Project Management, Leadership, and Communication

About This Course

Managing a successful project involves more than schedules, templates, and paperwork. It requires the application of strong interpersonal management skills to work effectively with people in a variety of roles.

The skills you'll learn in this course will enable you to apply effective leadership strategies, improve your interpersonal communication, become more influential, help guide your staff through change, deal with conflict and practice ethical principles during the entire project management process.

With the aid of the hands-on case study exercises, you'll learn to create a motivating team atmosphere and ultimately manage your project successfully.

Students pursuing a university-recognized and/or accredited certificate in Canada or continuing education units in the US must attend at least 90% of class time, participate in class exercises and section-knowledge checks, and score at least 70% on an end-of-class, multiple-choice assessment.

Audience Profile

• Associate project managers
• project managers
• IT project managers
• project coordinators
• project analysts
• project leaders
• senior project managers
• team leaders
• product managers
• program managers

At Course Completion

Upon completing this course, students will be able to:

• Manage stakeholders and teams
• Assess and apply leadership styles
• Improve communication
• Enhance influence and power bases
• Motivate team members
• Lead effective project teams
• Coach team members
• Practice change management
• Manage individual and team conflict
• Practice ethical project management
• Create a Leadership Development Plan

Course Outline

1. Introduction to Project Leadership

• What Is Project Management?
• Role of Project Manager as Organizational Leader
• Begin Developing Leadership Development Plan
• The Triple Constraint
• Leadership Skills
• Stakeholders

2. Leadership and Management

• Leadership vs. Management
• Leadership Orientation
• Management Styles
• Three Functions of Management
• Trait Theory
• Fiedler's Contingency Model
• The Leaders Window

3. Interpersonal Communication

• The Communication Loop
• Filters and Barriers
• The Interpersonal Gap
• Active Listening

4. Influence

• Influences on a Project Manager
• Influence Styles
• Power and the Project Manager

5. Motivation

• Motivation Theories
• Motivating Under-Performing Team Members
• Rewards and Behavior
• Creating a Motivation Plan
• Vroom's Expectancy Theory

6. Effective Teams

• Team Roles
• Stages of Project Team Development
  • Forming
  • Storming
  • Norming
  • Performing
  • Deforming
• Team Process and Functional Teams
• Coaching Team Members

7. Change Management

• What is Change Management?
• Being an Organizational Change Agent
• Influencers of Change
• Stages of Organizational Change
• Strategies to Manage Change

8. Conflict

• What is Conflict?
• Constructive Conflict vs. Destructive Conflict
• Conflict Reactions to Avoid
• Conflict Resolution Techniques
• Staying Calm in Conflict Situations
• What is Negotiation?
• Attitudes About Negotiation
• Negotiation Requirements
• Formal Project Negotiation Planning

9. Ethics and Leadership

• Ethics and Values
• Personal and Business Ethics
• Project Management Institute Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Hands-On Exercises

• Leadership Self-Assessment
• Leadership Style Analysis
• Active Listening Role Play
• Deter Influence Style Preference
• Complete Power Base Profile
• Morale Problem Case Study
• Conflict Resolution
• Negotiation Role Play
• Conflict Resolution Case Study
• Create Leadership Development Plan