Organizational Behavior and People Management
Student’s Name
Institution of Affiliation
Date
Introduction
Acorn Industries has undergone a lot of changes over the years, mainly because it acquired very many smaller firms as a way of competing with the other manufacturers in the market for contracts from the government. I choose the transformation style of leadership for Acorn Industries because ever since the firm got a new general manager in 1997, that the firm began making significant steps in how it manages its projects. A transformation style of leadership is often aimed at setting a good example for the other employees at the workplace to follow. The other employees are then challenged and motivated to follow in the steps of their leader. As a transformational leader, one is required to intellectually stimulate his followers by asking for their opinions on several matters and sometimes asking them to take risks. A transformational leader should be able to inspire others and instill confidence in them that he will guide them in a good way. Also, a good transformational leader should be able to tend to each of his/her followers and guide them on a personal level. I choose this leadership style because it is easier to implement and can affect very many people in the organization at the same time (Nguyen, Mia, Winata & Chong, 2017).
In order to successfully manage any ongoing or upcoming projects in an organization, a project manager requires several tools and techniques to influence the project team. Based on the fact that the majority of the contracts being awarded to Acorn Industries are defense contracts, I will use the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Technique to influence the project team (Nagar, 2017). The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) technique will provide me with better insight on how to plan as well as track progress results from the project. On the other hand, the critical path method will help me to accurately define the order of tasks to be carried out as well as how long each task will require to be completed. This way, the project team will be able to appropriately schedule tasks as well as estimate deadlines for completion of the project. I will also make use of my interpersonal skills and conflict resolution skills to influence the project team. Conflict resolution skills are important to ensure that all team members work in harmony. Interpersonal skills will help me interact with every team member in a positive manner for the good of the project.
Every successful project manager will attest to the fact that communication is a key element to the successful completion of a project. It is, therefore, important for me to establish and manage elaborate communication channels outside the project group. Some of the tools and techniques that I will use to effectively manage communication outside the project group are to first make sure that all the team members understand the vision of the project. I will also ensure that there is constant feedback on the progress of the project. In case of any challenges, I will ensure that the other team members feel comfortable enough to approach me, as the project manager, so that we can decide on the best way of tackling the existing challenge. Communication can take place through several media such as telephone calls or even through video conferencing if the team members are very far apart.
The Shenoy web article accurately describes the different types of power that I would use to y to motivate the team members to work collaboratively and have a positive impact on the success of the project. In order to effectively motivate the employees at Acorn Industries, I will try as much as possible to ensure that there decrease in the level of stress or discomfort for the employees. From the article, I think that the best power to employ will be reward power. This is because every member of the project team is motivated to gain some form of compensation at the end of the project. Reward power does not necessarily mean that the team members have to be compensated with monetary benefits. More often than not, project team members need words of affirmation and commendations such as getting “employee of the month” awards. As a project manager, it will be of great benefit to the project if the team members are highly motivated to work hard on the project. Reward power boosts the morale of the workers because they all want to attain the reward to be won when the project is completed. Reward power helps in strengthening team abilities because the team members will come together and cooperate to achieve their set goals for the project (“Project manager,” 2013).
I will make use of different techniques to develop self-managed teams for Agile projects. First, I will communicate with the team members the vision of the project. This way, they will come together and work for the “bigger picture,” which is the goal of the project. This is better than having different team members working on individual tasks on the project. Also, I will ensure that the project teams have members with the required skill set. I will mix highly qualified personnel with those with intermediate skills so that they, too, can also learn from highly qualified individuals. This way, the project teams will have a healthy balance between them. For the project teams to be well managed, they need good leaders. It is important to choose leaders who can work well with everyone in the group so as to avoid future group disgruntlement. The group leader should be someone who can command respect and have the ability to oversee the project to its completion. I will also select people who have experience working on similar projects in the past to be part of the team to handle Agile projects. Having a project team that is highly qualified does not guarantee that the project will succeed. However, having a project group that has prior experience and has the technical expertise to complete the project almost guarantees that the project will be completed successfully. The team members should have complementary skills, thereby creating a healthy balance in the group (Couture, n.d.).
As a project manager, it is never an easy task to manage people effectively and supervise several projects. I chose the above approaches because they have a higher chance of success in Agile projects. The functioning of the team will be better with the above approaches because of the healthy balance created between skills and abilities. By having people with complementary skills and abilities as team members, I will have ensured that the team members work together to achieve the goals of the project. When the project team members fully understand and believe in the project vision, they will be motivated to work towards the set goals and complete the project in time. Having a self-managed team does not mean that the team does not require strong leadership. It is for this reason why I chose to have a group leader to spearhead the activities of the self-managed teams. The group leader will effectively coordinate and guide the activities of the group, thereby ensuring that the team works at maximum efficiency levels.
It is well known that every project has its challenges. As the project manager, it will, therefore, be my duty to ensure that the challenges being faced by my project team are alleviated before they grow so large that they damage the work environment and even cause damage to the final product. I will be required to observe for risk factors that will jeopardize the efficiency of the project team as well as the overall productivity of the project. A good and responsible project manager should always “stay on top of things” to ensure that that the targeted objectives of the project are achieved (Kendrick, 2016). First, I will implement team-building modes that will ensure that the team members can work better together and, in turn, guarantee higher productivity from the project. Also, I will implement better communication channels and communication skills to the team members so that information can easily be made available to everyone in the shortest time possible. A team that communicates has a higher chance of success than a team that has poor communication skills and channels. I will treat all the project team members equally so that they will all feel that they are equally valued team members. I will have conflict resolution training for the team members so as to ensure that they work harmoniously in the future. The team members will be able to effectively settle their disputes in a manner that will not affect the project negatively. I will also encourage the team members to cooperate and share the innovative ideas that they have so that the project can be completed successfully.
References
Kendrick, T. (2016). How to Manage Complex Programs: High-impact Techniques for Handling Project Workflow, Deliverables, and Teams. Amacom.
Nagar, M. M. D. (2017). Project Management techniques: PERT and CPM. Asian Journal of Computer Science Engineering, 2(2), 28-31.
Nguyen, T. T., Mia, L., Winata, L., & Chong, V. K. (2017). Effect of transformational-leadership style and management control system on managerial performance. Journal of Business Research, 70, 202-213.
Retrieved from http://www.acornlive.com/demos/pdf/E2_EM_Chapter_7.pdf
Couture, N. (n.d.). How to create and lead self-managing teams. Retrieved from https://www.cio.com/article/3031685/how-to-create-and-lead-self-managing-teams.html
Project manager. (2013, August 26). Retrieved from https://projectmanager.com.au/5-ways-project-managers-use-power/