Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Project leadership has been a topic discussed now for quite some time. I'm interested to see if it really is something that project managers are embracing. What sort of leadership challenges are you working with right now? Saving Changes...
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saurabh mahajanPMP, ITIL, PRINCE2| vodafonePune, Maharashtra, India
Leadership is important trait of project manager. He/She cannot run away from it. And if they run away then it will surely doom the project.
I am currently facing challenge of convening a team for a common goal as there are some senior and junior members in the team. All have different expectation from the project.Given in that some are technical experts. Plus some are new to tools that we use. Plus we have virtual team. Plus different culture and working style. Plus a different working time zone. Plus some are not good communicators. etc etc etc.
So solving this web complexity will need lot of precise communication and a planning in itself. Will have to give proper examples to show them the real benefit of achieving the common goal which will have benefits for all in some or the other way. Will have to set common grounds for working which should have respect for each other.
Lots of work to do. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Wow, that sounds like a challenging project! You're really going to have to use your leadership skills to lead that team to a successful conclusion. Setting clear (common) goals is going to be key, isn't it. Thanks for contributing! Saving Changes...
In my previous project, I had a team of very experienced and professional people. Our communication was the thing which kept us coherent and on the same page. Everyone precisely knew what was expected of him/her. It was not like that with all the members from the first day but it didn't take long either. One problem which I faced was when the management involved itself in the matters of the project. At those times, only one member didn't know how to keep the balance.
Before that, I had a team which will keep me updated everyday; literally everyday; BUT when a problem would arise at site they would consult after trying everything possible. Their efforts weren't always futile. They were new, they had ideas, I let them into those troubles to have experience but they were taking things as if they were their responsibility. They worked great eventually.
At present, I am in a somewhat weird situation where I am working as Quality Manager with a team where I am 'the new guy' and almost everyone is more experienced than me. So, I have a role where I have to tell people who have more experience than myself as to how to do their job (QA). It doesn't end here. I will also be checking (QC) their work and will be asking them to do certain work in a particular way. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
That's a leadership challenge and a half - although I think as you are aware of the weirdness of it, you're in a good place to be able to deal with it! Saving Changes...
I am in a weird situation too. After having worked for years in the HW/SW branch I recently switch to plastic disposables fields: this means no technical background. In addition I am the #2 of the project as there is a Technical Leader having the accountability of the project towards Senior management. Furthermore, we are in a balanced matrix structure which makes people feeling confused about whom to report. I guess that my leadership strategy shall be perfectly tailored to this situation to handle properly all this communication channels.
I also consider it as a good test to evaluate whether a PM can perform well even without technical background.
Do you have some tips for me? Thanks a lot :-) Saving Changes...
A PM can perform well enough without technical background so long as the PM knows how to handle the projects in general, the associated risks of the specific field and the stakeholder management.
Having a technical background does give one an edge and that's why is preferred by many. Focusing on communication (channels) is the best strategy to start with. Saving Changes...
