Leadership Skills of Project Managers - Research Paper Example

Leadership Skills of Project Managers Affiliation: The ultimate concern in projectmanagement is to achieve the set goals and objectives by the time any given project is designed to be completed. Time and budgetary constraints are critical to account for, due to the fact that projects last for specific periods of time. Short term, middle, and long term projects are confined to specific time frames within which the desired should be achieved. Resource allocation for a project is done in relation to the activities that comprise that project. Any delays or deviations result in critical complications that affect both the time frame and financial position of the project. In this respect, it is necessary for project managers to be as knowledgeable and skillful as possible. High knowledge bases are essential for project managers. This knowledge enables project managers to undertake their duties, roles, responsibilities, and tasks without difficulties. Over and above possessing this knowledge, the manner in which it is managed and applied to project management matters. Project managers’ knowledge and skills are effectively and efficiently exploited when project management processes and practices exhibit creativity and innovativeness (Thompson & Walsham, 2004). This translates to performance levels that are desirable to both individual project managers and their respective organizations. Knowledge management is a critical component of project management, and this constitutes a number of variables that project managers cannot afford to ignore. Project management is made up of nine knowledge areas, namely: project integration, project scope, project time, project cost, project quality, project human resource, project communications, project risk, and project procurement management (Project Management Institute, 2013). These areas are broad in scope, an aspect that makes it fundamental to manage the knowledge field of project management. Monitoring performance of any given project is vital. Project managers need to be result oriented while taking into account all the influential variables in the project development process. Diversified and dynamic strategies and approaches should be part and parcel of the project management process. This exposes managers to differentiated scenarios that enhance the overall handling of tasks at hand. In this respect, proper k knowledge management translates to positive project performance. The identification, creation, representation, distribution, and adoption of insights and experiences at an individual and organizational level constitute the strategies used for knowledge management purposes (Project Management Institute, 2013). All these aspects combined comprise the knowledge that is embodied in project managers and/or organizations, giving rise to individual practices or organizational processes that enhance performance in regard to the underlying project tasks. When a project manager is in a position to coordinate and deal with all these components of knowledge management, his/her leadership skills remain competitive in that line. Over and above knowledge management, the integration of creativity and innovation in the project management process is vital. Creativity and innovation is characterized by the ability to exploit new strategies and opportunities for the purpose of enhancing project performance. The creativity and innovativeness of project managers is depicted by the manner in which they deal with the operations and programs that fall under their leadership roles. Managing inputs, tools, techniques, and outputs in a project for the purpose of achieving project goals and objectives require high level of competence. In fact, these are the critical variables that measure the extent to which project managers integrate creativity and innovation into their leadership skills. The performance of a project is determined by how successful and complete project processes are. These processes include initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing (Project Management Institute, 2013). In order to ensure that all these processes are accounted for, performance initiatives are designed and consequently implemented, while taking into account the knowledge management aspect of project management. For project managers, it takes skills to ensure that each and every variable works to the best interest of the project. Performance initiatives are not haphazard decisions that project managers make. They must be planned, assessed, and evaluated in regard to the goals and objectives of the project. To do this, project managers consider the overall aspects that constitute the project at hand. Once all links have been made between the desired initiatives and the project variables, the most appropriate course of action is taken. The chosen deliverables have to be consistent with the specific goals and objectives being pursued. Effective and efficient leadership by project managers ought to be transformational and transactional in nature. On one hand, project managers need to employ transformational leadership in working with the rest of the people in the project. Participatory and inspirational leadership boosts the morale of the project stakeholders, thereby motivating every individual to perform his/her role, duty, or responsibility. Such a leadership style will ensure that functional and work-based relations are positively established and maintained. On the other hand, the performance of the project is measured by the achieved results. In this respect, transactional leadership becomes fundamental for project managers. This form of leadership is result-oriented, an aspect that makes it vital in the assessment of the link between knowledge management and performance initiatives (Maier, 2007). The appropriate factors must be identified beforehand in order to ensure that there is conformity between knowledge management and performance initiatives. Project managers should have a strong ability and capacity to balance transformational and transactional needs during the entire project period. When a balance between the two is established, it is easy to identify the category within which each and every project activity falls. On the same note, the two styles of leadership influence the performance initiatives that project managers choose to implement. In choosing these initiatives, knowledge management has to be critically factored in. The results achieved through knowledge management, creativity and innovation, performance initiatives, and leadership styles adopted by project managers determine the overall success of the project. It takes organization, cooperation, and collaboration of project managers to take a project through its entire life cycle. While leadership skills of project managers vary from one individual to another, knowledge management, creativity and innovation, and use of performance initiatives are essential project managers’ leadership skills (Project Management Institute, 2013). A project manager who possesses these qualities is undoubtedly competitive. References Maier, R. (2007). Knowledge Management Systems: Information and Communication Technologies for Knowledge Management (3rd ed.). New York: Springer. Project Management Institute. (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK Guide (5th ed.). Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute. Thompson, P. A. & Walsham, G. (2004). “Placing Knowledge Management in Context”. Journal of Management Studies, 41 (5): 725–747. Read More