Project Manager as a Leader

The nature of most projects is driven by cross-functional collaboration: team members from different functional domains work hand-in-hand to achieve a common (project) goal. Unlike team members in classical hierarchical organizations, they typically don’t report directly to the Project Manager though. A Project Manager, as the leader of such a cross-functional team, needs to deal with the strings attached to this setup. The same applies to the team members who must simultaneously be loyal to their solid line leaders and take ownership for the projects they are staffed into.

Leading Project Teams is probably one of the most challenging and often complex leadership assignments. It therefore requires a more fine-tuned set of skills and tools to succeed. The often cited “I tell you to do X and you will get rewarded in the next salary review”-mechanism does not work in projects (and often neither in traditional setups…but that’s a different story). Project Manager should feel encouraged to lead through:

1. Setting precise (not micro!) goals so that the teams know what’s the common direction
2. Layouting the path which is in the line of sight to build a high degree of synchronized actions across functional domains
3. Continuously and regularly review if the team is on the right path and executes with the needed pace
4. Be quick and determined when there is the need to course correct – either the style of execution or the path to success

Our experiences across various industries and companies suggest that there is a strong correlation between

Understand if the project is on tracks and the success of a project

Templates can substantially simplify leadership in projects. A standardized format helps to establish clarity for the entire project team and beyond. In addition, it ‘forces’ Project Managers to be precise about content and progress of the project. We acknowledge that any template reduces liberty and might even substitute ‘creativity’ with ‘precision’. A Milestone Chart, for example, emphasizes which milestones are due at which week. It limits the ability of a Project Manager to operate in a “we’ll see what’s next when we get there”-style (note: don’t mix up a fluffy plan with agile). If used as part of the project’s review dialogue, project teams know where they are heading, and Project Managers can easily spot deviations to the initial plan.

We encourage all projects to challenge if their current systematics are sufficient to lead cross-functional teams. Our selection of templates will make it easier for Project Managers to be successful in these kind of challenging leadership assignments.