Project Management for Leadership (Part I: Baroudi and Human Skills)

¡Hola! In this post I will talk briefly about project management and leadership.  To begin with, I must admit that I haven't directed any projects, although I have participated in short research projects at work and ongoing projects related to the creation of exams (to be printed).

As a result, and considering most of what I have been able to read in EDDE-804 about project management is fairly new to me and will take some time to process and even more to eventually put into practice, my intention here (as in previous posts) is to keep a depository of materials for future reference.  Here, I will include three in particular.  Again, as in previous posts, I'll add here a link to the article, the abstract, an extract from the conclusions and a short general comment.

First, an article by Baroudi on human skills for project management:

Baroudi, B. (2008). Project management education: The human skills imperative. International Journal of Project Management, 26. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/20363684/Project_management_education_The_human_skills_imperative

Abstract:

This paper is intended to provide an insight into the importance of human

skills in project management success and the apparent lack of emphasis 

placed on this within the context of university education. The discussion will 

call upon the viewpoints of many notable authors in respect to the human or 

‘soft’ skills that are necessary in the management of projects. Against this 

background a review will be conducted into how well project management 

literature and university education equips potential project managers in the 

area of human skills. As the PMBOK Guide is one of the major recommended 

texts in Australian universities offering project management education, the 

paper will identify that it predominantly emphasises the required ‘hard 

(technical) skills’ at the expense of the ‘soft (human) skills’. Subsequent 

discussion will highlight the need for a balance between hard and soft skills 

within project management education in universities. It will conclude that 

educators within this discipline should recognise the importance of 

incorporating greater human skills aspects into their educational programs. 

As the authors point out in their conclusions, teaching skills should include
both hard and soft skills in higher education contexts, that is, including the
'technical' part of the job but also the human side to it. Some of these skills
required by managers (and expected in leaders) are described:

"The job of the project manager is demanding, complex and varied requiring
the juggling of several issues concurrently. Though traditional project
management competencies are critical for project success, communication
between team members and the entire network is vital to support a
shared understanding of the project and its goals. Managing projects
successfully therefore requires a mixture of skills including interpersonal
ability, technical competencies, and cognitive aptitude, along with the
capability to understand the situation and people and then dynamically
integrate appropriate leadership behaviours" (p.124).

 They conclude that:

"The criticism is not in respect to the teaching of technical skills within
project management but rather the lack of emphasis on the human side. A
more balanced approach between hard and soft concepts would see them
complementing each other and enhancing project management education in
the process.

As such it is proposed that a new way of thinking is necessary to broaden
existing approaches by including the more human types of issues
as previously identified [...] Such a proposal may ultimately educate students
and professionals of project management about the contribution that ‘soft’
thinking can make to successful project outcomes. Thus it is recommended
that the presentation of ideas about such concepts should start in the
classrooms of educational institutions that deliver project management
education" (p.127).

To conclude, human skills are a fundamental set of traits that leaders and
managers need to acquire and develop in academic and professional
environments.  Only by exhibiting and exerting them, effective and
transformational leadership can take place (Workmand and Cleveland-Innes,
2012), that is, management and leadership which truly transforms all the
people involved, followers and leaders alike:

"While leadership as a competency will be employed by both managers and
leaders, leadership success will be determined by the people being led, and
their individual and collective needs, which will also differ according to
audience, circumstance, or situation. The challenge for every leader is to
know how best to affect an outcome of effort, an outcome for people, or
both, regardless of the situational context" (Workman & Cleveland-Innes,
2012, p.320).

(to be continued in Part II...)

Reference: 

Workman, T., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2012). Leadership, personal transformation, and management. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 13(4), 313–323. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v13i4.1383