Chapter 12 Management and leadership in projects

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Maylor, Project Management, 4th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011

Chapter 12 Management and leadership in projects‘Management is doing things right; leadership is

doing the right things.’ [Peter Drucker] • Introduction• Leading and managing• Style and culture• Management fads and fashions• Summary

Project management in practice: Doesn’t time fly?

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Introduction

• What makes a great leader?• Is this different from being a good manager? • What traits do great business leaders have?• Could project managers usefully adopt these

traits?• In project management the terms ‘leader’ and

‘manager’ are often interchanged• Excellence in project management requires

elements of both• Treating time as a valuable resource is crucial

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12.1 Leading and managing

Figure 12.1 The role of leadership and management

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Management• Plays a positive role in the achievement of goals• The technical discipline of applying and administering

authority over others• Authority is determined by the formal structure of the

organisationThe manager is the dynamic, life-giving element in every

business. Without his leadership, the resources of production remain resources and never become production. In a competitive economy above all, the quality and performance of managers determine the success of the business, indeed they determine survival. [Peter Drucker]

12.1 Leading and managing (Continued)

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Leadership• The quality of obtaining results from others through

personal influence; requires the right individual skill and attitude

• Influencing others through personality or action• The traits approach

– ‘Leaders are born and not made’• Skills and attributes

– Teachable, providing the individual wants to learn• Intelligence

– Cannot be taught but rarely seen as a constraint on success• Further research

• No single recipe for success


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Figure 12.2 A framework for the study of managerial leadershipSource: Mullins, L.J. (2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour, 7th edn, Harlow: Financial Times-Prentice Hall. Reproduced with permission of Pearson Education Ltd.


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Individual skills and attitudes– Personality – Experience – Formal training and education – Informal training and education

• PMs require skills, many are learnable • Personal (as opposed to personnel) management

– Best place to start is with yourself– Time management is crucial (time is not replenishable)

• Ability to motivate a team


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Time management– ‘Running to stand still’– Not enough time allocated to analysis leads to poor decision making

• Proactive time allocation– Looking beyond what has to be done now– Problem prevention

• Reactive time allocation– Fire-fighting– If there is a problem, work on it now– Rewarding – Stress can be high– Progress on innovative matters haphazard

• Inactive time allocation– Resting time is important– Should not include thinking time


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Stress• Pressure can be beneficial

– Rise to a challenge– Leads to enhanced performance

• The negative side of pressure is stress– Symptoms range from anxiety to break down

• Plan your way out • Pace yourself• Pamper/reward yourself on accomplishments• Prepare to laugh lots, it heals


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Relieving stress• Analyse the current situation

– Log time spent on activities over several weeks, give priority and comment (Table 12.1)

• Set goals and targets– Short, medium, long term– Professional, financial, personal and other – ‘SMART’ specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-framed– Accountable, regularly reviewed, stretching, exciting– Change the plan if discrepancy between objectives and time allocated

• One thing at a time– Focus on goals to be achieved– Eliminate distractions

• Balance life with sport and recreation• Having fun spurs better performance and relieves stress


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Table 12.1 Time usage analysis


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Table 12.2 Techniques to keep to a plan


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Individual motivation• People work better and faster when they have pride in their

work• An individual needs to gain satisfaction from the tasks they are

assigned

Figure 12.4 Main theories of work motivation


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Individual motivation – Scientific management– ‘Taylorism’ – most applicable to repetitive work

• Measure, record, analyse work to determine how it should be divided for maximum efficiency.

• Match worker to job, e.g. physique• Train the person for the exact task as measured • Closely supervise• Reward the person for carrying out the task exactly• Separates task and thinking• Motivation is purely financial


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• Tasks are simple which leads to proficiency• Workers have no input to tasks and can be

alienated • Alienation can be passive (don’t care) or

destructive (sabotage)• For projects

– At lowest level of WBS tasks are often repetitive– Productivity can be improved, e.g. measuring

material movement can indicate excessive/superfluous distances


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Individual motivation – The Hawthorne studies• Hypothesis: working conditions impact on motivation and

hence productivity• When the lighting levels increased, productivity increased• When lighting returned to the original level – productivity

remained the same• Hypothesis rejected• More fundamental point

– the measuring process effects the performance of what is being measured

– ‘what gets measured gets done’• For projects

– Paying attention to groups improves the likelihood of good performance


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Individual motivation – Content theories: Maslow

Figure 12.5 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs


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Individual motivation – Content theories: Maslow• ‘Man is a wanting animal and rarely reaches a state of complete

satisfaction except for a short time. As one desire is satisfied, another pops up to take its place [Maslow, 1943]

• Individuals have requirements on one level that need to be satisfied

• Once these are met on an on-going basis their needs move to the next level up

• The order is not universal, individuals have their own hierarchies

• For project management– Until the basic needs are met an individual will not be looking for

higher order needs– Motivation can be provided through an individual pursuing as yet

unmet needs


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Individual motivation – Content theories: Herzberg’s ‘motivation-hygiene theory’• Focused on rewards• Needs are either

– Hygiene factors• Unless these are satisfied they will have a negative effect

on motivation• Once a level of satisfaction is reached increasing the level

further will not increase motivation• Example – pay

– Motivational factors• The better they are met the higher the motivation• Example recognition


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• For project management– Consider the pay and reward systems– The reward system will provide motivating factors for

individuals– Further benefits: individual’s attitudes and willingness to

engage with the challenges being faced


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Individual motivation – Process theories: Vroom’s ‘expectancy theory’• Individuals choose the amount of effort (motivational force) they will expend • This depends on the perception of achieving a desired outcome • First-level outcomes are performance-related

– satisfaction from completing a task well• Second-level outcomes when extrinsic benefits achieved

– praise from a colleague or superior• The motivation force is translated to effective work through skills

and abilities• Research extended to provide a universally acceptable model

– Human behavioural processes are more complex than models will allow

– May explain but are rarely effective in predictive mode


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Individual motivation – Reinforcement• Be specific

– Praise specific achievements based on current information

• Be immediate– Praise straight away, individual will link good performance

with the praise • Make targets achievable

– Facilitate individuals in breaking down tasks into achievable milestones, praise on completion of each


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• Remember the intangible – Praise may be more of a motivator than pay

• Make it unpredictable– A passing comment of praise can have greater effect than

the expected ‘pat on the back’• Underlying assumptions of rationality

– Can the individuals environment really be designed on the basis of their personal needs in a large organisation?


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Individual motivation – Other factors• Location

– Motivation systems and expectations differ in traditional rural and urban settings

• Length of service– Someone with long service will have different needs to a

new-comer• New teams

– Early guidance and feedback needed to define expectations

• Previous environment– People continue to react according to prior constraints


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• Organisational structural implications for project managers– modern management paradigms: the promotion of

project managers is often not as clear as promotion for line managers

• The Western approach typically – Organise people by function – Competence rewarded with promotion up the line,

graduating in that function – Clear progression path – Once a designer always a designer– ‘In a hierarchy, anyone will be promoted to their level of

incompetence’ [The Peter Principle. Peter L and Hull R, (1979)]


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• In Japan - Taiichi Ohno recognised – Products encompass process and industrial engineering– Teams are needed with all relevant expertise– Career path structured through rewards going to strong

team players


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• Organisational culture unlikely to be homogenised• At the simplest level, the nature of the team/group

needs to influence the style of management practised

12.2 Style and culture

Table 12.3 Culture of organisations

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Examples in a project environment: • The Apollo culture may prevail

– When the role of project manager is much like the line manager

– Especially where detailed WBS leads to functional arrangement

– And routine tasks have to be completed– But does not allow creativity – There is too much bureaucracy

• In Zeus organisations– The boss rules and controls absolutely– Tasks may be achieved but to the detriment of the team– If project/task is complex, one person considering all issues is

impossible– Exception when project is running behind, desperate

measures are needed

12.2 Style and culture (Continued)

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Management style:– Cooperation

• Educating the individual as to why it is in their interests to participate

• The focus of Humanistic Movement• Accommodating leadership style – ensure the needs of

the individual are met through activities and group support

– Coercion• Using functional devices and authority to force the

individual to do work• The basis of Taylorism• Works well in short term for specific task• Confrontational style – no commonality of purpose

12.2 Style and culture (Continued)

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12.3 Management fads and fashions• The development of new management paradigms• From Taylorism to Humanism

Table 12.4 The Tayloristic versus the humanistic agenda

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• Popularist and academic schools of thinking • Academic: modern ‘world class performers’

– Harness all employees’ creativity– Understand modern expectations about work conditions– Let go of hard-won control

• Popularist: sharing good practice– Books on personal management experiences – ‘Laws’ which guarantee management revolution – However…– The only constants are the ability to remain flexible and

customer-focused• Success far more likely if ideas are adapted rather than

wholesale adoption

12.3 Management fads and fashions (Continued)

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The intelligent approach to new ideas (fads)• Adopt only after careful consideration• Purge unnecessary jargon• Judge by practical consequences• Tie to here and now• Root in genuine problems• Adapt to suit people and circumstances• Adapt to changing and unforeseen circumstances• Test and refine through experimentation• Discard when no longer useful• Most significant: make small changes and observe results

12.3 Management fads and fashions (Continued)

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Summary

• Skills and attitudes of PM determined by personality, experience, education and training

• Leadership is characterised by the leader’s positive influence on the followers– Management is centred on people being treated as one of

the resources– Time is a non-replenishable resource and must be managed

accordingly– Leadership and motivation are linked– Leadership involves sympathy with the organisation’s culture

• New management paradigms should be screened carefully and should ‘add value’ to the ‘management product’

Documents

Chapter 12 Management and leadership in projects