Powers of Project Manager

One of the major difficulties for a project manager is getting people to cooperate and perform. This is a major issue in a matrix organization. The different types of power for the project managers include:

• Formal (legitimate): This power is based on the position of the project manager

• Reward: This power stems from giving rewards

• Penalty (Coercive): This power comes from the ability to penalize team members

• Expert: This power comes from being the technical expert or even the project management expert

• Referent: Referent is the power of charisma and fame. This power comes from another person liking the project manager, respecting him, or wanting to be like him.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP STYLES

A project manager needs to use multiple leadership approaches throughout the life cycle of a project. The term is called situational leadership. It refers to using different leadership styles, based on the people and project work he or she is dealing with. The leadership and management styles include:

• Directing: This style involves telling others what to do

• Facilitating; When facilitating, project manager coordinates inputs of others

• Coaching; In coaching, the manager helps others achieve their goals

• Supporting; A supporting leadership style means the project manager provides assistance along the way

• Autocratic; This is a top-down approach. Here, the manager has the power to do whatever he or she wants

• Consultative; This is a bottom-up approach. It uses influence to achieve results. The manager obtains others opinions and acts as the servant for the team.

• Consultative-Autocratic: In this style, the manager solicits input from team members, but retains the decision-making authority for him or herself

• Consensus: This style involves problem-solving in a group, and making decisions based on group agreement

• Delegating: With a delegating style, the manager establishes goals and then gives the project team sufficient authority to complete the work

• Bureaucratic: This style focuses on following procedures exactly

• Charismatic: Charismatic managers energize and encourage their team in performing project work

• Democratic or participative: This style involves encouraging team participation in the decision-making process

• Laissez-faire: The French term laissez-faire has been translated as meaning allow to act, allow to do, or leave alone. A laissez-faire manager is not directly involved in the work of the team, but manages and consults as necessary. This style can be appropriate with a highly skilled team.

• Analytical: This style depends on the managers own technical knowledge and ability. Analytical managers often make the technical decisions for the project, which they communicate to their teams.

• Driver: A manager with a driver style is constantly giving directions. His or her competitive attitude drives the team to win.

• Influencing: The style emphasizes teamwork, team building, and team decision making. These managers work with their teams to influence project implementation.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

The key conflict resolution techniques are:

Confronting (problem-solving):

Confronting means solving the real problem so that the problem goes away. Confronting leads to a win-win situation.

Compromising:

This is a lose-lose situation since no party gets everything. This technique involves finding solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to both parties.

Withdrawal (Avoidance):

In this technique, the parties retreat or postpone a decision on a problem. Dealing with problems is a PMI-ism; therefore, withdrawal is not usually the BEST choice for resolving the conflict.

Smoothing (Accommodating):

This technique emphasizes agreement rather than differences of opinion

Forcing:

This technique involves pushing one viewpoint at the expense of another

[The following section contains PMBOK v5 content and it is not applicable to PMBOK v6.]

One of the major difficulties for a project manager is getting people to cooperate and perform. This is a major issue in a matrix organization. The different types of power for the project managers include:

• Formal (legitimate): This power is based on the position of the project manager

• Reward: This power stems from giving rewards

• Penalty (Coercive): This power comes from the ability to penalize team members

• Expert: This power comes from being the technical expert or even the project management expert

• Referent: Referent is the power of charisma and fame. This power comes from another person liking the project manager, respecting him, or wanting to be like him.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP STYLES

A project manager needs to use multiple leadership approaches throughout the life cycle of a project. The term is called situational leadership. It refers to using different leadership styles, based on the people and project work he or she is dealing with. The leadership and management styles include:

• Directing: This style involves telling others what to do

• Facilitating; When facilitating, project manager coordinates inputs of others

• Coaching; In coaching, the manager helps others achieve their goals

• Supporting; A supporting leadership style means the project manager provides assistance along the way

• Autocratic; This is a top-down approach. Here, the manager has the power to do whatever he or she wants

• Consultative; This is a bottom-up approach. It uses influence to achieve results. The manager obtains others opinions and acts as the servant for the team.

• Consultative-Autocratic: In this style, the manager solicits input from team members, but retains the decision-making authority for him or herself

• Consensus: This style involves problem-solving in a group, and making decisions based on group agreement

• Delegating: With a delegating style, the manager establishes goals and then gives the project team sufficient authority to complete the work

• Bureaucratic: This style focuses on following procedures exactly

• Charismatic: Charismatic managers energize and encourage their team in performing project work

• Democratic or participative: This style involves encouraging team participation in the decision-making process

• Laissez-faire: The French term laissez-faire has been translated as meaning allow acting, allow to do, or leave alone. A laissez-faire manager is not directly involved in the work of the team, but manages and consults as necessary. This style can be appropriate with a highly skilled team.

• Analytical: This style depends on the managers own technical knowledge and ability. Analytical managers often make the technical decisions for the project, which they communicate to their teams.

• Driver: A manager with a driver style is constantly giving directions. His or her competitive attitude drives the team to win.

• Influencing: The style emphasizes teamwork, team building, and team decision making. These managers work with their teams to influence project implementation.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

The key conflict resolution techniques are:

Confronting (Problem Solving):

Confronting means solving the real problem so that the problem goes away. Confronting leads to a win-win situation.

Compromising:

This is lose-lose situation since no party gets everything. This technique involves finding solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to both parties.

Withdrawal (Avoidance):

In this technique, the parties retreat or postpone a decision on a problem. Dealing with problems is a PMI-ism; therefore, withdrawal is not usually the BEST choice for resolving the conflict.

Smoothing (Accommodating):

This technique emphasizes agreement rather than differences of opinion

Collaborating:

In this technique, the parties try to incorporate multiple viewpoints in order to lead to consensus

Forcing:

This technique involves pushing one viewpoint at the expense of another