The Effective Project Manager

Chapter 2

Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Chapter Learning Objectives

• Assess your core project leadership capabilities and identify areas where you need to enhance your skill or achieve greater balance.

• Apply strategies to encourage effective two-way communication in project environments.

• Apply influence strategies and appreciate why these skills are so essential to project managers.

• Recognize the keys to success in effective negotiation.

• Effectively lead project team meetings.

• Understand the sources of project team conflict and respond appropriately.

• Articulate the role of intrinsic factors, extrinsic factors, and goals in motivating team members and use this knowledge to best advantage in project environments.

When you have mastered the material in this chapter, you should be able to:

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The Effective Project Manager

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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The Project Manager’s Core Capabilities: A Balanced Set

• Visionary Leader and Detail-Oriented Manager

• Technical Savvy and Interpersonally and Politically Astute

• Disciplined and Flexible

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Box 2.2

Balancing Core Capabilities – The Everest Peace Climb

In April of 1990, and international team of 20 climbers from China, Russia, and the United States reached the summit of Mount Everest in what has been lauded as the most successful climbing expedition in world history (Guinness Book of World Records, 2003). Many factors (including good fortune) contributed to the success of the project. The leadership structure was particularly noteworthy, however. Jim Whitaker, who in 1963 became the first U.S. citizen to reach the summit of Everest, served as the primary project leader. Whitaker was a credible leader, highly regarded by members of the international climbing community. Moreover, his visionary leadership provided the glue that held the diverse team together. Warren Thompson, a corporate tax attorney by trade, was deputy leader of the team – his role was to plan and monitor the schedule, manage resources, and handle the logistics of the expedition. Between the two of them, they represented the combined roles so necessary for successful project execution. The complementary roles were especially helpful as the two leaders navigated cross-cultural challenges associated with differences in climbing philosophies, disagreements over project schedules, and international logistical hurdles.

Here, essential core capabilities were

effectively distributed across two individuals.

In most projects, the project manager must

embody both.

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The Project Manager’s Essential Skills and Tools

• Communication

• Persuasion and Influence

• Negotiating

• Leading Productive Team Meetings

• Conflict Management

• Motivating the Team

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Exhibit 2.2

Tips for Listening

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Exhibit 2.3

Developing a Communication Strategy

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Exhibit 2.4

Tips for Presentations

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Exhibit 2.5

Are You Being Heard?

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Persuasion and Influence

Influence: The use of personal energy to create an effect upon, redirect or change the outcome of a particular situation.

Why is influence particularly important to project managers?

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Persuasion and Influence Principles

• Reciprocity

• Consistency

• Social Validation

• Liking

• Credibility as a Source of Authority

• Potential Loss Versus Potential Gain

• Request-Magnitude Sequence 2-12

Exhibit 2.6

Negotiating Tips

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Leading Productive Team Meetings

• Meetings are one of the most important venues for project communication.

• The project manager has a major responsibility for making sure meetings offer value for all concerned and for the project.

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What Happens in Meetings

• Content: The “what” of a team meeting – the agenda at hand.

• Process: The methods, procedures, format and tools used to facilitate a team meeting.

• Interactions: The interpersonal dimension – the communication patterns, group dynamics, and group climate.

Project managers must attend to all three of these.

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Exhibit 2.8(A)

Meeting Tips for before the Project Meeting

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Exhibit 2.8(A)

Meeting Tips for before the Project Meeting

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Exhibit 2.8(B)Meeting Tips for during the Project Meeting

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Exhibit 2.8(B)Meeting Tips for during the Project Meeting

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Exhibit 2.8(B)Meeting Tips for during the Project Meeting

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Exhibit 2.8(C)Meeting Tips for after the Project Meeting

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Exhibit 2.7

Sample Issues Log

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Exhibit 2.9

Getting the Most from Project Conference Calls

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Conflict Management

• Interpersonal Conflict: A type of conflict that may be result of personality differences or long-standing animosity. However, interpersonal conflict can also be a symptom of other issues with the team.

• Task-Related Conflict: A type of conflict welcomed in project management because the divergent views regarding project tasks or decisions can actually lead to a more complete and thorough understanding of the issue at hand.

Two types of conflict:

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Exhibit 2.10

The Team Iceberg

Interpersonal conflict may be the result of issues “below the waterline” – underlying misunderstandings about project purpose and goals, team member roles, or team processes for working together.

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Exhibit 2.10

Conflict Resolution Styles

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Motivating the Team

• Intrinsic Motivation: Motivation that comes from rewards inherent to a task or activity itself. People might become intrinsically motivated to participate in a project because it offers a challenge, is interesting, involves team members with whom the person enjoys working, or presents a learning opportunity.

• Extrinsic Motivation: Motivation that comes from outside of the performer. Extrinsic project motivators can be either negative or positive: a bonus offered for successful completion, fear of losing one’s job, or an opportunity for promotion or recognition, all offer examples.

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Motivating the Team• Once people’s basic needs are met, intrinsic

motivators will be more effective than extrinsic motivators.

• Everyone has motivational potential, but motivational forces will vary from one person to the next.

• Learn enough about individual team members to develop the best approach for each one.

• Ask: “What can I do to ensure that you get the most out of this project?”

• Of the intrinsic motivators available to the project manager, clear, specific, challenging goals are generally the most powerful.

• People will be more motivated if they feel a sense of ownership in the project. 2-28

Chapter Summary

• Are visionary leaders and detail-oriented managers, technically savvy and interpersonally and politically astute, and disciplined and flexible.

• Communicate skillfully and are good at exercising influence and negotiating.

• Plan and lead productive group sessions

• Manage conflict in ways that help raise and resolve important issues.

• Have a solid understanding of the factors that may motivate team members and are adept at creating project environments where team members want and are able to contribute their best.

The best project managers:

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