Lead a Project Team

0:00If we're talking about somebody who needs to lead a project team, then surely we're talking about a project manager, right. Well, maybe, but not necessarily. And even if we are, then it's quite likely that that person, that project manager has limited or no managerial power over the project team members. And that puts quite a unique perspective on what it takes therefore to lead a project team. So I'd like to start by just quickly running through some different organization structures, which will help us determine just how much managerial power the project manager has when leading the team.

0:33So firstly, what is described as a functional organization is structured around its primary functions, such as IT or engineering or whatever. And each project team member, the people in the yellow boxes here, will report to their functional manager. And with this structure, we might not even have a formally recognized role of project manager at all. But if we do, they will frankly have little or no control over these resources. But at the other end of the scale, if we have a projectized organization, then we are structured completely around projects and not functions.

1:07And so, therefore, the project manager has got full managerial responsibility for those project team members. Now these are the two extremes, but the reality is many organizations are going to fall somewhere in the middle with a matrix organization. And there are different types of structures within this classification of matrix. But just as an example, let's say that we do have a project manager as a full time role. But authority over team members might vary from being zero through to being shared with the functional manager. Hmm.

1:38So that does present some unique challenges for the poor soul trying to lead the project team through influence alone, but it can be done. And in this short series of videos, we'll start off by making sure that we're clear on the difference between leadership and management. And we'll also see what qualities are needed to lead a team. And we'll learn about different leadership styles and how a good leader can flex the style used to make sure the team gets what they need, depending on the stage of development that they're at, or what stage of the project they're at, or even depending on what project management methodology is being used.

2:11We'll also take a look at some factors involved in supporting team performance and in developing, and motivating, and rewarding the team, and whatnot. So yes, this is going to be a very interesting journey. And I will see you in the very next video.

0:00You might think I'm being a bit pedantic here, pitching the idea of leadership up against management. I mean, aren't they the same thing? Well, no. Because even though the words might be used interchangeably sometimes, the idea of management is more about using authoritative power to get things done, whereas leadership is more about using collaboration, and coaching, and discussion, and whatnot to guide team progress. Of course, there is a place for both. And it's very likely that, in reality, they'll overlap a bit. But let's do a comparison, starting with that example I just gave, whereby management will be directing and controlling using their managerial or authoritative power.

0:37And this is often seen as negative. Often, when we look at comparisons like this, we see that the manager drives people rather than coaches them, and uses fear to get more out of people, and blames them when things go wrong, yet takes the credit when things go well, and says, "I" instead of "we." But this is bad management. It's actually I think an abuse of managerial power. Good management should include elements of good leadership. And this is why I am saying that in real life there's going to be an overlap between the two. So good leadership is all about coaching, and developing the team, and guiding, and influencing the direction the team takes.

1:12A leader doesn't rely on managerial power-- and, indeed, might not even have any-- but instead inspires trust and develops people. And as we'll see as we progress through this comparison, leadership is much more people-y. I think I've made up that word. So it's much more people-y than the traditional view of management, which tends to be focused more on following rules, and dealing with operational issues, and solving problems. For example, if a scheduler isn't following regulations regarding the allocation of shifts to team members, then the manager will go and sort it out, whereas leadership focuses more on relationships, with emphasis on motivating, and inspiring, and involving the whole team.

1:50So a great leader will create space and opportunity for problems to be solved, rather than feeling that they have to solve them themselves. Because ideas that come out of collaboration with the team will almost always be better. They're often going to be more innovative, that's for sure. And they'll certainly be more readily adopted by the team. Because a team are part of the decision-making process in the first place. For example, the management approach to the shift allocation process would be to make sure that regulations are being followed. But a good leader might involve the team in order to understand who prefers the late shifts and who prefers the early shifts.

2:23So we're taking into account the fact that these are actual people we're talking about here. We're not just applying the rulebook to a list of resources. And then the last area of comparison in this video is to do with tactical rather than strategic thinking. So a manager might be checking that the team are doing things right. They'll be asking questions such as, how are you going to do it? And, when will it be done by? They might be more focused on the short-term goals because maybe their success as a manager depends on the team hitting the next deadline, or the next quality control check, or whatever, whereas a great leader is more strategic.

2:56They have more long-range vision, and wants to simply not do things right, but to step back and ask, are we doing the right thing in the first place? They're asking questions that begin with, "what" and "why" in order to innovate and challenge, rather than just doggedly chase that deadline without looking at the bigger picture. But let's just see a summary of all of that. And if you were to Google "management versus leadership," you will stumble across quite a few graphics and posters that paint management negatively and leadership positively. But that's a comparison between bad management and good leadership.

3:29Because the reality is, it's not really a competition between the two. And so a project manager, for example, will need to use both management and leadership skills in order to be effective. So, yeah, good leaders will have great interpersonal skills, such as being able to communicate, and negotiate, and facilitate, and coach, and inspire, and more because leadership is much more people-y than the traditional view of management. And that's a really good thing. Because, after all, project teams are made up of people. The project work is done by people.

4:01And a great leader is very interested in making sure that those people will flourish.

0:00When you're leading a project team, you will be exhibiting some sort of power. And it's useful to be aware of the different types of power to help you understand your relationships with other people in the organization. Now there are numerous factors at play on a project and to combine that with your own personal style and the structure of the organization. And that makes for an awful lot of different types of power and depending on what text you're reading or what Google search results that you stumble across, the list of different types is going to vary. But my goal in this video is to heighten your awareness of some of the different types, and we'll start with the obvious one, positional.

0:37Well, I say the obvious one, but it might not be obvious to you until I show you the other names that this type of power has. So, yeah, this power is granted to you by the formal position that you hold in the organization. So he is the boss and everybody knows it. He has positional power. And it does work, but using it as a leader as a rather sledgehammer approach is a bit like your mother telling you to do something, and you saying why, and her response being because I said so. So that's the obvious power type, but my favorite power type is relational.

1:10And oh my, this is really useful for a leader. This is all about the relationships that you have in the organization, that camaraderie that you've built up with the team and other people who might be useful for the team. There's a lot to be said for those kinds of connections and alliances when you need to call in a favor. And people who successfully use relational power are excellent networkers. They're social, and often would have been working in the organization for a while, so as to have built up that shared history as it were with co-workers. Expert power, as you might guess, is where you are an expert on the subject.

1:44You really do know better than anyone else, and therefore, you have credibility. And people will listen to what you say. And building expertise is absolutely a worthy way of increasing your influence. Whereas informational power is when you know something that somebody else doesn't. And that might be because you're in charge of the gathering or the distribution of data. But of course, this is a very transitory type of power, because as soon as you share that information, your power is gone. Reward oriented power, as you might imagine, is where you have the ability to give rewards or recognition.

2:16And that could be any type of reward which would be motivating to the team member. And I don't mind admitting that I have a reward oriented power over my dog. I can open the treats cupboard and she count. Referent power is a form of power that's based on your capacity to influence and inspire the team. You have earned the respect and the admiration of team members because you've got an impressive track record in the field, for example. Or referent power could be when you associate yourself with powerful people. So if you were to mention that do you play badminton with the managing director or something, then your power will probably be increased because of that alliance.

2:53Personal or charismatic power is when you're simply so personable, so charismatic, so charming, that people just can't say no to you. And I'm sure you know somebody like this. They just seem to cast a spell over everybody that they meet. Pressure-based power is when you pressurize people into doing something by mentioning a bad outcome of not complying. So people feel pressurized into doing what you say, because if they don't do it, they're going to be responsible for the team missing a deadline. Arg. Even harsher than this is punitive or coercive power, sometimes known as punishment power.

3:27And this is where you have the ability to invoke negative consequences for team members who don't comply. Now clearly this is not a sustainable form of power, and it's going to burn bridges for the future. You really aren't going to build up any relational power if you use punitive power, for example. Guilt-based power is when you make people feel it's their duty to behave in a certain way. And so you're kind of guilt tripping them into a particular behavior because you've imposed a sense of obligation on them. Situational power is when you have power due to being in a particular place at a particular time.

4:00Maybe there's some sort of crisis site, and you're the only one who speaks the local language. So yeah, you have power because of the situation that you find yourself in. Ingratiating power is where you are a master of using flattery to win support for your way of thinking or to find common ground. And persuasive power is when you managed to be so convincing with your argument that people can't help but agree with you. And finally, avoiding power. Now I'm not sure if I like this one. It's kind of potentially a bit passive aggressive in my opinion.

4:32But this is referring to the power that you gain when you simply refuse to participate. It can really throw people. So understanding the forms of power can help you as a team leader to maximize your ability to influence the team by being proactive and intentional when using power. And I don't mean that to sound devious, because power is fragile. It comes and goes I just mean that the extra self-awareness that you gained when you understand where you're drawing your power and influence from will help to become a better leader.

0:00We already know that a leader doesn't rely on managerial or positional power. They inspire and guide and motivate the team using some of the more subtle forms of power that we talked about such as relational power and personal power and whatnot. And we also know that leadership is much more peopleier than pure management. So I think you already know that our list of qualities a good leader requires is going to focus heavily on the soft skills side of things. But let's start with some personality traits that we expect in a good leader.

0:31And firstly, we need somebody who is positive and optimistic by nature. Nobody is inspired or motivated by somebody who shuffles into the office with a scowl on their face. And we also need somebody who is authentic and courteous and respectful and culturally sensitive. Sounds like a tall order. But again, who wants to be led by somebody who isn't authentic and isn't courte ous or isn't respectful nor culturally sensitive? I really don't think it's too much to ask a leader to have these traits. And our leader's personality needs also to have a good balance of creativity and intellect.

1:05You know, the ability to innovate and think out of the box and at the same time can apply logic and tackle complex ideas. And as if this isn't enough, we also need our leader to have a very long list of soft skills. And I know what you're thinking. My goodness, do you expect me to be a superhero in order to lead a team? Well, yeah, kind of. But luckily these skills can be learned. And just by being aware of what's needed in the first place is a great place to start. So the skills we look for in a team leader start off with, I think, communication skills.

1:36Because it's all very well having a vision, which is quite possibly why that person is the leader in the first place, but can they communicate that vision to the team? And can they communicate effectively day to day? You know, to manage expectations, to give them receive feedback, ask good questions and listen actively to the answers. And apparently the best project managers spend up to 90% of their time communicating. So yeah, communication skills are really important. And building on that, we'll expect our leader to use those communication skills to manage relationships, to build trust.

2:09And that's where the relational power will come from too. And talking of managing relationships, our team leader should also have skills in conflict management. And in fact, I put together a short series of videos for you on this only this week, so take a look at that. And our team leader should also work on improving their emotional intelligence. This is all about being self-aware, you know, being aware of your own and others' emotions to help you handle interpersonal relationships better. And again, if you've watched my effective teams' videos, then that will have increased your emotional intelligence by a few points.

2:41Although looking at this screen now, I am wondering why I chose a picture of my character with a computer to depict emotional intelligence. I'm kind of thinking that she should have been with a person rather than hiding behind a laptop screen. And finally, our team leader should have good decision-making skills. They mustn't be afraid to make those difficult decisions. And as if that wasn't enough, our leader should be a lifelong learner too. And at the end of this very long and ambitious list, frankly, I'm not surprised that my character here is looking exhausted. But what I'm trying to say is that although not all of us are cut out to be great leaders, these are skills that can be learned and nurtured and added to your toolkit.

3:19For example, go and watch my other videos in this series on conflict management and whatnot. And of course, you're already a CBT nugget subscriber, and that means you're already set up to be a lifelong learner.

0:00There are many different ways of leading a project team, and the style that you end up using will depend on all sorts of factors such as the structure of your organization, the type of project you're working on, and of course, your own personal preference. But a smart leader will adapt their leadership style depending on what the team needs, and that's going to vary depending on what stage of maturity the team is at or at what stage of the project you're at. So if we were to plot a chart like this with degree of collaboration or participation up the side and the progression of time along the bottom, we can see that in the very early stages of a project or when the team has only just formed, you might really be quite directive in your leadership style and not at all collaborative.

0:43But as time progresses, your leadership will become much more collaborative and less autocratic and you'll start to include more coaching, more facilitating, and more supporting or servant leading for example. And in fact, servant leader is one of the leadership styles that we'll see on our list. So in terms of a list of leadership styles, if you look online it appears that everybody's got their own list, but I'm using the one from the Project Management Institute. And my goal is for you to start to become aware of the fact that there are different styles, and you as a leader are going to have a preference because of your experience and your own personality traits.

1:17But wouldn't it be useful if you could kind of take a step back and consciously use a particular style depending on the situation you find yourself in. So let's just wiz through these one at a time, and we'll start with the laissez-faire leadership style, which you might see described as delegative leadership. But with this leadership style, the leader is hands off and allows group members to make the decisions. Now I think you've got to be a bit careful with this one, because depending on what research you look at the teams that are led in this way often have lower productivity than other teams.

1:50But next on my list is transactional, and this is where the leader is very task driven and reactive. She's using rewards-oriented power and coercive power to encourage compliance through rewards and punishment, and it's a pretty straightforward transaction. You do it right, and I'll reward you. And if you don't, I'll punish you. But my favorite style is next, and that's because of my background with Agile Project Management, and that's the servant leader. And the main goal of this leader is to serve, to do whatever the team needs doing to clear the path to allow them to do their work.

2:23And if you are familiar with Agile and Scrum, then this is how the scrum master is often described. He develops and nurtures the team. He facilitates change and supports them. He protects them from other parts of the business as required, and he removes impediments so that they can get their work done. Next, I have the transformational leader, and you already know from my tone of voice that this is going to be a good one. And there is a whole theory behind this style where a leader works with teams to identify what change or transformation is needed and creates a vision to guide that change and then will execute the change with everybody very much on board right behind him.

3:02So that's the ideal, but in summary this is the type of leader who encourages and inspires and motivates team members to innovate and create that change that's going to contribute to the future success of the company. A charismatic leadership style is simply where the leader can use the shear force of their personality to inspire and lead team members. So they have strong convictions, and this leader is to be dynamic and popular and high energy and enthusiastic and people just can't help but be inspired by them.

3:32And then lastly, we have the interaction leadership style, and there is an awful lot of reading that you could do around interaction leadership theory. But for us today, we can think of this leader as one who coaches and motivates and who incorporates elements of the transformational, transactional, and charismatic style all into one. So yes, that could be a pretty effective combination. So there we go. Those are six different leadership styles for you to ponder, and I'm wondering do you recognize yourself or your leader in any one of them.

4:03Food for thought I'm sure.

0:00As team leader, one of the best things that you can do for your team is to empower them, because they truly are your greatest asset. So the first thing you need to do is to define and clearly communicate the vision or the goal to the team. And this might seem obvious, but this is actually really important, because high performing teams share a common goal. And obviously, they can't share it if they don't really know what it is. And you might be thinking, well, yeah. Whatever. I don't really need to do that. Everybody in my team, they know why they're there.

0:30But do they? Do they really? Because your team is made up of unique individuals with their own take on things-- their own view. So it is really important to clearly state that goal so that everybody is, so to speak, on the same page. But an effective team not only shares a common goal, but the members of the team are committed to that goal. And also, really important, they are committed to each other. Hmm. Let's just ponder that for a moment. So if we want to empower this group to do great things, then we need to remember that the team effectiveness is greater than the sum of its parts.

1:05So we need them to be committed to each other so that they take responsibility as a team for working towards that goal. We need everybody to feel truly accountable with that "we're all in this together" type of attitude. You know, we're all in the same boat. If you sink, then I sink with you. Now, we do talk more about effective teams in a separate series of videos, so you might want to check those out. But in order to improve this sense of accountability to each other, consider agreeing some standards of behavior with the team. And if everybody has agreed to this, then we should expect that team members hold each other to account to adhere to those agreed standards.

1:42Look at this example here. Let's say that this is what we have agreed as a team. And so if somebody does start fiddling with their phone during the weekly meeting, then we'd like the team to say, hey, we said no phones. So maybe the team has agreed these behaviors by writing them up on a piece of flip chart paper or something, and maybe even everybody has signed it, and we stick it up somewhere. Or at least keep it, not forgetting to find it again when a new team member joins. Another thing you can do as team leader to empower the team is to make sure that you organize work around team strengths.

2:15And again, we discuss this in more detail in the Effective Teams series. But there are a number of different team roles which describe the tendency to behave and contribute and interrelate in a particular way. And there are three action-oriented roles, three people-oriented roles, and three thought-oriented roles. And recognizing your team members' preferred behavior by studying this model is one way of effectively organizing around team strengths. So for example, let's say this character here-- we'll call him Colin. He is a completer-finisher.

2:46So he worries about deadlines and targets. He has excellent attention to detail. So let's use that strength and make sure that this team member is involved in the proofreading or the quality control checks or whatever. And by the same token, not only should we organize work around team strengths, we should build the team with this in mind, too. Because it's no use having a team full of those action-oriented people, because we're going to be charging ahead doing stuff without any analysis or reflection or innovative problem solving. We'll be missing out on all of the essential input from the other types of team members.

3:19And I mention this because we've very often seen team leaders recruiting in their own image. I am an implementer, for example. I am very tactical. I like to crack on and do things, so I'm going to feel a real affinity with other people who have the same attitude. But again, that's not going to make for a balanced team. So we've got a nicely balanced, diverse team. We're organizing work around team strengths. Now we need to make sure that everybody is clear what their role is. And you should also consider where the decision-making authority lies. It's not going to be empowering for the team if they have to come to you for every decision.

3:53So again, it's all about accountability. Give responsibility for the successful completion of a task to the team, because it's amazing what we can achieve when we work together.

0:00One of your jobs as team leader will be to support team performance. And when I say that, I'm talking about assessing team performance, and then organizing training for the team and developing the team as required. And whenever I talk about developing and training people-- which, obviously as a trainer, is quite often-- I always think of that funny cartoon that regularly does the rounds on social media whereby the CFO is anxious about spending money training team members and says, but what happens if we invest in developing our people, and then they leave? And then, of course, the CEO replies, ah, but what happens if we don't and they stay?

0:34So yeah, we need to invest in our people. But in order to determine in what areas we need to invest, it might be a good idea to do some performance assessments first, because we need to continually assess and refresh team skills to meet project needs. Our whole goal with assessment, remember, is to identify where we can improve individual and team performance. And how are we going to do that? Well, we've probably got some sort of key performance indicators, maybe displayed in a lovely dashboard like this, which we can use to monitor key metrics and to see if targets are being met.

1:07And it's also very likely that we'll be performing some sort of assessment or appraisal or performance review-- whatever you want to call it-- of individual team members. So this will usually be a private conversation where team members are given constructive feedback with regards to the areas that they're already achieving well in, and which areas they could improve in. Now, there are lots of different approaches you can take when it comes to staff appraisals, and I'll leave you to research that if you choose. But one method which will pretty much appear on every list is what we call 360 degree feedback, where it's not just the team leader or the manager providing the feedback, but everybody around the individual also providing input to the assessment.

1:46So maybe you've given out a questionnaire or something inviting other team members to answer questions regarding the performance of the individual, and that should give a much more rounded view. But I think it's worth pausing here for a moment to ponder the idea of an individual performance appraisal, because look, for an effective team where team members are committed to each other and the team goal, we are expecting people to help out coworkers without being asked. We're expecting them to share willingly for the good of the team. And I think that individual performance reviews are at odds with this behavior.

2:18So imagine if my performance here at CBT Nuggets was measured solely on how many videos I produce. If that were the case, why on Earth would I spend time helping out a colleague when I could have spent that time producing another video? Do you see what I mean here? So I'm a big fan of performance being constant and continuous. And if you do your research, you'll see that highly engaged employees are those that do receive constant feedback. And also, employee turnover can be reduced with regular feedback. So yeah, I would think carefully about the impact on the team's performance if you do have these infrequent individual performance reviews.

2:54But anyway, I digress. We've been assessing performance of the team and the team members, and we therefore have probably uncovered a need for some training. And training can take lots of different forms. It could be classroom training, either on or off site, or it could be online training like you're watching now. And this could be very cost-effective, and it's certainly going to be easier to fit in around the job. But don't forget the resources you've already got in your team. Would it be useful, for example, for a team member to shadow another in order to increase their skill set, or for an experienced team member to proactively coach somebody else who is less experienced?

3:31But whatever you do, always keep in mind the need to transfer knowledge between individuals in order to maintain that overall team knowledge. I once worked on a team where we had a wiki which got updated with all sorts of things in order to share knowledge. So that's one idea. And if you do send somebody on a course, then make sure you provide a mechanism for that team member to report back on what they have learned so that new knowledge isn't locked up with that one individual. OK, so we've filled any skills gaps with some training. But in order to continue to develop the team, it's worth remembering that high-performing teams have fun together.

4:04It might seem frivolous, but it does inspire trust, and that helps to make it safe to ask each other for help, which is going to lead to better team communications and better group productivity and better interpersonal relationships between team members. And teams who have good relationships between members are longer-lived, which of course reduces turnover. So how are we going to achieve this? Well, obviously this is a whole other topic that we could sidetrack onto, but just in summary, social events could help, because getting to know each other outside of the workplace, we can really start to understand each other better.

4:36And of course, formal team-building events can be useful. But even simple games and icebreakers that you can find online can help to develop relationships in the team. It's going to help to make team members feel more engaged, and that all adds up to support and improve team effectiveness. So to wrap up, then, let's just revisit that joke we started the video with, where our CFO was worried about spending money on people because they might leave. But now we know the importance of developing our team members, perhaps a better response from our CEO would be something like this.

5:09Well, highly-engaged employees are less likely to leave, but if they do, they leave as supporters and advocates of the company. And I love this. And certainly, in my experience, it is so, so true. But I do concede it's not nearly as funny as the original joke, so it's a good job I don't make my living out of making people laugh. Hey, ho.

0:00We're going to get all theoretical in this video with some theories around motivation because it's only once we understand what motivates people that we can reward them. So these are the theories that we're going to look at very briefly, and you know the deal, you can look up more detail if you're interested, but we will start with the one I think you're most likely to have heard of, the one at the top of my list here, Maslow's hierarchy of needs. And this comes from the brain of Abraham Maslow, who suggested that people are motivated to fulfil basic needs before they are able to move on to other more sophisticated needs.

0:33So right at the bottom of the pyramid here we have basic physiological needs such as food and water and clothing and sleep and whatnot. And then once these needs have been met, people can move on to the next level, which is the need for security and safety, and that's going to include economic security and protection from physical dangers. And once we've got these needs sorted, then we can start to worry about social acceptance and a sense of belonging and friendship and being part of a team. After that we start to seek out recognition and that feeling that we're contributing and what we're doing is worthwhile. And then finally at the top of the pyramid, this is where we're wanting to achieve our full potential. And you can see why it's described as a hierarchy, because if we don't have the basic needs met, then frankly we're not really interested in fulfilling our true potential. The next theory on our list is the expectancy theory from Victor V room, which is a rather marvellous name, don't you think? And he suggests that people will make choices based on the expected outcomes, the theory being that people will be motivated if they believe there is a relationship between the effort that they put in and the rewards that they receive. With MacGregor's theory X and theory Y, the suggestion is that there are two ways to classify team members. So team leaders who use theory X believe that people are unmotivated, they don't

1:51want to work, and they're only interested in fulfilling their own goals and therefore need to be microman aged in order for work to get done. Whereas theory Y assumes that people are motivated, they do want to work and they can be trusted to do what's required in order for the organization to succeed, and note here that it is the manager, not the individual who ascribes to theory X or theory Y, the point of this model being to highlight the two extremes of motivation that a worker might have. And of course in reality it's not going to be quite so black and white as this. Now there have been various theory Z or theory Z's suggested which build on MacGregor's theory X and theory Y, and possibly the most well-known version of which was introduced by Auchie, and his theory Z is focused on increasing employee loyalty to the organization and other Japanese management practices such as you know job security and employee wellbeing and more besides. Next on my list is McCle llan's need theory, which you sometimes see listed as the three need theory, and that's because this theory suggests that an individual's motivation is rooted in three primary needs, achievement, power and affiliation.

2:59So people with a high need for achievement tend to like to set challenging goals and accomplish them obviously, whereas people with a need for power like to make a difference, they like to influence others, while people with a need for affiliation like to maintain good relationships and want to belong to a team. So again different drivers and different motivations here. The last theory I want to mention is Hertzberg's motivation hygiene theory. Now this list two types of factors in the workplace which the theory argues can be adjusted to improve motivation.

3:32The first type of factor, the motivation factors, increased job satisfaction, and you can see them here, achievement, recognition, the nature of the work itself, responsibility and the opportunity for advancement and personal growth. And I think these motivating factors are pretty straightforward. But the twist in the tail is that they don't work unless we have what we call the hygiene factors in place. And these are things like salary and working conditions and job security and good working relationships and also a clear and fair company policy with appropriate supervision and status in that the employee understands their role and has meaningful work to do. So these things don't motivate on their own but they have to be fulfilled in order for the motivating factors to work. But of course if we don't have these areas fulfilled then that will lead to dissatisfaction.

4:24So those are some interesting theories to be aware of, it really is a fascinating topic and of course your homework is to research further if required. But I just wanted to finish this video with a quick word about rewards. And this quote from the Project Management Institute really resonates with me. Rewards will be effective only if they satisfy a need that is valued by the individual. And the reason why it resonated with me is because of an experience I had in my very first job. So I worked for a small company and I remember one year the managing director said that since we'd all done so well that as a gesture of his appreciation he would give us all an extra day of time off on Christmas Eve. He called it family day. And everybody was delighted about this you know what a lovely gesture they could enjoy the day getting ready for Christmas with their children but and yes there is a but. Looking at this quote here this wasn't a reward that was valued by me.

5:19I didn't have children. Christmas was actually a rather boring time of year for me. I would rather have had a day off of my choice when the weather was better. So always consider personal preferences and cultural differences with rewards don't assume that something that you would value is going to be valued by everybody. And finally avoid what we call win lose rewards where only one person can win it. Have a system that potentially allows all team members to achieve the reward because after all we're seeking to improve team performance here and having a motivated team is going to be critical to the success of your project.

0:00I feel that we've covered an awful lot of ground in this series on LEAD a project team, yet at the same time, hardly scratched the surface of the topic. So let's just quickly recap what we covered. And we started off by reminding ourselves that, depending on the structure of the organization, the project manager might not actually have any managerial authority over project team members at all. And that puts an interesting perspective on what it takes, therefore, to lead a project team. And so, with that in mind, we compared management and leadership and concluded that, although we need both, with management being a rather operational role using managerial or authoritative power, leadership is more about coaching and influencing and inspiring and building relationships with a good view of the bigger picture.

0:45And this set us up well for looking at some different types of power. And this helped us to understand that, although the project team leader might not have that managerial authority, that positional power, there are other types of power he can use to lead the team, such as relational or personal or expert, for example. And then we looked at the rather long list of personality traits and qualities that we expect in a leader. And, yeah, I think we pretty much concluded here that a good leader should have superhero status. We looked at some examples of different leadership styles.

1:18And we explored the idea that a good leader will be able to flex their leadership approach as the team matures and the project progresses. And so, over time, the leader is likely to become more collaborative and less autocratic in their approach. We then looked at the importance of empowering the team by making sure that all team members are committed to the team goal and to each other and that roles are clearly defined and everybody feels accountable. And then we saw the importance of developing the team in order to support team performance. And that takes the form of conducting appropriate performance assessments and organizing training to ensure individual team member growth, but also taking the trouble to improve engagement of team members because engaged employees are less likely to leave.

2:00And then, lastly, we touched on some theories to help us to understand the surprisingly fascinating and complex area of employee motivation. Wow. Now I am aware, as I said, that we've really only scratched the surface of these topics. But my goal is to start to open your eyes with regards to what it takes to lead a team. And this video series does go hand in hand with my Effective Teams series. So make sure you look at those videos, too. I hope this has been informative for you. And I'd like to thank you for viewing.