Project Management Across Boundaries: Leading A Project Team Bill Wright

Project Management across
boundaries
Leading a project team
Bill Wright
Leadership
“There is nothing more difficult to
take in hand, more perilous to
conduct, or more uncertain in its
success, than to take the lead in
the introduction of a new order of
things.”
© Bill Wright 2010. All Rights Reserved.
Machiavelli 2
Distinctions between Leadership
and Management
“Leadership is the lifting of a person’s vision to higher sights,

the raising of performance to a higher standard, the
building of personality beyond its normal limitations.”
“Nothing better prepares the ground for such leadership than

a spirit of management that confirms in the day-to-day
practices of the organisation strict principles of conduct and
responsibility, high standards of performance and respect
for the individual and his work.”
Drucker; The Practice of Management
3
An important distinction:
 Management involves the  Leadership involves
clarification of objectives, motivating, involving
planning, organising, and communicating with
other people in order for
directing and controlling
them to achieve specific
other people’s work. The goals. The emphasis is
emphasis is upon ensuring upon marshalling
the completion of a given set resources to achieve a
of activities or tasks by stated goal or ambition
employing, controlling and by leading, directing
monitoring the appropriate and/or motivating
resources in an effective and people to follow a
efficient manner. specific path of action.
Successful project managers will develop a balance of

knowledge and experience in both aspects
4
Factors Affecting the Project Manager’s
Role and Style
 Nature/size of the project

 Organisational structure
 Organisational culture
 Technical complexity of the project
 Iron triangle priorities
 Behaviour of the individual team members
5
Leadership and management theorists
FIVE KEY THEORIES TO CONSIDER
–
MacGregor Thoery X and Theory Y
–
Elton Mayo – the human relations approach
and implications of the Hawthorne experiments
–
Fiedler – the contingency approach
–
Blake and Mouton – the two dimensions
–
Tannenbaum and Schmidt – continuum
6
Theory X: Douglas McGregor
 Theory X - Classical Theory
 Based on three assumptions
o The average human being has an inherent dislike of

work and will avoid it.
o Most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, and
threatened with punishment
o The average human being prefers to be directed,
wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little
ambition, wants security.
7
Theory Y: Douglas McGregor
 Assumptions
o Physical and mental effort in work is similar to play / rest.
o External control and the threat of punishment are not the
only leadership strategies
o Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards
associated with their achievement
o The average human being learns, under proper
conditions, not only to accept but to seek responsibility
o The capacity to exercise a high degree of imagination,
ingenuity, and creativity in the solution of organizational
problems is widely distributed in the population
o Intellectual potentialities of the average human being are
underutilized
 A more positive perspective of human nature
8
Mayo: Principles of Human Relations Theory
 Human relations theory is characterized by a shift in

emphasis from TASK to WORKER
 Go beyond physical contributions to include creative,
cognitive, and emotional aspects of workers
 Based on a more dyadic (two-way) conceptualization of
communication.
 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS are at the heart of organizational
behavior--effectiveness is contingent on the social well-
being of workers
 Workers communicate opinions, complaints, suggestions,
and feelings to increase satisfaction and production
 Origins (Hawthorne Studies & work of Chester Barnard)
 Human Relations School of Management - Elton Mayo
(Harvard
9
Fiedler’s Contingency Model
 This model postulates that the effectiveness of
leadership style depends on the situation
 Situational favorableness, according to Fiedler, depends on
three factors: Leader-member relations, task structure and
position power.
 According to Fiedler, leader-member relations can be good or
poor. They are good if the leader is respected and accepted by
his group. They are poor if his group distrusts and rejects him.
 Similarly, the task can be highly structured or unstructured.
The task is highly structured if it is clearly outlined and highly
unstructured, if it is vague.
 Last, the leader’s position power may be high or low.
 The leader’s position power is high if he has the power to hire
and fire, promote and transfer, increase or decrease salaries.
It is low, if he has no such power.
10
Blake and Mouton’s Grid
 This approach stresses interrelationship between

production (task) and people
 Management’s main purpose is to promote a culture in
the organization that allows for high production at the
same time that employees are fostered in their
professional and personal development
 Concern for PEOPLE
 Degree of personal commitment to one’s job
 Trust-based accountability (vs. obedience-based
accountability)
 Self-esteem for the individual
 Interpersonal relationships with co-workers
 Concern for PRODUCTION
 Use of people and technology to accomplish
organizational tasks
 Concern for is not about quantity or quality
11
Blake and
Mouton’s
Grid
12
Blake and Mouton’s Grid
•Authority Compliance (9,1)
•Classical theory
•Country Club (1,9)
•Informal grapevine
•Impoverished (1,1)
•Laissez-faire
•Middle-of-the-Road (5,5)
•Compromise (carrot & stick)
•Team (9,9)
•Human Resources Approach
•Promote the conditions that integrate creativity, high
productivity, and high morale through concerted team
action
13
Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum
Boss-centred Follower-centred
use of authority by
leader
decision making &

action freedom for
followers
Tells Sells Suggests Consults Joins Delegates Abdicates
Continuum based on situational factors:

value system, wants, confidence, willingness.
14
Leadership theories - summary
–
No one theory is dominant for effective project
management
–
Always consider the situation, which can vary
from project to project e.g. Construction
culture is very different to IT
–
Consider the urgency of the project
–
Be prepared to consider different approaches
in a search for the best leadership style
QUESTIONS?
15

Project Management Across Boundaries: Leading A Project Team Bill Wright

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Project Management Across Boundaries: Leading A Project Team Bill Wright

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Project Management across

Leading a project team

“Leadership is the lifting of a person’s vision to higher sights,

“Nothing better prepares the ground for such leadership than

Drucker; The Practice of Management

Successful project managers will develop a balance of

 Nature/size of the project

FIVE KEY THEORIES TO CONSIDER

 Theory X - Classical Theory

 Based on three assumptions

o The average human being has an inherent dislike of

 Human relations theory is characterized by a shift in

 This approach stresses interrelationship between

decision making &

Continuum based on situational factors:

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