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fulfill the leadership role and will wind up primarily doing the job expected of a project coordinator, not a leader. |
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Where, and to whom in an organization the project leader reports depends on a multitude of organizational factors, i.e., the size of the company and the company's bureaucracy, the number of projects which need to be managed on an international scale, the scope of the projects, the expectations the organization has for the role of the project leader, the appropriate level of senior executive who the organization feels is needed to resolve key organizational and project-related roadblocks, etc. Care must be taken to ensure that the reporting relationship is sufficiently high up in the organization to provide project leaders with the clout they need to get the job done, yet not so high that they lose touch with everyday reality. |
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A project leader needs to interact with senior executives on a fairly frequent basis. It is important for the project leader to build strong relationships with key organizational players who can make things happen and over time to pay particular attention to ensure that these executives develop the confidence in the project leader's leadership and management ability. Given the significant project issues which need to be addressed on a daily basis and the extensive time commitment usually demanded of any individual working within a project team environment, it is fairly easy to minimize the importance of networking as a nice to do activity. However, this would be a major mistake and could certainly come back to haunt the project leader in the future, particularly if the opportunity has not been taken to build strong relationships with those few key decision makers. Wandering the halls of the executive suite and getting yourself known becomes particularly challenging when you consider that often the project leader must interact with executives who reside at different locations around the world. Even so, this important initiative is a high priority activity. |
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A successful project leader must consistently be actively involved in the process when key project presentations are being made to management or when key project decisions need to be taken. This is of fundamental importance because of the need to send an important message to the organization that the project leader is the key project spokesman and also one of the few individuals in the entire organization who can provide a balanced, informed, and impartial perspective on project issues. |
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Having the opportunity and responsibility to deal with senior management also means that a project leader must be sensitive to the needs of many |
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