DYER PREDICTIONS

Project Leadership

Projects are managed… sometimes very well, sometimes not. People are led. That takes good leadership along with good project management skills. Project leadership falls to those people who are in charge of the daily work on your project.

Leadership can be difficult to define. We do know that even a highly intelligent and skilled individual can fail at leadership. Another person with solid, yet not extraordinary abilities can soar. When promoting people we need to look not only at their intelligence and technical skills, but also (and maybe even more importantly) at their people skills. Research done on emotional intelligence indicates that if people don’t develop the five components of emotional intelligence their leadership abilities will fall short. They may even fail at their job. Fortunately, emotional intelligence skills can be learned. While most people are adept at one or more of the five components, all five need to be present for true leadership.

THE FIVE COMPONENTS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Self-Awareness
The ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions and drives, as well as their affect on others

Attributes
• Self-confidence
• Realistic self-assessment
• Self-deprecating sense of humor

Self-Regulation
The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods.
The propensity to suspend judgment – to think before acting.

Attributes:
• Trustworthiness and integrity
• Comfort with ambiguity
• Openness to change

Motivation
A passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status.
A propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence

Attributes:
• Strong drive to achieve
• Optimism, even in the face of failure
• Organizational commitment

Empathy The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people.
Skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions

Attributes:
• Expertise in building and retaining talent
• Cross-cultural sensitivity
• Service to clients and customers

Social Skill
Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks.
An ability to find common ground and build rapport.

Attributes:
• Effectiveness in leading change
• Persuasiveness
• Expertise in building and leading teams

These components are as important to project success as good project management. Leaders in the field must learn these skills and take an active leadership role. By taking responsibility, not only for safety and budgets, but also for disputes, coordination, motivation, and communication, they will help assure that a project will be successful. If the project leaders accept these responsibilities, all the group members will be able to follow their lead.

The Four Barriers to Partnering

Listed below in order of priority are four barriers that can stop you from successfully partnering a project.

Barrier #1: Lack of commitment to, or believe in, the process and concept of partnering. This lack of commitment can range from seeing partnering as a waste of time to blatant hostility to partnering because of a belief that it gives someone else an advantage.

Barrier #2: Not bringing key stakeholders to the partnering sessions. Key stakeholders include anyone who can negatively effect the project. Often only the project management team members are invited to partnering sessions. Bring in senior management, field crew supervisors (i.e. foremen, superintendents, inspectors, etc.), subcontractors, designers and third parties such as utilities, cities, suppliers, etc.

Barrier #3: Lack of the skills required to effectively partner, in particular the stakeholders’ lack of ability to negotiate good agreements on their own after the partnering session and throughout the course of the project. As a result, the partnership breaks down as soon as there is a disagreement, a conflict, or when one party fears they are being taken advantage of. Everyone goes to their corner and comes out fighting.

Barrier #4: Lack of accountability makes the partnering session an “event” instead of setting norms that will be used for doing business on the project. If no one is responsible or held accountable for making the partnering successful (which in turn makes the project successful), then it is not likely the partnering will be successful. At the first sign of conflict the partnership will go out the door. Safety became a part of the job site culture when bonuses and reputations were tied to preventing accidents. The same is true with partnering – what gets measured and rewarded gets done.

Evaluate the potential for a successful partnering by looking at these four barriers. Determine to what extent each is present on your project. The Construction Industry Institute says we have not yet tapped the full potential of what partnering can offer our projects in terms of cost, schedule, innovation and job satisfaction. Get these four barriers out of the way to reach that potential.

Women for Wealth

I would like to thank Liz Uible, Christine Harvey and the Women for Wealth for the opportunity to speak with them. If you would like to hear the interview, please call 1-641-985-5999 and enter code 22882#. In addition, Christine Harvey has posted parts of the interview on the Women For Wealth blog.