Solution
Table of Contents
THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN PROJECTS. 1
2.0 Leadership and Governance in Projects. 3
2.1 Key Project Leadership and Governance Roles. 4
References and Bibliography. 11
1.0 Introduction
Project risks and uncertainties are significant challenges affecting the achievement of the goals and objectives on time. When these issues or changes occur, the project team requires direction from the governing and leadership body. According to Kevin and Michael (2011), leadership and governance provide a sense of direction. When there is ambiguity regarding the responsible individuals, it is highly likely that there will be stalling. Examples of major projects globally that have delayed due to lack of leadership and governance include Apple Lisa, new Coke, and Crystal Pepsi. The failures in these projects have been attributed to various aspects, including poor planning and collaboration among the key stakeholders, which are all important tenets in leadership and governance. Failure in projects due to governance and leadership can also be explained in the same context as business stalling or start-ups, which fail due to inadequate management.
This report entails evaluating how lack of leadership and governance results in project failure. The discussion is centred on theories and models in project management and leadership and management. A case study involving Al Maktoum International Airport is used to demonstrate the importance of effective leadership and management in projects. Recommendations are also provided from the findings and discussions.
2.0 Leadership and Governance in Projects
Project governance entails the functions, framework, and process guiding the project management. According to Guide (2001), in the book A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, project governance and management entails the oversight function and mainly involve the decision-making process. Other aspects encompassed in project leadership and governance include the direction of the whole project life-cycle, accountabilities, and identifying the structured roles. The merits of project governance and leadership include providing effective oversight and enhanced control, promoting the decision-making process, and integration. Although there is no standard framework effective in all project management leadership and governance, the customised model applied should contain four major components. These include definitive leadership responsibilities and accountabilities, stakeholder engagement, risk management, and assurance, which involve monitoring and control. These components reflect on the application of various leadership models and frameworks, including transformational, transactional, and democratic theories.
2.1 Key Project Leadership and Governance Roles
Project management is a critical responsibility to ensure every activity is in tandem with the goals and objectives. According to Bondarenko et al. (2018), the success of a project is attributed to the leaders and managers, since they possess the controlling authority of each process and activity. Among the key roles of the project manager is to make informed decisions across every step. During the project’s lifecycle, the developed plan is informed by several aspects, including an environmental scanning and the customer’s goals and objectives. Critical thinking is also tied to the informed decision-making process. During the environmental scanning process, the project leader is expected to apply various tools and frameworks to evaluate the micro and macro elements that may affect the organisation. One such tool is the PESTEL analysis, which is an acronym for political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental, and legal factors. For instance, any project should observe the current and future trends in the information and communication technology (ICT) context to ensure that the outcomes are sustainable.
Effective leadership and governance are the foundation of critical thinking to ensure that the decision drives the project towards its objectives. As described by Tuner (2020), good governance in projects is instrumental in the decision-making process, performance, and timely delivery of the goals and objectives. Critical thinking skills among project managers refer to the ability to evaluate the needs and different alternatives. The strengths and weaknesses of each alternative are examined and used to make the final decision. Besides, throughout the project’s progress, there are several encounters, including the challenges that may affect the speed of completing the tasks. The importance of critical thinking is to identify these issues and evaluate the available alternatives for mitigation. Critical thinking skills also include the individual’s ability to collect sufficient information and ensure credibility and reliability of the source for informed decision making. In every decision that is made regarding the project, it is essential to ensure that it is aligned with the goals and objectives and that all the stakeholders are involved.
Leadership and governance in projects also involve adequate planning. According to Majumder et al. (2021), planning consists of the allocation of resources and scheduling to achieve the project’s objectives. There are four main resources in projects, including information, physical, human capital, finances. Project managers are expected to demonstrate competence in allocating and managing these resources to ensure successful achievement of all goals. For instance, human capital involves the expertise among the professionals and the project team. Project management involves selecting an effective and competent team with diverse skills to contribute to the activities. Physical resources, on the other hand, involve the space and materials required in managing the projects. Examples are the facilities and any other resources required in accomplishing the project. Information resources comprise of sharing the required information with the relevant stakeholders for involvement in the decision-making process and management. Planning also involves setting the costs and schedules for the project.
Project leaders should advocate for applying various tools and models in managing the activities. For instance, during the environmental scanning, the leadership and governance can apply PESTEL or SWOT to examine the micro and macro elements affecting the project. These insights are important in the decision-making process and planning. Another important tool is the project management software. According to Hayat et al. (2019), contemporary project management approaches involve a combination of powerful planning and scheduling features, alongside collaborative tools for the teams. In modern project management approaches, the activities have been simplified by setting the dates and specific periods for the tasks. The software is essential in identifying the progress and any pending changes or adjustments. Some of the project management software include Gantt charts and the critical path method (CPM) (Robles, 2018). The effectiveness of these tools is to manage the activities and follow the progress.
The success of a project is further based on the ability to make quick changes to the project plan in response to the stakeholder needs, technology, or the market. According to Kurniawan et al. (2020), the ability to adjust to demands and environmental changes is the foundation of achieving better product and project performance in a dynamic field. This implies that agility is not a feature or method but a skill composed of combined aspects. As a skill or characteristic of effective project management, agility allows leaders to make effective changes that positively impact the project’s performance. Effective leadership and governance, therefore, are based on the consideration of the project’s performance as not an adjective of a particular approach but one’s understanding to make the right adjustments in line with the dynamics. Agility in performance can be evaluated based on two central factors. These include altering the project plan customer engagement. This helps in determining the areas of adjustment in line with the client’s needs. The agility concept is also a team’s performance indicator as influenced by the macro and microelements.
Profound leadership and governance in projects are further reflected in the individual’s values and interpersonal skills. Notably, the leaders work with several teams and stakeholders, including customers, other team leaders, and external individuals, including the media. Interpersonal skills, as described by Torlind and Eklof (2021), allow the project leaders to question, listen, and speak with the team members. Project management professionals concur that projects are likely to fail in case the project managers lack interpersonal skills. This is attributed to most of the tasks as the project manager requiring one to engage with the stakeholders. Quality leadership and governance is also based on enhancing the team members’ energy and projective a positive attitude at various times, including crisis (Ibraimova et al., 2019). The leader should give the team the confidence that regardless of the critical nature of the project, there is a likely solution. Other important skills and values in project leadership and governance include integrity, accountability, teamwork, and honesty. These values and skills enhance the interaction with other professionals.
2.1 Case Study
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