Project Managers Are They Born Or Made Management Essay

redact Managers Are They Born Or Made Management Essay flock a person be born to undertake a specific role in life or ar they moulded by both instruct and their experiences in life. This paper examines whether Project Managers will the innate acquirements to be a success or if they like many some other professionals require gentility to plump proficient in their chosen c beer. This paper will also examine whether there be particular personality traits that are indispenscapable in severalise to be a successful Project Manager. With this in mannequination, organisations would then be in a better position to ascertain whether particular individuals are either suited or not to the role of a Project Manager and thereby ensuring that their Project Managers bottom bring protrusions to a successful conclusion.IntroductionDittman et al.,2004 use the Apollo 13 incident to illustrate the skills of a Project Manager. divisor Krantz, was the flight director of the Apollo 13 miss ion to the moon. With systems failing, a lack of power and a dwindling hand over of oxygen he led his aggroup to discover solutions against almost impossible odds. Krantz exhibited the characteristics and personality traits of a superstar Project Manager by leading his team to achieve a common goal of ensuring the safe return of the aircraft and the lives of the astronauts and in this precedent the team could easily assume resigned themselves to their fate or made an phantasm in judgement (Dittman et al.,2004). However the team and its invent leader relied on both their training and their instincts to ensure the safe return of the aircraft. It can be seen from this instance that the team leader instilled the thought into each(prenominal) of his team members that failure was not an option. This is an extreme example of the skills demand of a Project Manager, further it asks the question were Gene Krantzs actions the product of training and experience or were they innate in h is personality.With the rapid advances currently universe made in information technology there has nowadays become an increased need for Project Managers within the IT industry. The scale and number of jobs has increased thereby increasing the risk associated with these declare oneselfs. With this in mind the choosing of project music directors with the required skills to ensure the successful completion of projects has become critical and organisations have recognized that the choosing of the right individual to lead a project can have a significant bearing on the success of the organisation. As can be seen above in the Apollo 13 example the role of the project leader was all-important(a) to the success of the project.This paper will look at the necessary skills required to be an strong manager and whether these skills are inherent or whether they can be taught (Dittman et al.,2004).1.0 Leadership StylesStudies have shown that there are primarily six main drills of leaders hip theory (Dulewicz Higgs, 2003Handy, 1982 Partington, 2003) and these are as follows1. The Trait school2. The Behavioural or Style school3. The Contingency school4. The Visionary or Charismatic school5. The Emotional Intelligence School6. The Competency school.1.1 The Trait SchoolThis barbel was popular up to the 1940s with the main idea be that effective leaders share common traits. This school of thought assumes that leaders are born, not made. The supporters of this school in attempting to identify the traits of effective leaders have foc employ on the sideline three main areas Abilities hard solicitude skills such as Time Management, Forecasting and Procurement Personality such as self-confidence and emotional variables Physical appearance Project Managers appearance and physical size with his work at Henley Management College, Turner (1999) identified seven traits of effective project managers Problem-solving world power Results orientation Energy and initiative Self-co nfidence Perspective discourse Negotiating ability.Turners identification of the above traits concentrate on the softer skills of Project Management with only the trait of Problem Solving being one that could possibly be taught and the others being skills of a nature more specific to an individual.1.2 The Behavioural or Style SchoolThe behavioural or style school became popular from the 1940s to the 1960s. This school assumed that effective leaders would adopt certain styles or behaviours. This schools theory assumed, that effective leaders can be made and that the parameters include the following1. look up for mickle or relationships2. Concern for production3. Use of authority4. Involvement of the team in decision-making (formulating decisions)5. Involvement of the team in decision-taking (choosing options)6. Flexibility versus the application of rules. literary argument Blake and1.3 The Contingency SchoolThe casualty school came into being during the 1960s and 1970s (Fiedler, 1967 House, 1971 Krech, et al., 1962 Robbins, 1997). Rather than seeking all encompassing theories of leadership that would apply in all situations, contingency theories suggested that what made an effective leader would depend on the situation that the leaders found themselves in. The supporters of this school had a tendency to follow similar patterns1. An perspicacity of the characteristics of the leader2. An evaluation of the situation in terms of certain key contingency variables3. The seeking of a match between the leader and the situation.One contingency theory that has proven popular is path-goal theory (House, 1971). The idea is the leader must help the team find the path to their goals and help them in that process.This theory identifies quad distinct leadership behaviours Directive leaders Supportive leaders Participative leaders Achievement-oriented leaders.These must then be matched to environmental and subordinate contingency factors Environmental factors problem str ucture Formal authority system Work group. Subordinate factors Locus of control Experience Perceived ability.1.4 The Visionary or Charismatic SchoolDuring the eighties and 1990s, the visionary or charismatic school arose from the study of successful business leaders who were leading their organizations through with(predicate) change. Bass (1990) identified two fictitious characters of leadership, transactional and transformationalTransactional leadershipThis form of leadership rewards followers for meeting performance targets and managing by exception by taking action when tasks have not been undertaken in accordance with what was predicted1.4.2 Transformational leadershipA Project Manager who displays this form of leadership would be charismatic, visionary and would engender pride, respect and trust. They would also provide motivation by creating high expectations, providing intellectual rousing and challenging their team members with fresh ideas and approaches. They would also give consideration to individuals by showing them respect and paying personal attention to them.From a project management perspective, Keegan and den Hartog (2004) believed that a project managers leadership style needed to be more transformational than transactional, but did not find any evidence to confirm this. What they were able to conclude was that although there is a significant correlational statistics between the managers leadership style and employees commitment and motivation, there does not exist a similar correlation for project managers.1.4 The Emotional Intelligence SchoolThe emotional intelligence school has flourished since the late 1990s, and espouses the view that the leaders emotional intelligence has a greater cushion on his or her success and the performance of his or her team than does the leaders intellectual capability (Goleman, Boyatzis, McKee, 2002).They identified six leadership styles Visionary Democratic learn Pacesetting Affiliative Commanding.Gole man, Boyatzis, and McKee (2002) say that the first four of these styles will engender a sense of teamwork, and usually lead to better performance in appropriate circumstances. They also say that the last two styles can encourage dissonance, so these last two styles need to be used with care. Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee, as well as other authors, have shown a clear correlation between the emotional intelligence and leadership style of managers and the performance of their organizations.1.5 The Competency SchoolThe competency school of the 1990s has dictated an emphasis on the competencies of effective leaders and seeks to identify them. This according to Turner et al. 2005 when taken at face value may appear to be a return to the trait approach. However, they also state that competencies can be learned, so leaders can be made, not just born. Further, disparate combinations of competencies can lead to different styles of leadership which can be appropriate in different circumstanc es thereby producing transactional leaders in situations of low complexity and transformational leaders in situations of high complexity (Turner et al., 2005).2.0 Skills of a Project ManagerA technical project manager should have the knowledge and skills necessary to perform their job. A project manager can be defined as the person responsible for working with the project sponsor, the project team, and the other the great unwashed involved in a project to meet project goals (Schwalbe, 2004). To become an IT project manager requires knowledge in the core skills such as time management, risk management, scope management, make up budgeting, and knowledge of IT systems (Dittman et al., 2004). They also stated that a project manager must have skills in addition to the basics of project management to succeed and that the skills required are the soft skills that have to do with getting things that you want make and adjudicating issues between plurality, managers, egos and agendas. Its basically how to get a job done without annoying people (Melymuka, 2000). These soft skills can include basic leadership and team building abilities that are needed for the team to complete the designated project and the basic business skills that are necessary for a project manager to be successful in the IT world (Dittman et al., 2004). They also concluded that these could include the ability to communicate into measurable results, give financial skills to keep the project cost effective, and identify and predict trends in the project.The ability to communicate effectively is a pre-requisite in project management and it is infixed for project managers to have the capacity to listen and understand the people on their project team as well as the customers of their project and by doing so, expectations and feedback can be easily passed on to the team and it will be easier to solve problems and complete tasks within the project (Dittman et al., 2004).. Dennis Johnson, an Assistant vice President at USAA stated that A project manager needs the ability to question without alienating to listen and watch peoples body language and really see whats happening (Melymuka, 2000) and this skill will enable a project manager to step away from a project and view issues from a different perspective. This subsequently enables a project manager to better communicate his ideas and plans with the team and also with his superiors within the organization.Relationship management is a skill that is important to have While managing projects a project manager should be capable of working with all levels within the organization and relationship management is an important skill to either inherently have or to learn. Relationship management can also include identifying the unique characteristics and abilities of each individual on the team and determine the most effective way to give them passim the project (Dittman et al., 2004). A project manager will also need to know how to mobi lize and coach the people on their team and contribute trust within the project team. The project manager and the team must develop a level of trust and comfort with each other in single-minded pursuit of project goals (Kharbanda, 2003). This is based on the premise that project managers should be able to build and sustain relationships within their project team and throughout all levels of their organization.There are many skills a project manager may have that are argued to be ingrained in the human spirit, the largest of these being the ability to influence others (Dittman et al., 2004). Linda Pittinger, CEO of People3, states Its hard to find people who can influence others and create win-win situations (Melymuka, 2000). The project manager needs to have the ability to give the value of the project to other people within the organization and must be able to persuade and influence team members to get their job done well and on time must also have the confidence, credibility, an d commitment to overcome the obstacles when faced with the task of running an IT project (Dittman et al., 2004). Without the ability to influence people particularly those who may not be in full support of the project, a project manager will be more likely to fail.The ability to make decisions can be either learned or innate and it has been said that the best decision makers are the most experienced decision makers (Dittman et al., 2004).. As a manager and leader, every step you take required decision making skills. What makes it more challenging is the pressure to make the right decision is a great deal very high (Canterucci, 2003). When faced with having to make the correct decision a Project Manager may often have to base this decision on past experience or pure instinct. Should a project manager be new to the field of project management they will not have accrued sufficient experience to make the correct decision but they will have the ability to judge based on their instinct i f those instincts are of a project manager with those innate skills.As can be seen above many of the skills required to be an effective project manager are the softer skills of management and that to a large extent these skills can not generally be taught as they rely on the individuals personality. These softer skills however can be honed through time and experience so to some extent there is a degree of learning.3.0 Personalities of a Project ManagerIn order to be an effective project manager a persons character and personality traits will play a key role. Dittman et al. 2004 asked the question Within an IT project management program, can people be really prepared for the trials and tribulations of dealing with people while managing a project?The use of personality tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, can appreciate whether an individual will make a good project manager. By undertaking these assessments, an individual can analyze their personality and connect their per sonality type with a particular type of career. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is incredibly popular for doing just this. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an assessment technique that gives the participant 4 individual letters that are designed to match their personality type. This classification is set out belowExtrovert v. Introvert,Sensing v. Intuitive,Thinking v. Feeling,and Judging v. Perceiving.The enquiry database shows that leaders mostly fall into the ENTJ category (extrovert, intuitive, thinking, and judging). ENTJs are especially well-suited to be leaders and organization builders. They have the ability to clearly identify problems and innovative solutions for the of a sudden and long term well-being of an organization(BSM Consulting, 2000).A project manager would generally fall into the category of ESTJ. They are good at a lot of different things, because they put forth a tremendous amount of effort towards doing things the right way. They wi ll be happiest in leadership positions, however, because they have a natural exact to be in charge. They are best suited for jobs which require creating order and structure (BSM Consulting, 2000).The Keirsey disposal Sorter is another technique that can also be used to determine personal characteristics and aid people gain new understanding of their traits, motivations, and behaviours (AdvisorTeam, 2003). The temperament sorter is an assessment to analyze one specific aspect of ones personality temperament. Temperament is a set of endeavors that each of us is born with, its a predisposition to certain attitudes and actions (AdvisorTeam, 2003).The four temperaments that people will fall into are artisans, guardians, idealists, and rationals. These groupings have the following characteristics1 Artisans value freedom and spontaneity. They want to be without constraint, at liberty to act on their impulses, play and create.Guardians value belonging to a group or community. They maintai n stability through responsible, conservative, traditional behaviour.Idealists value personal growth, authenticity, and integrity. They yearn to develop themselves fully as individuals and to facilitate growth in others.Rationals value competence and intelligence. They strive to learn, know, predict, and control the resources in their environment.It has been shown through research that project managers and leaders will most likely fall into the category of either Rational or Guardian (Dittman et al., 2004). A Rational tends to be pragmatic and organized. Their organizational and coordinating skills tends to be highly developed, which means that they are likely to be good at systematizing, ordering priorities, generalizing, summarizing, and at demonstrating their ideas (Prometheus Nemesis, 1998).Guardians tend to be very specific in their communication and reliable when it comes to completing tasks. They also are very cooperative with implementing goals and good at supervision and p rotecting their subordinates. The Supervisor Guardian is the type of that most fits the personality of the project manager. Supervisor Guardians go by experience, not speculation and experimentation, and sure not fantasy. They keep their feet firmly on the ground and make sure that those under their supervision do the same (Prometheus Nemesis, 1998).The personality assessments described above are good tools to examine an individuals personality type and compare it to that of the typical project manager career. Each assessment can be used separately or they can be used in conjunction to get the best results. Using these evaluations, it can be shown whether a person has the requisite skills to be a good project manager, and decisions can be made whether to put them in that role, whether they would need further training to be successful in the project manager role, or whether they would be best placed in a different career altogether.4.0 ConclusionAs can be seen an individuals persona lity can be measured or assessed using the techniques detailed above. These techniques enable organisations to eliminate individuals rather than select individuals as project managers. The methodology behind these techniques would indicate that project managers are born rather than made as the characteristics used to describe individuals are those of an innate nature rather than a derived or coached one.However on the other side of the equation the technical skills required by a Project Manager can be learned and need not necessarily be inherent in the individual. So it could also be concluded that a project manager can be made through learning alone.The leadership style theories above look at the science or art of project management depending on the school to which an individual ascribes to. If an individual is of the viewpoint that Project Managers are born with the innate capabilities to be a project manager then Project Managers have to be viewed as artists. However if the concl usion is that project managers can be taught and trained then they should possibly be viewed as scientists. These can be viewed as two conflicting views with those of a scientific inclination believing that project managers are made and those of a more artistic inclination believing that they are born.From the research undertaken above there is no expressed answer to this question. In the case of Project Management, where there are so many human variables there can be no comprehensive training course that will detail a case study for every given scenario. This would indicate that Project Managers can be and are made but that the best and most effective Project Managers are born.