Leadership and team building

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Business Finance

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Project Management, Leadership

andSkills:PlanningandControl

Assignment with

(3000 words)

'Effective teams are key to effective and successful projects'.

Critically discuss the role of teams and team development in project management utilizing appropriate theoretical models to identify how teams can be created, managed, led and damaged.Include in your answer a discussion of theory of good leadership and communication can help in the team development process.

You will need to take the following into account when completing your assignment.

•Establishment of relevant theory (e.g. what do we mean by teams and team development in a project management context and what is the relationship between leader and team and project in theoretical terms?).

•Allocation of credit and sources used; (have I included references and citations to the material I have used?);

•Clarity of argument and relevance to the project management context

•Overall report presentation including spelling and grammar;

•Adherence to nominated word limit to 3000

This coursework should follow a structured approach and should be prepared and presented as an academic report. You should undertake a relevant literature review that helps inform your investigation. Please also ensure that the Harvard Referencing System is adhered to

and fully complied with.

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Explanation & Answer

Please find attached. Let me know if you need any clarification.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT 2
Introduction
Project management happens to be a systematic strategy that gets put in place in the
planning and guiding the process of a project from the beginning to the end. The plans that get
put in place in regards to a project are expected to work efficiently and effectively, and minimal
or no mishaps should become experienced. Most projects are crucial, and a lot of resources get
invested, and therefore the process has to become allocated to reliable and dependable
individuals or organizations. The manner in which the projects become conducted depicts the
end product and if it will become a success or a failure. To realize positive outcomes in an
assigned projects, team work has get exercised, and the coordination between all the people
involved is key. Every participant of the project should be aware of their duties which make it
easy for the process to move smoothly. Effective teams, therefore, are key to effective and
successful projects because everyone is accountable for their area of work.
Needs of Leadership in Project Management
For an effective team to become identified and put in place, it will require a qualified project
manager who is in a position to identify the kind of people who are capable of delivering on the
set expectation. According to (McNamara, 2011), a team relies on the kind of leadership that gets
presented to them and they expect to become guided and motivated towards achieving the set
goals. Leadership is the act that involves leading and having an influence on people within an
institution towards the set institutional objectives. Once quality leadership becomes offered, the
team follows suit, and this creates a strong working relationship between the leader and their
followers. Regardless of the challenges that may become experienced along the way, the team is
likely to solve their issues together and move on achieving their objectives. The project
managers may choose to incorporate the different leadership styles which vary from autocratic,

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 3
democratic, bureaucratic, charismatic and transformational leadership styles. The following are
some of the leadership skills that project managers should possess if at all they will put an
effective team in place(McNamara, 2011);
i.

Provision of a structure that gives a framework of the vision of the team. Every
involved person should be aware of the mission, the timing and the strategy that is put
in place which will help the team to achieve their objectives. That structure will as
well outline all the roles and responsibilities of each member of the team to avoid
commotion and waste of time. Once the roles become assigned, the performance of
the team members should get assessed and find out who is out of place and the action
gets taken.

ii.

Communication should be key considering that it is the backbone of everything that
gets done in the project. Managers should communicate clearly and constantly with
their team members and keep them informed in regards to any updates regarding the
project. With the advancement in technological, people have no excuse of not
communicating effectively because they can relay their messages from anywhere and
anytime conveniently.

iii.

Project managers should set good examples for their team and create a conducive
environment for work. By so doing, all the members get fully involved without
holding back due to fear of being reprimanded.

iv.

Inspiration at work is of the essence if at all team work has to get upheld until the
results of a project become realized. Project managers should not get tired of
motivating their teams no matter how long the project they are working on takes.
They do not necessarily have to offer them anything, but appreciating them verbally

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 4
makes them feel inspired. Either way, the members of the team can get rewarded
based on their performance.
v.

Project managers should be in a position to encourage the team members to create
trust within themselves and also deliver on their promises at work. By so doing, the
project gets completed at the set time without anyone being pushed to deliver.

These leadership skills would be helpful when putting together a team to work in a project
successfully.
Purpose of Teams in Project
Teams play a vital role in projects because they see to it that the assigned duties are
done on time, and the client’s expectations are met on time. Either way, there are characteristics
that define an effective project team which delivers right from the inception of a project to the
completion. This is putting into consideration that a team may comprise of people from different
departments and have to work on the same project. Some features of an effective project team
would include(Goss, 2015);
i.

Being team players which are a crucial characteristic in that regardless of how skilled
or experienced a person may be if they do not have corporate, they knowledge is of
no help to the team. Further, all the focus should be on the project and not individual
accomplishments.

ii.

Members of a project team should be skilled and experienced considering that all the
available knowledge should get imported into the project so as to make it a success.

iii.

Members of a team should be self-oriented and ready from the start to keep the
project going regardless of the hardships that may get experienced along the way.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 5
iv.

They should have a positive influence on their fellow members, and they should as
well be capable of influencing the whole community to take part in the project.
Further, they should be able to influence the high ranking members of the project to
participate and end up gathering any available support they may need.

v.

An effective project team should be supportive of the idea of the project, the company
they work for and with as well as among the members. Upon realization what the
project is about, it becomes easy to support it all through until its completion. Have a
supportive team ensures that the project is in capable hands and the set time for its
completion will get achieved.

vi.

A project team should be dependable, and the members should be reliable,
responsible and accountable to each other and themselves as well as their assigned
duties. To help them achieve that, they should have credible schedules that comprise
of their timelines with precision and detail but leaving some space for unexpected
events.
Leadership and Team

According to (Morgeson, et al., 2010), arranging work around teams has become the trend in
the organizational setup, and most institutions use this strategy to achieve their goals. Further, it
has become evident that team work is the biggest contributor towards organizational success
especially those that involve the management of projects. The role of leadership, on the other
hand, has started getting a lot of attention considering that the team setting relies on it entirely.
Therefore, it is in the best interest of leaders to establish if a team is capable of delivering.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 6
Leaders Ability to Manage a Team
Leaders have a responsibility of putting a team in place, and they should, therefore, be able to
determine if a team will illustrate effective team performance with the use of the following
factors (Plowman, 2015);
-

If there is the existence of groupthink which is an inclination of making decisions in the
team which does not bring forth opposition so as to help preserve the team and focuses on
the main objective. A leader can tell from this if they have the right group which put the
interest of the organization before their individual concerns.

-

If there is uniformity which is the extent to which members of a team are similar or
different to one another and how that can affect their performance. Finding the right
balance between these two extremes is what poses a challenge for the leaders. They do
not know what to expect once they commence a project, and they get at peace when the
members of a project team are similar. People could be similar regarding their
educational qualifications, experience, cultural background and personalities which binds
them together, therefore, working cohesively.

-

The size of the team matters in that the bigger the team, the more efficiently the goals get
achieved. Further, resources for working on a project get released in huge amounts,
therefore, helping in its completion within the set time. Either way, a big team is
challenging to manage because ideas as well increase which are capable of bringing
conflicts in the team. Therefore, it is the role of the leader to decide if to work with a big
or small team by weighing out their advantages and disadvantages.

-

Considering if there is stability between the team members and the leaders of the project
is a factor that should get considered as well. Within a stable setup of teamwork, the

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 7
assigned projects are bound to get completed on time or even before because there are no
distractions that delay the progress.
-

The identification of roles by the team members of a project is essential because anyone
can assume any responsibilities without choosing. The diversity in skills and experience
within a team means that if something happens to one member, work continues and the
process does not get affected therefore delivering on time
Creating an Effective Team

Creating a team is not an easy task considering that everyone has their individual ideas and
opinions when it comes to initiating a strategy that gets used in a project to the latter. A team is
expected to experience challenges and considering the quality of outcome it gives and the rate at
which they carry out their activities should be of the essence. Therefore, there exists a teamwork
theory which helps in laying down a foundation as people seek to create a successful and
effective team. The most famous teamwork theory that is widely used for effective team building
if Bruce Tuckman’s “team stages model” (Maples). This model is thought to be helpful because
it seems to recognize the fact that groups do not begin to function perfectly from the word go.
Teams grow in stages, and it takes the members willingness to see it flourish to a dependable
entity.
Clear Goals
So as to have clear goals regarding a project, a team should consider the following principles
(Johansson, et al., 2011);
-

Structuring which comprises of the clarification of goals and expectations of those that
assign projects to certain organizations. They help in planning and allocating tasks as

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 8
well as choosing qualified members of the team and bringing sense to interpretation of
events
-

Facilitating which involves coaching and training members of the team to make sure that
they give their best in the project to the client’s satisfaction. Upon member’s assessment,
a leader should give a feedback based on an individual’s performance and what they
should expect moving forward. Being involved in solving problems that get experienced
by team members and encouraging individual management should be the leader’s
principle

-

Relating which comprises of creating transparency between the leader and the team
members and this helps in creating confidence which is necessary for helping to achieve
positive results in a project.

-

Representing which makes the team members feel that they can get whatever support
they need to help them deliver on their responsibilities and contribution towards the
completion of the project. Having a conducive environment to work from motivates
members of a team, and they do not require to be supervised because they know what is
expected of them in that kind of arrangement.
Working Environment

A good working environment motivates teams to work effectively because they feel
appreciated for having such surrounding. To help have a working relationship between workers
and leaders there are theories of leadership that get used to creating leaders that are reliable and
dependable in project management. These theories are as follows and it upon individual leaders
to choose which theory would apply best to help them deliver on their promises to their clients;

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 9
i.

The trait theory which states good leadership comes from an individual’...


Anonymous
Really helpful material, saved me a great deal of time.

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