Over the last decade, there have been some real changes in the type of leadership styles that are most effective. The business landscape is constantly changing no matter what industry you work in. technologies are improving and becoming more adaptive to the needs of a business, even the way in which people work has changed. Thanks to improvements in technology and better understanding of how to keep happy employees more and more companies are introducing flexible working hours, desk sharing and of course working from home where appropriate, all of these changes, of course, mean that the way in which you need to manage your team need to change in order to adapt.
This doesn’t mean forgetting everything about leadership that you learned during your project management training, it just means taking a closer look at what works best and making a few changes.
Listen
As it is far more likely that your project team will not all be work from the same workspace, they may be spread out over several locations or even countries, it is even more important that you learn to listen to what people are saying. Gone are the days when you could gather everyone around a conference table and find out where everyone was up to and if there are any issues with a project. There is a good chance that you are more likely to manage this type of meeting as a conference call with everyone in different locations. The temptation to multi task when you are not in front of everyone is all too great, and then you run the risk of missing some important information that one of your team needed to alert you to.
Drive change
As project leader it is important to take on the full responsibility for the project, this doesn’t mean that you need to micromanage your team, but it is vital that you ensure that you are available and approachable to everyone. You need to be able to drive any necessary change within your project. Check if there are any issues that might impact the progress of the project but also ensure that you are available for people to report issues to rather than simply waiting for you to ask.
If you feel that you might benefit from refreshing some of your skills in this area then project management courses can be a good way of ensuring that you are up to date on the very latest initiatives in the field of project management training.
Recognise growth opportunities
The workforce is far more mobile than it once was and people are more likely to change employer if the opportunities do not come their way in their current role. As project manager it is important that you recognise the skills of your team members and look to use those skills where they will be valued most in order to help promote personal growth. This will make your team members feel valued.
