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Paul Naybour
LinkedIn ProfilePaul Naybour is a seasoned project management consultant with over 15 years of experience in the industry. As the co-founder and managing director of Parallel, Paul has been instrumental in shaping the company's vision and delivering exceptional project management training and consultancy services. With a robust background in power generation and extensive senior-level experience, Paul specializes in the development and implementation of change programs, risk management, earned value management, and bespoke project management training.
Please could I have some feedback on the following 5 question responses on Governance and Leadership/Team Work!!!
Q. Explain the overall aim of project governance and explain what each of the following four components of project governance seek to ensure:
Portfolio direction
Project sponsorship
Project management effectiveness and efficiency
Disclosure and reporting
The overall aim of project governance is to ensure that projects are managed and controlled effectively, with effective oversight. Project governance links with overall organisational governance to help ensure the ultimate success of the organisation, including the projects undertaken by it and to minimise organisational risk.
Portfolio direction seeks to ensure that the organisation is undertaking the optimal mix of projects and programmes, which contribute to the organisations strategic objectives. It ensures that projects and programmes are started and terminated at the appropriate time to maximise benefits and minimise risks for the organisation. The approval of the project Business Case would be an example, of how, through Portfolio Direction, projects are screened and sifted.
Project sponsorship seeks to ensure that the organisation is committed to the project and that the project is linked to benefit realisation. The project sponsor will govern the project manager throughout the project life cycle, ensuring that the right decisions are being made and that risks are being managed. The sponsor will also be responsible for ensuring the realisation of benefits delivered through the projects end deliverables.
Project management effectiveness and efficiency refers to the organisations project management capabilities. The organisation seeks to ensure that it has right amount of resources with the appropriate capabilities, competences and levels of authority to successfully deliver the projects. This also includes the use of a project management method, such as Prince2, which through the right mix of people, products, processes, templates and tools will ensure that projects are managed and delivered effectively and efficiently.
Disclosure and Reporting seeks to ensure that there is open and honest reporting of information, including risks and issues. That the organisation does not attempt to hide bad news and that information is accurate and relevant. This enables correct decisions to be made and action be taken as and when required. Risk reporting and gate or stage reviews would be examples of discourse and reporting in practice.
Q. Describe the term teamwork and describe 4 stages through which a team might develop.
Teamwork is where a group of individuals work together in collaboration or co-operation to achieve a common goal. Tucker describes four stages of team development:
1.Forming
This stage is when the group first come together. They may not know each other and could be distrustful of each other and the manager. At this stage the team will be largely uninformed and may therefore make wrong assumptions about their objectives.
2.Storming
This second phase is where the team start to gel, although individual team members may still be unsure about how they will inter-operate. There is likely to be a lot of competition and conflict between individuals as they start to understand each other’s responsibilities. The main focus for a project manager during this stage is conflict resolution and helping to coach, coax and coerce team members out of this phase and into the more productive ‘norming’ stage.
3.Norming
The team are now fairly cohesive and have started to deliver their objectives. They are adapting to changes well. The risk during this stage is that the team become complacent and lose their creativity and impetus. They may also start to think that the group is more important than the task itself. The project manager needs to ensure that the team stays focused and motivated and thereby continue to progress their objectives.
4.Performing
This is the optimal development phase for the team. They are now a highly productive and cohesive unit, supporting each other in their tasks and decisions. They need very little supervision, pro-actively identify ways to improve their working practices and are able to solve their own problems.
Q. Describe the term situational leadership and four approaches they may adopt to respond to the need to adjust their leadership style.
Hersey and Blanchard used the term ‘situational leadership’ to postulate how leaders need to adapt their leadership style in different situations. The leadership style is adapted based on the needs of the followers and their willingness to be lead. They stated that there were four leadership styles, depending on the level of direction and support given by the leader to their followers:
Telling
This is where there is one way communication from the leader to the follower. The leader ‘tells’ the follower what to do and how to do it, therefore there is both a high level of direction and support. This style is useful when managing new starters, who may have little competence in the role or task.
Selling
This leadership style is where the leader still provides direction but their emphasis is more on explaining the purpose of the task or role. In this way the follower is more likely to become involved in the situation. This style is useful where team members have some level of competence but may lack commitment.
Participating
Here the leader and the follower jointly make decisions, such as how to do a task better, quicker or more cheaply. The leaders style is more focused on supporting the follower in their choices. This style is useful when the follower is confident but lacks confidence.
Delegating
This leadership style is where the leader merely monitors the progress of the work. The follower has full responsibility for the task and how to go about it. This style is used to empower followers who are highly competent and confident.
Q. List & describe 5 ways in which a project manager might seek to motivate their team.
The Herzberg Two Factor Theory suggests that factors leading to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are independent and that the following factors are types of ‘true motivators’:
Achievement
Being given the opportunity to achieve is a source of job satisfaction and hence motivating. A project manager should set clear, achievable targets and role expectations in order to give team members the best chance of understanding and achieving them. For example they should clearly document roles and responsibilities from the project outset, including creating and issuing a RACI matrix. There should also be a clear set of success criteria and KPIs, so that the team understand what success looks like and what they will be measured on.
Recognition
Being seen as an expert in your field and having others seek your opinion is a key source of self-esteem and motivation. A project manager should ensure that they understand individuals’ competencies within their team, to allocate tasks appropriately and should pro-actively seek advice and support from the appropriate subject matter expert within the team. In this way team members will be satisfied that they have been involved and consulted in appropriate discussions and decisions. The project manager should also provide feedback, including praise and encouragement.
Responsibility
Individuals are empowered and motivated when they are given responsibility and accountability. A project manager should ensure they delegate responsibility for tasks to competent team members. Delegating appropriately can also help build an individual’s confidence. For example the project manager could delegate responsibility for budget reporting or training provision.
Advancement
Individuals tend to get complacent and bored, which will lead to de-motivation, if they are not kept challenged. A project manager can seek to motivate the team by giving people new challenges as the project matures. This does not necessarily need to be accompanied by monetary reward. For example, a team member could be made a workstream lead or asked to manage the relationship with a specific group of stakeholders.
Personal growth
Individuals are motivated through personal growth and fulfilment. This can be achieved through learning new skills or building new networks. A project manager could motivate the team members by providing training in new techniques or subjects to aid their personal development. For example individuals could be trained on Microsoft Project or in negotiation skills, if relevant to their role.
Q. Explain the concept of teamwork and explain four team or social roles, including how they contribute to an effective team.
The term teamwork refers to a group of individuals working in collaboration or so-operation to achieve a common goal. This is an important concept for a project manager who will not be able to perform all the roles and tasks on a project themselves, but will need to manage a multi-disciplinary team to achieve the project objectives.
In order to build an effective team Belbin suggested that eight key roles were required and hence a project manager should consider these roles when selecting team members. Four of these roles are:
Plant
A ‘plant’ is a highly creative and innovative individual who is a strong problem solver, thinking ‘outside of the box’. They may appear distant to other team members at times. An effective team will need a ‘plant’ to help devise innovative solutions to problems encountered.
Team worker
A ‘team worker’ is a person who focuses on ensuring everyone in the team is happy and comfortable. They will want to ensure consensus and will focus a lot of their time on people issues. The team worker will be useful in helping the team gel, to resolve interpersonal conflicts within the team and moving the team from the ‘storming’ to the more productive ‘norming’ team development stage.
Completer/Finisher
This role is about dotting the ‘I’s and crossing the ‘Ts’. This type of individual has great attention to detail and is therefore likely to ensure detailed planning and quality of the end deliverable. This individual will therefore help ensure customer and stakeholder satisfaction. They will be useful in planning the project, scheduling tasks and configuration management.
Implementer
The implementer role is about delivery. They get things done. This type of person has an eye for the practical and a common sense approach. They will help ensure the team keeps progressing towards its goals and overcomes any obstacles along the way.
many thx
Fran