Importance of the Leadership Function within an Organisation - Research Paper Example

Importance of the leadership function within an organisation of the of the Table of Contents Introduction 3 Purpose of this study 5 Project Charter 5 Project Initiation Document 5 Scope 5 Objective 6 Participants 6 Staffing plan 6 Work breakdown structure 8 PERT chart 10 Budget plan 11 Gantt chart 14 Overall significance of leadership function in an organization 14 Challenges faced 15 Recommendations 15 Lessons learnt 16 References 17 Introduction It is certainly right that leadership requirements and capabilities needed to run an organization are in some way or the other equivalent to the requirements and capabilities that are needed to run a project. Nonetheless, in reality, a certain level of disparity prevails between the two leadership attributes. One of the fundamental differences is evident in the way the workforce is managed in these two domains of leadership (Vera & Crossan, 2004). It has to be noted that in case of a specific project, the workforce that is pooled may consist of temporarily hired employees which is quite in contrast to permanently recruited officials within an office. Given the fact that temporary employees may be hired for a particular project, it is quite possible that two groups consisting of temporary employees may not be familiar to each other. They are unaware of each other’s traits and skill sets which make it relatively difficult for the team members to coordinate and collaborate with each other. The team members probably are working together for the first time which in turn may lead the leader to face many challenges at once within the project. According to Shamir, House & Arthur (1993), in order to conduct a project efficiently and effectively it is important for team members to work within a group and along with it. It is situations like these which require a steadfast leader who has the capability to marshal the human resource according to the project requirements and take proper measures to enhance collaboration and coordination between the team members. In-spite of having effective leaders on board, it is often seen that employee find it relatively difficult to cope with the expertise of their team members. As a consequence of that the operational efficiency of organizations often decreases. Therefore, the primary responsibility of the leader is to make sure that the workforce is allocated according to the skill sets possessed by individuals as well as their relevance to the type of project that is being conducted. In addition to that, a leader has to be aware of the cultural background that the subordinate employees belong from. Cultural indifferences may compel employees to cooperate one another. Even though a culturally diverse setup may often raise concerns for the leaders but the fact that such a setup also entails benefits cannot be denied (Sawyer, 2000). The significance of having a temporary set of employees is that it offers the leader with the flexibility to recruit right people for the right job. Thereafter when their services are no longer needed in that particular project the workforce can be easily allocated to another project as and when required. On the other hand the setup in a business is quite different. In such cases the employee base is by and large recruited on a permanent basis. In this set up one employee is relatively familiar with the expertise and skill sets of another employee. This makes it relatively easier for the employees to work as a group which in turn enhances the operational efficiency. Therefore managing a group of familiar employees is relatively convenient for the leader. This is precisely because both the leaders as well as the employees are well informed about the strengths and weaknesses of all the group members and therefore they can work accordingly. However, a major concern in such a setup is that the area of management is static and the scope of improvement is restricted. The leader has to work with whatever resources that is available at his/her disposal and thus there is very limited scope of adaptation to the variable demands of an assignment. According to Shah (2012), channelizing the workforce from one assignment to another is comparatively difficult in such a set up. This is precisely because it takes a considerable amount of time for the leader to evaluate the requirements of another assignment and then channelize the workforce accordingly. It has to be kept in mind that failing to make a proper evaluation of project requirements may significantly worsen the quality of work that is delivered. Brief description of the project The project involves earthwork planning for the North-South rail corridor that stretches from Melbourne to Brisbane. The purpose of this study is to develop a project plan for the rail corridor that also involves the determination of an optimal route as well as commercial and economic benefit of installing a new standard gauge inland railway between the two aforementioned cities. Prior to this project the only rail route between Melbourne and Brisbane used to pass though Sydney which makes the journey comparatively longer for passengers as all freight trains passed through this route. This rail route proved to be considerably time consuming for daily office goers. That is why the government of Australia decided to construct a separate rail route in order to make this transit time as well as the distance for freight trains comparatively shorter. The inland rail route also has the potential to enhance the reliability and availability of freight trains which in turns achieves a twofold objective; first of which is that it will distribute the load of freight trains evenly between the main line and the inland route and secondly it will make railway transport a competitive transport option as an alternative to road transit. Purpose of this study Alongside the preparation of the project plan, the purpose of this study is to explain the importance of leadership function in an organization particularly in situation where a project is managed. That is why, the leader in this particular project endeavours to outline each and levels of the project and simultaneously explain the ways in which appropriate leadership can help managers to manage the workload in those levels appropriately. The study also caters to explain the challenges faced by the researcher while consolidating the information all together and the recommendations. Project Charter Project Initiation Document The primary purpose of drafting a project initiation document (PID) is to give a comprehensive view of the project. The document serves as a foundation on the basis of which the rail route project will be authorized and subsequently allowed to commence. The PID will also allow the project managers to make an assessment of the overall project that includes the delivery timescales related to the project as well as the quality and content of the deliverables. The PID will also provide necessary details that are imperative for conducting and controlling the project successfully. The explanation of these variables will allow the stakeholders to communicate with each other in an effective manner which in turn will ensure that the project is being conduct with the maximum efficiency. Given the fact that a project plan is expandable and dynamic, it can henceforth be anticipated to change according to the availability of the information. Therefore setting forth all the necessary details is of utmost importance. Scope The scope of this project is easily evident in the underlying objective set behind this project. The project caters to address the need raised by the Australian government which is to determine the optimum alignment as well as the economical benefits by reducing the time as well as the distance for freight trains between Melbourne and Brisbane thereby avoiding the congestion in the Sydney area. Prior to the development of this rail route, all freight trains used to avail the Melbourne to Brisbane line via Sydney. This proved to be highly inconvenient for everyday passengers who used to avail the same line as railways traffic often used to consume a considerable amount of their time. Therefore a separate inland railway line would provide an alternative route for freight trains which in turn would reduce the traffic and the congestion in the Melbourne to Brisbane line via Sydney. Therefore, not only will this inland route reduce the travel time and distance for the freight trains, but will also reduce the travel time of passengers. Moreover it will also distribute the load of freight trains evenly between the main line and the inland route. Objective The primary objective of this project is to study the earthwork planning of the railway corridor over 7.5 km length that starts from Stockinbingal. A project plan needs to be established that will include the breakdown of the jobs required to be performed at different levels. The project plan will also outline the machinery as well as the time that is required to complete the earthwork. The costing of manpower and machinery will also be outlined. Participants Participants Job responsibility Project sponsor: Australian government To establish as well as validate the objectives of the project. To provide valuable guidance and oversight to the project leader. Steering committee To make sure that proper assistance is being provided to resolve issues that escalate beyond the administration of the project leader/manager. Team members/Staffs To optimum support to the project by completing individual and group assignments well within the stipulated budget and timeframe. Internal and external stakeholder Overall management of the project. Staffing plan As far as creating an effective team is concerned, it is one of the primary concerns of a leader. An effective leader will have to make sure that the project team consists of efficient workers who have the capacity to deliver what is expected of them. Leadership function plays a crucial role in this segment as well. It is up to the leaders to assess the skill sets of each and every individual and enrol them as one of the project team members. In order to devise a proper staff plan, a leader has to have sound ideas regarding strategic and operations management which in turn would help the individual to marshal the workforce appropriately and allocate each and every worker according to the need of the project. This part is extremely pivotal as because enrolment of an unnecessary employee would increase the cost of the project and will also result in operational inefficiency. Therefore a leader has to have a good foresight of the requirements of the project and thereafter choose the workforce accordingly. Role Project Responsibility Skills Required Number of Staff Required Project Team Project Manager Lead team, report status Project Management 1 Team lead Activity assessment Project Management 1 Core Team Review deliverables, Project Management 7 Engineers Construction work Specific to the role description 30 Architect Design construction layout Specific to the role description 4 Quality management team Assure quality Project Management 4 Supervision team Monitor performance Project Management experience 3 Review Team Evaluate deliverables Project Management experience 20 Work breakdown structure As far as engineering projects are concerned, one of the fundamental responsibilities of the project leader is to ensure that the project is planned, organized, led and controlled thoroughly. In order to ensure that such happens, companies need to appoint unswerving leaders who are highly committed to their work. Of all the four leadership functions mentioned above planning comes first. Planning outlines the ways in which objectives could be identified and therefore a proper plan helps leaders to design a sequence of activities or program that needs to be conducted in order to achieve those objectives. This necessitates the development of a work breakdown structure which has been provided above. An appropriate leader will always devise a plan in such a way that it enhances the efficiency as well as effectiveness of the organization by giving the plan a proper focus and direction. Leadership approach adopted by leaders play a key role in making sure that a plan is properly outlined. An effective leader will have to make a precise prediction of the future and also have to have applicable experience and insight regarding the individual’s field of work. The possession of these leadership functions is a key determinant of the success of both the project and the organization as a whole (Saks, 2006). Organizing is another leadership function that needs to be prudently done by an organizational leader. Given the fact rail road construction is one of the most complex projects that involve complicated operations that are done on a number of levels, appropriate organization of those operations is of utmost importance. This is particularly because if operations are not organized properly, the entire project might come to a standstill. A properly organized project enables managers to have a holistic view of the project and the progress that has been made. It also helps managers to analyze the performance at different levels of the project. In that way analysts are able to quantity the efficiency and throughput of the entire project. This quantification is pivotal as it helps team leaders to address the areas that require improvement. Moreover, an appropriate strategy is required to align the operations that are performed on all the levels. This enables leaders to enhance coordination and collaboration between all the functional departments. Having a proper strategy in place enables project managers to avoid any form of delay within the project. As far as this project is concerned, the work breakdown structure provided above shows the interconnections between all the operations that need to be performed in order to complete the project successfully. The structure helps managers to understand the degree of dependence that one operation has on the other. In that way they are able to schedule the starting time and finishing time of those operations. The work break down structure depicts all the operations related to the earthwork planning and construction has been divided into nine intervals. This helps managers to have a simplistic view of the ways in which the project will be approached and brought to its conclusion. These facts suggest that both planning and organization as a leadership function plays a key role in ensuring that there is smooth flow of information between each and every functional departments involved within a project (Papalexandris & Galanaki, 2009). It also ensures that a robust coordination and collaboration exists between those functional departments which in turn enable managers to attain operational efficiency (Natale, Sora & Kavalipurapu, 2004). In order to make sure that such happens a project manager has to have a sound understanding of each and every activities that needs to be performed as each one of them have equal importance. Leadership theory states that leaders/managers cannot afford to make virtually no mistakes at any point of time while a project is being conducted. Even if they do, it has to be rectified within a very short span of time and leaders have to make sure that such mistakes are not repeated henceforth. For this particular purpose, a thorough knowledge of all the operations is highly imperative. The work breakdown structure helps the managers to have this understanding in a discrete manner. PERT chart A PERT (program evaluation and review technique) chart is a statistical tool that is normally used in project management. It enables project managers to analyze the tasks that are involved in particular project. It also allows managers to comprehend the start time and finishing time of a particular activity. It is a very beneficial project management tool that serves as a guidance mechanism helping mangers to identify any form of slack that may be present within the project. It also provides a broad view of the overall duration of the project which in turn helps organizational managers to plan the activities that are to be performed before the commencement and after the completion of a project. As is evident from the network diagram depicted above, the project will take an estimated time of 566 days to construct an inland railway route of 7.5 kms between Melbourne and Brisbane. The network diagram also reveals that there is slack in activity 2 and activity 3. The PERT chart proves to be extremely beneficial when it comes to assessing the timeline of a project prior to its commencement and it also enables project managers to adhere to the schedule that is stipulated for each and every activity. Organizing a project becomes relatively easier through the application of such statistical tools. It also helps managers to schedule the arrival of resources in an appropriate manner in order to make sure that there is no delay in the commencement and completion of any particular activity due to resource inadequacy. In order for the successful completion of a project, it is important for a leader to implement an effective and efficient resource allocation strategy (Kotter, 1997). The individual has to make sure that resources arrive at a right time, at the right apace and at the right quantity (Mackenzie, 2006). This is precisely because an inappropriate resource allocation strategy would lead to unnecessary stacking up of resources. This in turn will not only increasing the inventory holding cost for the company but will also lead to resource wastage. Therefore it is imperative for an organization to appoint an effective leader who has vast experience regarding managing resources efficiently (McAdam, Hazlett & Casey, 2005; Miller, Butler & Cosentino, 2004). It has to be kept in mind that a project does not only involve the technical activities outlined within the work breakdown structure, but is also includes other associative activities that are necessary in order to ensure that the overall project becomes successful. For example, a company conducts marketing activities after the technical activities within the project are completed. In order to start formulating the marketing strategies and pre-arranging the marketing in accordance with the strategies, it is crucial for the project managers to determine the estimated timeframe of the completion of all the activities outlined within the work breakdown structure as well as the PERT chart. The activities have to be scheduled in an accurate manner such that no one activity interferes with the other one. This is where the relevance of these statistical tools as well as efficient leader lies. The facts that have mentioned above signify the importance of having a leader who has optimal capability of organizing project activities efficiently. Budget plan According to Collis, Holt and Hussey (2012), a budget plan can be defined as a monetized explanation of targets that needs to be achieved within a stipulated time frame specified by an organization. In other words a budget plan can also be referred as a premeditated effort that is made in order to complete assignments over the due course of time with the help of financial resources that are at a company’s disposal. It has to be kept in mind that the targets that are specified within a budget plan are habitually subjective to previous experiences as well as future anticipations. With respect to this factor it has to be mentioned that the extent to which control is exerted by a leader determines the capability of the leader of controlling a particular project (e Cunha, Clegg & Rego, 2013). Control is another major leadership function that needs to be possessed by a leader in order to ensure a successful completion of a project. One form of control is budgetary control. There is no doubt regarding the fact that every business and every project is run on a budget which outlines the amount of financial resources available at the disposal of project managers. Therefore it is imperative for managers to exert appropriate budgetary control so as to be able to conclude the project well within the specified budget. As far as the comments made by King, Clarkson and Wallace (2010) is concerned, the significance of budgetary control lies in the fact that it involves a continuous assessment of actual performance with respect of the budget in order for the researcher to be able to evaluate whether the objective has been achieved in an accurately as well as to provide a foundation for revision of performance. One of the fundamental responsibilities of managers is to establish budget plans in such a way that every factor included within the plan is associated with the responsibilities assigned to individual members of a project team (Allen & OBrien, 2006). An effective leader plays a crucial role in preparing as well as assessing the budget at a later stage with the underlying aim of managing performance within an organization by having an estimation of the performance delivered by individuals who form the part of a project (Cope & Waddell, 2001). Having mentioned these facts, the researcher endeavours to prepare a budget plan for the Melbourne to Brisbane inland railway route. This will allow the government of Australia to evaluate the financial requirements for this particular project and compare the same with the benefits that are expected after the completion of this project. This is a cost benefit analysis to be performed by leaders, the outcome of which facilitates effective decision making. This fact is in complete alignment with the ideas set forth by Walumbwa, et al. (2005) and Ensley, Pearson and Pearce (2003) who commented that effective and efficient leaders play a crucial role in organization decision making. The leadership function adopted by them is highly important when it comes to making decisions that have benefits in the long run (Dionne, et al., 2002; Davenport and Harding, 2010). Activities FY1 FY2   Labour Material Other FY Total Labour Material Other FY Total Develop Project Charter $50,700 $0 $0 $50,700 $0 $0 $0 $0 Develop Project Control Plan $500,000 $0 $0 $500,000 $0 $0 $0 $2,000 Architectural plan $600,000 $0 $150,500 $750,500 $0 $0 $0 $0 Earthwork planning and construction $2,110,000 $20,000,000 $400,000 $22,510,000 $2,110,000 $18,500,000 $0 $20,610,000 Monitor performance $0 $0 $0 $0 $300,000 $0 $0 $300,000 Total $3,260,700 $20,000,000 $550,500 $23,811,200 $2,410,000 $18,500,000 $0 $20,910,000 Total Project Budget $44,721,200 As is evident from the budget plan, the total cost of the project over two years of its lifetime has been estimated to be $44,721,200. The budget plan will prove to be beneficial for the sponsors of this project whereby they can assess the financial resources available at their disposal and can manage to acquire the extra capital that is required. The budget plan also involves a timeline which highlights the expenses that will be incurred in the second year of the project. In order to prepare the budget plan, the project manager has to be in constant communication with the financial analysts of the company. It is up to the capability of the leader to establish a robust line of communication whereby a smooth flow of information can be facilitated between the team members of the project. This is the part where the leading function comes into play. The leader has to lead by an example and ensure that assignments are being delegated appropriately between all the group members. By doing so, the leader can ensure that fragmented outcomes are achieved on a regular basis. Gantt chart The Gantt chart provides a detailed explanation of the starting time and the finishing time of each and every interval. The project can be commenced on 6th of October 2014 and is expected to finish on 27 October 2016. The Gantt chart enables the project manager to have an estimation of the time that might be required to complete a particular task. As is evident from the Gantt chart, slack exists in case of activities categorized under interval 2 and interval 5. Overall significance of leadership function in an organization Leadership functions adopted by organizational leaders are key determinants of an organization’s success. Every organization craves to hire visionary leaders primarily because they adopt a more transformational approach which in turn encourages change and innovation. In order to make sure that such happens, leaders have to make sure that their subordinates are thoroughly engaged towards their work as well as the organization as a whole. This highlights the importance of adopting a leadership function that is exhibits a team or friendly style of leadership. Leaders adopting such a leadership function have concern for both productivity and welfare of the employees. They provide enough flexibility to their subordinates in order to think creatively. This creates a learning environment which also has a scope of mutual encouragement. Employees have the opportunity to learn from each other’s expertise and in that way attain an all round development. Leadership function plays a crucial role in enabling a leader to clarify the organization goal clearly. In that way the leader is also able to provide a direction that paves a way for the employees to attain those objectives. Leadership function also proves to be a beneficial tool helping leaders to enhance the level of coordination and collaboration between the subordinates. As far as project management is concerned, leadership functions play a crucial role in enabling managers to plan, organize and control the project efficiently. In the context of the project that is being discussed in this particular paper it can be said that leadership functions have a significant contribution in enabling project managers to identify project specifications appropriately. Leadership functions also have a significant contribution in enabling managers to make sure adequate funds as well as resources are available at their disposal. In a matrix environment project managers have to work along with a group of individuals having high expertise who may or may not belong from different functional units. In such a context, leadership functions play a critical role in helping leaders to adapt to a new group of people as well as getting acquainted with their strengths and weaknesses. This in turn helps them to communicate well with each other thereby enhancing coordination. Challenges faced Given the fact that the project was relatively complex in nature, it was certain that the project team members are bound to face some challenges. For example, while extracting information for this project and while preparing this project plan I, as project, faced an inadequacy of skilled group members. Provided that there was a huge disparity between the skills sets of individual group members, it was hard for me to establish coordination between them. Initially they were not communicating properly which was mainly due to absence of proper chain of communication. Moreover, the technical expertise required to prepare such a complex project plan was also not present in the group members. This was largely due to the recruitment of highly inexperienced people. As a consequence deadlines were not being met. This delayed several assignments of the project by a marginal fraction. However, these fractions when coupled together proved to have consumed a large amount of time for this complex project. Recommendations This particular section provides an explanation of the measures that I adopted in order to overcome those challenges. This in turn serves as a recommendation that highlights the effective ways of tackling challenges while conducting a project. First of all, as a project manager, I made sure that there was a proper equilibrium between the strengths possessed by every individual group members. This enabled me to achieve two fold objectives; one of which was to fill the skill gap between the group members as well as create a learning environment that enabled the group members to achieve an all-round development. I also had to establish a robust line of communication which enabled me to delegate responbilities appropriately to the group members as well allowed them to communicate any issues that they faced. As a project manager I had to make sure that the technical expertise gap is addressed via a mutual training process. This enabled me to exert a methodical control over the group members which in turn helped them to meet the deadlines on a regular basis from then onwards. Lessons learnt Having conducted this assignment, I was able to have a holistic view of the ways in which statistical tools play a crucial role in enabling managers to create project plans. I was also able to learn about significance of different leadership functions in an organization. The project helped me enlightened my knowledge regarding the implications of adopting appropriate leadership functions while conducting a project. I was able to learn about intricate details that need to be followed while conducting a project as well as the challenges faced during the time frame. 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