There is no doubt that good project management is a critical factor of project success. That is, a project cannot be run without project management, be it formal or informal. You need to have something that holds things together. The underlying assumption is that we need some form of order to organise and run a project. Someone has to do something. In this sense, project management helps set a frame, providing structure and order to potential chaos. Without this structure a project leads to nowhere; it will most likely fail, if it ever takes off.
Without project leadership there is no direction in project management. Leadership is the decisive factor for improving the chances for projects to succeed. Consequently, effective project management needs to have a solid foundation based in project leadership.
Share a vision
Managing projects can be daunting, especially if you find yourself thrown into project management with little training or guidance beforehand. Sharing a common project vision and goals and having the same understanding about tracking the progress towards this vision is one of the key factors in the success of a project and team. The secret of a good project is that it portrays a direction of the project in a way that people can relate to it. The right project vision is the foundation of every successful project. It is the cornerstone of success.
Clear team roles
Few things cause more confusion and tension on a team than a lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities. When team members don’t know what their roles are or how those roles relate to other people on the team, boundaries are crossed and unnecessary conflicts arise. As a project manager, it’s your responsibility to clearly define the role of each team member to help everyone work well together. By giving individuals responsibility for their own work, you take the burden of micro-management off of yourself and give your team the ability to work from their strengths and learn new project management skills, both of which are better for your project and your organisation in the long run.
Encourage collaboration
Collaboration is necessary for the team to achieve the vision and project objectives. By the same token, the project vision must include the concept of collaboration; it needs to be part of the vision as well as the project objectives. Collaboration is a means to achieve the objectives and thus to come closer to achieving the vision. It is a central element of every project.
Project success starts and ends with project leadership. However, as much as these steps can be applied by every team member regardless of his or her role, leadership is not limited to a single person or role. We know that as project leaders we cannot succeed by ourselves. We need the help and support of our teams. This is why it is important to build teams and empower them to perform and deliver.
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