Project leadership….how would you define it? Confidence, organization, authority, decision-making, power, influence…anything else? In terms of flat out project leadership, I think there are two definite components…not to belittle any of those mentioned above. Those are important, but, in my opinion, the two main components are communication and visibility. In Part 1 of this two part series, I’d like to discuss the communication component of project leadership.
The way I see it, communication and project leadership – or any leadership for that matter – go hand in hand. The project managers who consistently succeed in bringing projects in on time and on budget (or within generally acceptable guidelines) are those who effectively manage the interfaces and communications between people and organizations. The people working on your project, and those peripheral members of the project team, need to be comfortable with bringing issues to the project manager’s attention. This goes for people who report directly to you on the project, their managers, and your senior leadership as well. In fact, it should also include the project customer and anyone on the project customer team as they really are part of the project ‘team’ as a whole.
The way I see it, communication and project leadership – or any leadership for that matter – go hand in hand. The project managers who consistently succeed in bringing projects in on time and on budget (or within generally acceptable guidelines) are those who effectively manage the interfaces and communications between people and organizations. The people working on your project, and those peripheral members of the project team, need to be comfortable with bringing issues to the project manager’s attention. This goes for people who report directly to you on the project, their managers, and your senior leadership as well. In fact, it should also include the project customer and anyone on the project customer team as they really are part of the project ‘team’ as a whole.
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