Building Leadership In Project And Network Management

1 1. 1 The book The book in your hand is not a scientific book, although it is based just as much on science as on my own experience in consultancy and management. As its title suggests, we want to build a bridge between the leadership that is typical of facilitation techniques and that of pr- ect and network management. Therefore this book does more than p- vide you with insights into the mainly methodical Messages we want to transmit. It will also make suggestions for how to train facilitators, and in the centre of the book you will find a wealth of 40 carefully selected and reality-proof Tools, many of which have never been pre- ously published in English, and in some case have never been published at all. With all of these you will find a presentation of our way of using them. Our sole objective is to offer our views and experience in impr- ing communication for effective co-operation, i. e. we want people who collaborate in some way to find and decide on the best courses of action, then share and implement these decisions better. We want to promote learning by doing, just as well as doing by learning. So this book is for people who in some way are responsible for s- cessful co-operation in projects, in and across organisations or networks of organisations. Action Learning has many fathers (but few mothers) and roots.

This book introduces readers to essential facilitation techniques for leadership in the contexts of project and network management. It provides method-based messages, a facilitator curriculum, and a veritable arsenal of 50 carefully selected and 'reality-tested' tools for facilitation in non-hierarchical contexts. As such, readers will benefit just as much from learning by doing as from doing by learning. This book is also intended for all managers who are responsible for successful communication and co-operation in projects in and across organisations or networks of organisations, and who want to know how to share their plans effectively and improve collaboration. Though the book employs scientific principles, it is chiefly a practical guide, and draws on the authors’ extensive experience in consultancy and management.

1 1. 1 The book The book in your hand is not a scientific book, although it is based just as much on science as on my own experience in consultancy and management. As its title suggests, we want to build a bridge between the leadership that is typical of facilitation techniques and that of pr- ect and network management. Therefore this book does more than p- vide you with insights into the mainly methodical Messages we want to transmit. It will also make suggestions for how to train facilitators, and in the centre of the book you will find a wealth of 40 carefully selected and reality-proof Tools, many of which have never been pre- ously published in English, and in some case have never been published at all. With all of these you will find a presentation of our way of using them. Our sole objective is to offer our views and experience in impr- ing communication for effective co-operation, i. e. we want people who collaborate in some way to find and decide on the best courses of action, then share and implement these decisions better. We want to promote learning by doing, just as well as doing by learning. So this book is for people who in some way are responsible for s- cessful co-operation in projects, in and across organisations or networks of organisations. Action Learning has many fathers (but few mothers) and roots.

As executives build and nurture their organization’s strategic agility in today’s turbulent, uncertain business environment, the ability to lead strategic change has become more critical than ever. The Strategic Project Leader: Mastering Service-Based Project Leadership, Second Edition will help project managers lead with confidence in temporary, ambiguous team structures that execute risk-laden work in an increasingly agile project environment. Like the first edition, this edition encourages readers to take ownership of their leadership agenda and become disciplined in the processes of building a framework of leadership skills. Readers are introduced to a new role: the service-based project leader. This role serves the entire project organization by creating a meaningful experience for team members, customers, and critical stakeholders. The book provides practical guidance to help you move from project manager to service-based project leader. Detailing a framework for developing and refining leadership skills, it explains how to build a leadership competency pyramid and then execute a self-directed plan for building leadership competencies. The leadership competency pyramid includes an intuitive model that will be helpful to project managers at any level. The book elaborates on the components of each layer of the pyramid and how each layer relates to the others. A chapter is dedicated to each layer of the pyramid, with supporting evidence for the necessity of each of these layers, as well as practical advice on how to build and practice these component layers.

Project Management Leadership is a comprehensive guide to the human factors involved in Project Management, in particular the leadership skills required to ensure successful implementation of current best practice. It provides the latest insights on team building, motivation, collaboration, and networking skills, and the way these can be harnessed to manage a successful project. Exercises and worked examples are provided throughout.

The inspiration for this monograph is the progress in information and IT technologies observed over several decades and the accompanying development of digital competences. The collected results of the research work are grouped into three distinct chapters, which, at the same time, have a common denominator in research perspectives. Network-based economy, innovation-based economy, and competence-based economy are primarily analyzed in relation to technological changes in the ICT area. Each of these perspectives ultimately leads towards Economy 4.0 due to the progressing digital revolution, called the fourth industrial revolution. The contemporary importance of networks, innovations and managerial competences in the economy is analyzed primarily in connection with technological progress. The issue of networks in economic life has been developing for over 30 years. The role of the network in achieving a competitive advantage is unquestioned, while research issues are still being developed. This technological perspective is the most important context for network research today. Contemporary business models are developed based on a skillfully built inter-organizational network and a consciously used intra-organizational network. This applies to both commercial organizations and public entities. These issues are reflected in articles contained in this monograph, in particular in the first chapter. Various research conducted in organizations proves the increasing awareness of the importance of social life by managers and leaders, as well as the increase in the ability to build networks using information and ICT. Research on networks, which allows an understanding of the phenomenon of network formation, leads to the creation of methods and tools supporting network management. Modern network researchers, especially in the field of management sciences, point out that understanding the nature of the network and the possibilities of interacting with the network will determine the competitive position of the organization. This awareness and the complexity of the network are a constant motivation to develop knowledge and use its application character. The concept of an innovation-based economy is included in the second chapter and is also related to technological progress in the field of communication. The studies presented relate to the degree of innovation, skillful differentiation of innovation and imitation, the effectiveness of project financing, and the implementation of innovation. An important contribution to building knowledge on innovation comes from research conducted in individual sectors or regions, where a new, important perspective is gained, and specific, sometimes unique determinants of creating innovation are pointed out. References to regional and sectoral conditions can be found in individual subchapters. The research conclusions drawn have a cognitive and practical value for both researchers and management practitioners. In the third chapter of the monograph, studies that make an important contribution to building or verifying knowledge about the competence-based economy are grouped together. The research refers to the most important management problems and barriers to the development of organizations related to employees’ competences. Reference was made to many research currents in management, e.g. to empower employees, build the image of the employer, and the concept of sustainable development. Due to their long history of development, they would seem to be running out, while researchers prove that in contemporary commercial and non-commercial organizations deficits in managerial competencies are still identified. This applies to both human management and technical competences, especially digital. Therefore, research indicating the reasons for a lack of competence, in an era of strong popularization of these issues, seems to be interesting. The purpose of this monograph was to present current research results and their importance in developing knowledge about the economy based on networks, innovations, and competences. A lot of research was conducted from the perspective of changes in technological progress and the challenges of Economy 4.0. The new possibilities brought by the digital revolution in the field of building and managing networks and developing network-based business models cannot be underestimated. It should be expected that future innovations will be developed mainly thanks to digital progress and will be determined by the digital competences of managers and leaders. Modern research also shows that new generations of employees will compete primarily in the use of modern technological solutions such as data acquisition and processing, analyzes and simulations on large data sets (big data, science data), automation and robotization of production processes, software integration, cloud solutions, and especially the increasingly comprehensive use of the Internet. The importance of scientific research for learning about future phenomena, understanding and taming the future is invaluable. The authors and editors of the book express the hope that the research results presented in it will become an inspiration for new scientific explorations and the implementation of changes in organizations and economics.

This is not another how-to guide for program managers or another reiteration of the Project Management Institute's standards for program management. Instead, Program Management Leadership: Creating Successful Team Dynamics examines various leadership approaches and illustrates the value of effective leadership styles in Program Management for

In addition to overseeing projects, managers are expected to provide creative input and foster an environment that can respond, rather than react, to changing parameters and fluctuating objectives. Facilitating the development of the skills required to do so, The Strategic Project Leader: Mastering Service-Based Project Lea