| Articles » Savvy Organizations Are Developing Leadership Talent With Special Projects |
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Savvy Organizations are Developing Leadership Talent with Special Projects |
| by Michael Stanleigh |
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| One of the most effective developmental practices to develop
leaders is to assign them special projects. Leaders who can achieve
financial and organizational goals garner the most respect and are
one of the top priorities for global organizations. These findings
come from a 2005 study by Development Dimensions International (DDI),
Inc., on best practices for tomorrow’s global leaders. |
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| The implications of these findings are significant for leadership
development programs. In addition to the known importance of developing
people, making tough decisions and creating a vision and strategy,
having knowledge and experience in the management of projects is
a critical leadership competency for many global organizations. |
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| A research report published by Business Improvement Architects, “From Crisis to Control: A New Era in Strategic Project Management,”
identified that while organizations are looking to develop leadership
talent with special projects, in fact, the lack of project management
competency is a huge concern for them as individuals are asked to
lead projects without any tools or processes to validate their skills,
knowledge and experience. There is also a lack of process to identify
developmental opportunities to increase the competency level of
these leaders and of their team members. |
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| The assignment of a special project is a valuable strategy to
develop a leader in a number of key competencies because a project
manager must act as a leader of the project team. However, organizations
must also ensure they have the tools and processes in place for
project management and identify developmental strategies to increase
competency of the project manager. Managing
a project requires strategy and planning, decision-making, interpersonal
skills, customer and team focus and financial management. These
competencies would support the leader’s ability to achieve
financial and organizational goals. |
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| Strategy and Planning |
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| The management of a project requires that the project manager be
clear on the goals of the project and its’ importance to the
organization. Project managers must be able to clearly define the
goals and objectives and project priorities. They must also understand
both the business and technical requirements for implementation and
select a team
with the right competencies and experience for the project. They learn
to adopt a business-like mindset that allows them to evaluate their
procedure, systems and overall approach from the perspective of their
internal customers. As well they learn the importance of evaluation
and assessment through their experience with closing projects; where
they evaluate each project and document the lessons learned for future
benefit. |
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| Decision Making |
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| Regardless of the size of the project there will be times when
the project team will encounter problems. The project manager will
have to analyze the problem’s impact and systematically deal
with its resolution by collecting adequate facts in a timely manner
and investigating the cause of the problem. They will learn how
to anticipate, manage and resolve differences of opinion and conflict
and also how to analyze the impact of the different alternatives
and solutions, considering time, cost and resource implications. |
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| Interpersonal Skills |
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| Undertaking any project is a team effort. Working with and through
others is a breeding ground for potential communication challenges
and conflict because a number of personalities make up the team.
Managing a project is a perfect opportunity to learn interpersonal
skills and develop more effective communication skills. Through
the management of team conflict, presentations to stakeholders and
reporting summaries, the prospective leader learns how to actively
listen to determine the needs of the sponsor, customer, team members,
department managers and other stakeholders, openly share information,
opinions and ideas and tailor all verbal and written communication
appropriately. |
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| Customer and Team Focus |
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| A project manager learns quickly that the success of the project
requires a focused team effort. At the very beginning, a project
manager must develop a scope statement for the project and ensure
that team members are clear about their roles and responsibilities.
The scope statement will define the parameters for the project including:
the project goal, deliverables, constraints, assumptions and risks
and, once approved, will provide clarity for the project team. Furthermore,
detailed project plans that include task dependencies, resource
allocations and milestones will crystallize the implementation. |
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| Focus also requires that the project team maintain good administrative
procedures to ensure reports and communications are accurate and
timely. They learn how to manage aspects of a project that may require
specific expert knowledge and work to build relationships with other
department heads to ensure that staff reporting challenges do not
interfere with project success. |
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| Financial Management |
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| Any project comes with its unique resource
constraints including budget, schedule and scope. It is unlikely
that a project that has overrun its constraints will be deemed successful.
Therefore, prospective leaders learn about financial management
as they deal with changes to projects, do risk assessment and develop
their work breakdown structures. They learn how to establish controls
by setting budget and schedule parameters in accordance with approved
scope and by holding regularly scheduled meetings to review and
compare schedule and budget performance actual versus planned. |
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| Summary |
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| Developing the competency levels of leaders through
their involvement in leading, directing and managing projects is clearly
seen as a path towards success. This benefits both the individual
leader and their organization. It is most important for organizations
to have the tools and processes in place for the management of projects.
The key project management processes which contribute to the success
of projects must be understood and used by leaders in order to ensure
their own growth and knowledge development. |
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| About the Author |
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| As President and CEO of Business Improvement Architects, Michael works with executives and senior managers around the world to help them improve operational effectiveness through strategic planning, leadership development, project management and quality management. He has been instrumental in helping his clients reduce waste and increase efficiencies and profits with his clear processes and quality approach. |
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| For more information about this article please contact
bia™ at info@bia.ca. |
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| © Business Improvement Architects |
