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The Project Leader is responsible for ensuring the project team executes the project. 

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Quick reference

Project Leader

The Project Leader is responsible for ensuring the project team executes the project.  On small projects, the project leader often is also a team member with responsibility for executing several project tasks.  On large projects, the project leader role is often a full-time position and the leader focuses their time on project planning, issue/risk resolution, and project communication.

When to use

All projects should have someone who is responsible for ensuring the project team executes the project.  On very small projects there may not be a project team – everything is done by one person.  In that case, the individual assigned to the project is the project leader.  Whenever there are multiple people conducting project activities, someone should be designated as the project leader.  The individual filling the role of project leader can change as a project transitions from one phase to another.

Instructions

  • When a project is approved, management should appoint a project leader whose role initially is to complete/update the Project Charter.
  • The Project Leader coordinates the planning activities of all team members and ensures an integrated project plan is created.  This includes any replanning due to project changes.
  • The Project Leader should also lead the risk management process during the planning and execution phases of the project.  Although all team members are responsible for identifying risk and developing risk response plans, the project leader coordinates and directs the activities.
  • The Project Leader is the primary focal point for all project communication during the planning and execution phases of the project.  This includes both communication within the project team and communication with project stakeholders who are not team members.
  • The Project Leader tracks project status to ensure project tasks are being completed in accordance with the project plan and appropriately reports that status.
  • The Project Leader either leads or delegates to the appropriate individual on the project team the responsibility for leading project issue resolution.

Hints & tips

  • Projects Leaders are most successful if they have technical competence in an area of project activity, a network of relationships in the organization, and the respect of their peers.
  • Everything a Project Leader does can be boiled down to one of two categories of activities, risk management, and communication management.
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  • 00:04 Hello again, this is Ray Sheen and
  • 00:06 I'd now like to discuss the role of the project leader.
  • 00:09 I want to start this discussion by setting a context for project leadership.
  • 00:14 The work of most projects is accomplished by a team of people.
  • 00:18 Different individuals on the team have different levels of authority and
  • 00:21 responsibility with respect to the project.
  • 00:23 That means that there are different levels of leadership expected from them.
  • 00:27 But the point is that the entire team is responsible for the project.
  • 00:31 It isn't just one person.
  • 00:32 In fact, on Agile Scrum projects,
  • 00:35 there is no one person who performs all of the aspects of a classic project leader.
  • 00:40 The role is shared among the team members.
  • 00:43 However, for our purposes we will assume the core team model.
  • 00:48 In this model the project leader is at the center of the team and is responsible for
  • 00:53 overall project integration and performance.
  • 00:55 That does not mean that they are doing the work, just rather that they are planning,
  • 01:00 monitoring, and integrating the work.
  • 01:02 The core team members are subject matter experts,
  • 01:05 often representing particular departments or
  • 01:08 functions who lead the detailed planning and execution of a portion of the project.
  • 01:12 They're typically expected to lead a sub team and are responsible for
  • 01:16 a subset of the deliverables.
  • 01:18 More about them in another lesson.
  • 01:20 Finally the extended team members are those doing work assigned to them often
  • 01:25 under the oversight of a core team member.
  • 01:27 Now we have shown this like it is a formal level, but
  • 01:30 often there is some blurring between these.
  • 01:33 I've been involved with many projects where the project leader was also
  • 01:37 a subject matter expert for a portion of the project.
  • 01:39 And was the one performing the tasks associated with that portion of
  • 01:44 the project, so they were doing all three levels.
  • 01:47 Now let's look at the responsibilities of the project leader.
  • 01:51 First, they are leading the project planning effort,
  • 01:54 gathering inputs from team members, on scope, schedule, and
  • 01:57 resource requirements, and creating an integrated project plan.
  • 02:01 Also they ensure that risks have been identified, and
  • 02:04 that risk response plans have been inserted into the project baseline plan.
  • 02:09 When planning completes, the project execution gets underway.
  • 02:12 The project leader is responsible for
  • 02:14 ensuring that the project execution is completed from beginning to end.
  • 02:19 Not that the leader does everything, but
  • 02:21 rather they ensure that the team completes all project activities.
  • 02:24 A key role at this time is often to recruit and
  • 02:27 engage project team members and align them with the project goals.
  • 02:31 If team members change due to reassignment,
  • 02:34 the project leader ensures a clean handoff to the new person and
  • 02:38 that the new people are quickly brought up to speed.
  • 02:41 The leader also tracks task completion in accordance with the requirements that were
  • 02:46 captured during project planning.
  • 02:48 And finally the project leader normally leads the communication process,
  • 02:53 both within the project team and externally with project stakeholders.
  • 02:58 Which brings us to this third point,
  • 03:00 in addition to tracking the project leader is responsible for project control.
  • 03:05 That is to keep the project focused on the goals and
  • 03:08 take corrective action when it isn't.
  • 03:10 They need to know the current state of all aspects of the project, and
  • 03:14 be ready to report these to stakeholders.
  • 03:17 In particular, they're usually the voice of the project
  • 03:20 team at management reviews and toll-gate meetings.
  • 03:22 The project leader leads the risk identification process during
  • 03:26 the planning phase.
  • 03:27 And this emphasis continues as they manage the risk mitigation
  • 03:31 processes throughout the project.
  • 03:33 And finally, when project change occurs and
  • 03:36 on almost every project there will be changes, the project leader coordinates
  • 03:41 the changes through the project team and with project stakeholders.
  • 03:45 Let's finish this topic by reviewing some research that has shown
  • 03:48 the characteristics of good project leaders.
  • 03:51 Research was conducted at Wharton Business School and
  • 03:54 identified three pillars of authority for effective project leadership.
  • 03:58 The first pillar of an effective project leader is their technical authority.
  • 04:02 People trust them because of their competence.
  • 04:05 They know that the leader knows what they're talking about.
  • 04:09 This authority is initially based upon things like training, education,
  • 04:13 certifications.
  • 04:14 But over time it becomes much more heavily based upon the leaders reputation and
  • 04:20 actual track record within the organization.
  • 04:23 The second pillar is that of positional authority.
  • 04:26 This is the title, the position in the org chart, or
  • 04:29 the pay level of the project leader.
  • 04:31 People listen to leaders because of the power that they have to either help or
  • 04:36 hinder someone's career.
  • 04:38 This includes whether or
  • 04:40 not the project they're leading is clearly aligned with the business strategy.
  • 04:44 That means that what they are doing is very important.
  • 04:48 An interesting aspect of positional authority is that it
  • 04:51 includes the authority of people the project leader knows.
  • 04:54 Are they the president's nephew?
  • 04:56 Did they carpool with one of the senior managers?
  • 04:59 That senior manager authority is reflected onto the project leader.
  • 05:04 The third pillar as important as the other two, is that of personal authority.
  • 05:09 Do people like the project leader?
  • 05:11 Do they want to be on that project?
  • 05:13 Is that leader encouraging and supportive?
  • 05:15 Or is that person abusive and intolerant?
  • 05:18 Are they pleasant to work with?
  • 05:19 This pillar is based upon the reputation and interpersonal interactions
  • 05:25 among the peers of those who work with that project leader.
  • 05:29 The most effective project leaders are strong on all three pillars.
  • 05:33 A project leader can improve their standing within the three pillars,
  • 05:37 they can develop and demonstrate technical expertise.
  • 05:40 They can expand their own network and they can create and
  • 05:44 establish strong positive peer relationships.
  • 05:48 Now whether you view yourself as a project leader or project manager,
  • 05:52 this role is one of the keys to project success.
  • 05:54 And it does require both leadership and management skills.

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