Where Is Leadership Needed on a Project?
There are three key points to know about leading a project. One, there are many aspects of project leadership. Two, the project manager is not the sole provider of project leadership. And three, specific leadership providers will vary depending on project environment. To clarify this idea, let's take a look at project areas where leadership is needed and who could provide it in Table 16.1:
|
Project Area |
Leadership Provided By |
|---|---|
|
Direction and Plan |
Project sponsor |
|
Senior management |
|
|
Project manager |
|
|
Technical leader(s) |
|
|
Organizational Influence |
Project sponsor |
|
Senior management |
|
|
Project manager |
|
|
Technical leader(s) |
|
|
Commitment |
Project sponsor |
|
Senior management |
|
|
Project manager |
|
|
Project team |
|
|
Stakeholder Expectations |
Project manager |
|
Project sponsor |
|
|
Senior management |
|
|
Facilitation |
Project manager |
|
Communications Point |
Project manager |
|
Team leader(s) |
|
|
Project Team |
Project manager |
|
Team leader(s) |
|
|
Technical leader(s) |
|
|
Conflict resolution |
Project manager |
|
Team leader(s) |
|
|
Managing Business Change |
Project sponsor |
|
Senior management |
|
|
Project manager |
|
|
Technical Issues |
Project manager |
|
Technical leader(s) |
|
|
Business Issues |
Project sponsor |
|
Senior management |
|
|
Project manager |
|
|
Team leader(s) |
|
|
Managing Risks |
Project sponsor |
|
Senior management |
|
|
Project manager |
|
|
Team leader(s) |
|
|
Technical leader(s) |
We will explore more about managing stakeholder expectations, managing project communications, and building an effective project team in greater detail in Chapters 17-19 respectively.