AeU Malaysias

Executive MSc in
Project Management
Offered by
Global Institute of Project Management Project
Management Campus

Individual Assignment - Project Management

Theory and Practice
MSC/2015/183 M.W.N.S.Lansakara

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My sincere gratitude goes to Mr P.G Pasan Manukith, Project Management Theory and
Practice Module Coordinator/Lecturer who spent his valuable time and effort over four weeks
of time to give us a vast knowledge about project management theories and practices using
very attractive lecture series and very interactive discussion sessions. My gratitude also goes
to all the colleges in Global institute of project management for their endless support
throughout the group discussion sessions. . At last but not least I would like to express my
sincere gratitude to Dr. Madhu Fernando and staff of the Global Institute of Project
Management for their guidance and the support given to me throughout the module.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this assignment is to discuss the important of the project leadership skill for
project managers. Initially the document will discuss the skills related to project management.
Then the document will discuss how the leadership skill is important as a project managers;
which describes on the behavioral, situational and trait based approach to leadership. Later
part document will discuss how to improve leadership as a project manager point of view.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.........................................................................................................2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................2
1.0 ASSIGNMENT....................................................................................................................4
2.0 ANSWER.............................................................................................................................5
2.1 Description of that skill (Leadership)..............................................................................6
2.2 Analyze how that skill (Leadership) is important to the Project Manager......................7
2.2.1 Behavioral Approach to Leadership........................................................................8
2.2.2 Situational Approaches to Leadership.....................................................................8
2.2.3 Trait and other Approach to Leadership..................................................................9
2.3 Describe how to improve the skill.................................................................................10
3.0 REFERENCE.....................................................................................................................12

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Skills needed to be a Successful Project Manager (Tayler, 2006)..............................5
Figure 2: Relationships for Leadership Theory (Richman, 2006).............................................7
Figure 3: Project Management Skills for Successful Project Managers (Richman, 2006)........7
Figure 4: Situational Leadership Model.....................................................................................9

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1.0 ASSIGNMENT
Select one of the important skills of the Project Manager and
1.

Give a description of that skill (30 marks)

2.

Analyze how that skill is important to the Project Manager (40 marks)

3.

Describe how to improve the skill (30 marks)

Instructions

1. Your answers should not exceed ten A4 papers

2. Font should be Times New Roman and font size should be 12
3. Line space 1.5
4. Assignment should be submitted within four weeks
5. Mention your registration number and the name on the cover page
Note
Following pages to be included
Cover Page, Table of content, Assignment, Answer and Reference Page

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2.0 ANSWER
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project
activities to meet the project requirements. The professional who engage in project
management is the Project Manager. Project manager(PM) is a change agent, who becomes
the link between the strategy and the team that are made up of complex individuals in many
different roles to achieving project goals/objectives within the given deadlines. Earlier most
of the people believe that as long as a person has strong technical skills and worked on
several project teams, he could be given the role of PM.
Today, majority of the projects are managed by the structure of matrix organizations, in
which PMs do not have complete authority over team members. Therefore to be a successful
PM he/she should be a good leader, and know how to read body languages, having good
leadership skills, communication skills, negotiate skills etc. Figure 1 shows six categories
which are considered to be the most important skills for project managers (Tayler, 2006).

Figure 1: Skills needed to be a Successful Project Manager (Tayler, 2006)

According to the Figure 1, one of the most important skill need for PM is leadership. But not
every PM is a good leader, nor is every leader a good PM. Thus there is an overlap of project
management and leadership. However, most of the successful PMs exhibit a high degree of
leadership capabilities in their carrier.

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2.1 Description of that skill (Leadership)

Leadership is one of the essential and important skill for good project managers. Leadership
involves focusing the effort of a group of people towards a common goal and enabling them
to work as a team. In generally leadership can be seen as the ability to influencing others to
achieve the desired results. Respect and trust are some of the key factors in effective
leadership. Leaders guide behaviors by setting the vision, direction and the key processes;
hence leadership has a large influence on the whole project process.
It can be seen that the majority of the PMs execute their responsibilities without being great
leaders. Most of the managers focus on their superficial activities based on in terms of shortterm profits while few have emerged as good leaders and accomplished their long-term goals.
Leadership skills and leadership theories helps to become good PMs with high degree of
leadership capabilities. Kevin (2007), identifies the lists of characteristics of a successful
leader.
A leader sees the big picture and helps others see that picture too.( having a clear vision
and able execute the mission)
A leader is a coach.
A leader is an encourager.
A leader is a communicator.
A leader sees opportunity and captures it.
A leader is a listener.
A leader is a learner.
A leader is a coordinator.
A leader knows they can't do it alone.
A leader views change as their ally.
A leader is willing to take risks today for something better tomorrow.
A leader takes a long view - letting their vision keep their daily steps on track.
A leader is passionate.
A leader motivates and inspires.
A leader values results.
A leader sees the big picture and helps others see that picture too.
Leadership theory can be categorized into three areas, i.e. situational, behavioral and traitbased approach. The relationships of these three approaches can be as shown in Figure 2
below.

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Figure 2: Relationships for Leadership Theory (Richman, 2006)

2.2 Analyze how that skill (Leadership) is important to the Project Manager
The trend towards the leadership in project management can be as shown in Figure 3. The
leadership skill is one of the significant skill in project management in the present. Further
its predicted to be the most important skill in the near future.

Figure 3: Project Management Skills for Successful Project Managers (Richman, 2006)

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2.2.1 Behavioral Approach to Leadership

In behavioral approach the focus is on what leaders actually do; rather than focus on inborn
traits or capabilities. This approach can be mainly divide in to two categories i.e. Behaviors
related to concern about task performance/production, behaviors related to concern about
people. Further behaviors related to concern about people can be divide in to Group
maintenance and behaviors related to employee participation in decision-making. Behavior
related to concern about task performance/production demonstrates the leaders efforts to
ensure that the teams or organizations reach their goals. As PMs, they are always looking for
complete the assigned project within the deadlines. Here they are focus on efficiency, quality,
accuracy and the quantity of the output according to the rules and regulations. This will helps
to increase the performance of the employees. Behaviors related to concern about people is
more oriented about the peoples/employees .Group Maintenance Behaviors reflects the
actions are taken to ensure the satisfaction of group members. As PMs they cant complete
the projects alone, therefore they have to get the maximum out from their supporting team
members. This behavior will helps PMs to develop and maintain harmonious work
relationships within all members while focusing on peoples feelings and comfort,
appreciation. People are less competitive and more collaborative when they are working on
joint goals further it will helps to reduce the stress.
Participation in Decision-Making behavior appears during the process of making decisions,
which illustrates more democratic leadership than autocratic leadership. In Autocratic
leadership leader makes the decisions on his/her own and then announces those decisions to
the subordinates. Whereas in democratic leadership leader gets the inputs from their
subordinates to make the decision. As PMs its better to get the involvement of their
subordinates to decisionmakings. Because people are more committed to actions where they
have involved in the relevant decisionmaking and it improves the understanding of the issues
involved by those who must carry out the decisions. Further it will helps to make a better
decisions at the end.
2.2.2 Situational Approaches to Leadership
The situational leadership approach illustrates that there is no one size fits all .According to
the situation and the characteristics (Maturity level of the people) of people the leadership
approach may varies. According to Ken & Paul (1996) there are four different set of peoples
and they need four different levels of leaderships. However, PMs must first identify their

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most important tasks or priorities. Second, they must consider the maturity level of their
followers by analyzing the teams willingness and their abilities (Knowledge).

Figure 4: Situational Leadership Model

When the followers have low willingness and low ability (Lack of knowledge) for the task in
hand, PMs have to direct and supervise them for closely. Sometimes followers have high
willingness but low ability to work; then PMs need to be act like coaches to gets the things
done. When the followers have high ability but low willingness; PMs can do a supportive role
to finish the task. Motivation is key factor in this situation. Sometimes followers are very
knowledgeable and they are highly willing to work; such situations PMs can trust them and
give the opportunity to work them along to complete the task (with less or no supervision).
Apart from the maturity levels; PMs should adjust their style of leadership according to the
types of projects, top-level management's influences, organizational structures, personal
preferences, etc.
2.2.3 Trait and other Approach to Leadership
Trait leadership is defined as integrated patterns of personal characteristics that reflect a range
of individual differences and foster consistent leader effectiveness across a variety of group
and organizational situations (Zaccaro, Kemp, & Bader, 2004. These can be implement with
regular practice, over the time. There are several components of Trait leadership. Loyalty is
one of them. Leaders who demonstrate loyalty and honesty are willing to admit to mistakes
done by their subordinates. People do mistakes, sometimes they aware about the mistakes
sometimes they didnt. Most of the time people looking for a PMs who can understand those
mistakes well. Subordinate will take the risk to do curtain tasks when the PM is more loyal
and understand them well. Enterprising Spirit is another key factor in trait leadership which
refers to a set of characteristics that reflect a high level of effort. As PMs; they looking for
high for achievements. Therefore this will help for a constant striving for improvement,
ambition, increase the energy level, tenacity, and initiative to achieve the goals.
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Motivation and ability to inspire team is also another key factor in trait leadership. Without
the ability to inspire a team to work together or to inspire ownership by each team member,
the project will fail. As PMs first they should self-motivated and then only they can motivate
their subordinates. By motivating; PM can increased the confident level of their subordinates,
increase their energy levels, morale boost, willingness to do the tasks etc. Integrity is another
key factor and its generally reflects by an individuals actions and words. Top management is
always monitoring the performance and they looking how well execute the promises made by
the PMs. Therefore as PMs they should perform well and execute what they promised to the
project sponsors (Top management).Self-confidence is also another key factor that PM should
have. PMs role is very challenging and setbacks are inevitable. Therefore self-confidence
allows a PM to overcome this challenging situations, obstacles and to make decisions to
achieve the goals.
Honest is another key factor that PM should have. According to Warren Buffett Honesty is a
very expensive gift, dont expect it from cheap people. As its impels to be a genuine person
you should be honest. Project managers make a serious mistake when they attempt to hide
problems from their superiors or the customer. It will further break the mutual understanding
and caused severe problems between the connected parties. Every project have curtain
problems, what customer need is the problems should be addressed in the final solution.
Knowledge/Competent is another key factor that PM should have. Being competent doesnt
impels that the PM needs to be an expert in all the domains sets of the project. It means that
PM should get the things done from their subordinates. Further PM should have enough
depth of knowledge to know whether the goals are being accomplished and knows how to
keep the project moving toward a successful completion. After all, leadership is determined
by the followers, because they will ultimately determine whether the project manager is a
leader or not.
2.3 Describe how to improve the skill
Leadership is one of the key Skills that every PM should have. There are several methods to
improve your leadership skills. There are so many people who become success due to their
leadership skills and there are many leaders who changed the world. As the initial step we can
go through their life success stories and identify how they become succeeded using those
skills. By reading their autobiographies we can figure out how they think, what are the
techniques and methods they use to improve their leadership skills. This is the easiest way to
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identify and improve your leadership skills. Get mentoring from a senior level manager in
your organization. Someone you respect as a person and believe that he exhibits the
characteristics that you desire to develop as a leader. Most of the people even trill to ask but
this will helps you to improve your leadership skills. There may some colleagues, friends
who also works on projects as PMs. Since they all are at the parallel level its very easy to
share our knowledge, ideas with them. We can discuss and learn how they using their
leadership skills to do the projects well. Further we can get many ideas to improve our
leadership skills from them.
Learn from your own mistakes is one of the best way to improve your skills. As leaders we
should constantly seek and create challenging situations; i.e. we should get out from our
comfort zone. Its very difficult to learn new things, ways, and techniques without getting any
sort of risk. Initially you may failed but make sure to not do repeat the same mistake
periodically. At the end you will able to overcome those mistakes. Often, this is the best and
quickest way to learn. Nowadays there are lot of leadership development seminars, trainings
and programs. These training can be arranged either in-house or at the leadership training
institute premises. By attending and actively engage in those trainings we and improve our
leadership skills. If we are unable to allocate the time for those training still we can get the
knowledge of leadership by attending webinars, online courses. We can find large amount of
online courses about the leadership in the internet.
To have a good leadership skills its important to have good communication skills. Hence
public speaking, conducting effective meetings, listing, and thinking are key factors. We can
improve our public speaking, listening skills by sign up for clubs like Toastmasters. Its
essential to change our reading habits to improve reading. Its better if we can read something
from the world of leadership or strategy at least one hour per day. Conducting effective
meetings is very essential in a project management point of view. Because we cant get the
spend time back; if we had a useless meetings. Hence it will waste the whole time of all the
people who participate. Its better to pre-publish an agenda, reduce the number of status
meeting, discuss the things limited to agenda and the allocated time will help towards an
effective meeting.
Creating a positive project environment is a key factor of successful PMs .This will improve
their leadership skills by certain extend. This includes purposely engaging with team
members to set behavioral expectations for performance, accountability, decision-making and
resolving problems and get things done. Further try to get feedbacks from your subordinates
as well as the supervisor. Analyze them and try figure out your drawbacks .Work hard until
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you receiving great feedback from them. By above mentioned methods we can improve our
leadership skills.

3.0 REFERENCE
1) James Tayler, A Survival Guide for Project Managers, p14, p61-75, 2006
2) Robert Slater, Jack Welch and the GE Way: Management Insights and Leadership Secrets
of the Legendary CEO, 1998
3) Kevin Eikenberry, Four Answers about Leadership, 2007
(http://www.sideroad.com/Leadership/leadership-characteristic.html, September, 2007)
4) Project Management Institute, A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge,
p512, 2013
4) Larry Richman, Improving Your Project Management Skills, p147-148, 2012
5) IAAP, Leadership Theories and Styles, Administrative Professionals Week Event 2009
6) Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey, Management of Organizational Behavior, 1996
7) Zaccaro, S. J., Kemp, C., & Bader, P, Leader traits and attributes, 2004
8) http://www.effectivemeetings.com/meetingbasics/6tips.asp

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