploaded by

ProjectManager, 3 February 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8BvZ3gzsb8.