Leading Global Projects: For Professional and Accidental Project Leaders

ISBN-13: 9780750682466 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 248 str.

Robert T. Moran

Opis

This book is a must-read for anyone responsible for projects and initiatives that span functional and geographical divides. Authors Moran and Youngdahl bring extensive experience and learning from industry practice to present a clear and straightforward treatment of the leadership skills and knowledge required to lead projects that are global in nature. They have written the first book of its kind to address the three essential skills of global project leaders - strategic project management, project leadership, and cross-cultural leadership.

The authors argue that global project leadership is an essential skill in our project-based world and that we are all either intentional or accidental project leaders. Intentional project leaders pursue formal project management education and even certification whereas accidental project leaders find themselves leading global projects and initiatives as a result of a special assignment or promotion. Moran and Youndahl have found that the vast majority of global projects leaders fall into the accidental category and have written the book to be accessible to those who have not necessarily pursued formal project management education. Experienced intentional project managers can skip the single chapter on project management fundamentals to move to the more advanced chapters addressing topics such as influencing without formal authority across functional and geographical boundaries and leading global projects at the edge of crisis.

- The only book that combines themes of strategic project management, project leadership and cross-cultural leadership

- Rich with examples and stories to illustrate key skills and knowledge required to lead global projects

Recenzje

'This is a good introductory book regarding the particulars of managing projects in a global environment. The writing is not overly academic, it engages the reader, and contains essential elements for the developing project manager to consider. [...] It is ideally suited for project management majors and international business/global studies majors.' - David G. Duby, Associate Professor, Liberty University, USA

Spis treści

1 Leading Global Projects
• Accidental Project Managers
• Global Project Leadership Imperative
• Getting Strategic About Global Projects
• The Cultural Context of Project Leadership
• What is “Culture”
• A “Cultural” Mistake
• Denial
• Two Typical Leaders of Global Projects
• Culture is Learned
• Culture is Complex
• Understanding and Communication
• The “Hard” Soft Skills of Project Leadership
• Global Project Leadership Realities
2 What Every Project Leader Needs to Know About Project Management
• Fundamentals
• The Strategy Connection
• Financial Value
• Customer Value
• Tactical Value
• Organizational Value
• Compliance Value
• Strategic Value
• Competing for Scarce Resources in a Multi-Project World
• Get the Assumptions and Constraints on the Table
• The Project Plan
• Scope Management
• Risk Management
• Project Time Management
• Estimating How Long Something Will Take
• The Critical Path
• Managing the Project Budget
• Project Management Fundamentals
3 The Project Story
• Aspiration and Facts
• The What–Why Dance
• Project Value Elevator Speech
• Visions from on High
• Creating the Project Vision Statement
• Rapid Project Visioning Exercise
• The Project Snapshot
• The Project Exit Story
• Learning from Project Stories
• The Power of Stories
• Project Story Imperatives
4 Cross-Cultural and Cross-Functional Project Leadership Skills
• A Newspaper Column
• Cultural Filters
• Stereotypes
• Global Leaders as Learners
• Mini-Cases
• A Framework
• A Great Project Leadership Story
• Framing the Problem
• Leaders Handling Two Swords at the Same Time
• The English Language as the Language of Business
• Examples of Humor
5 Influencing and Negotiating
• Seeking Alignment Through Influence
• Developing an Influencing Strategy
• Influencing Exercise
• Reading Nonverbal Signals
• Negotiating in Global Projects
• A Framework for Global Negotiations
• Influencing Without Authority and Turning Conflicts into Cooperation
• What is Conflict?
• Influencing Imperatives
6 What Project Team Members Need from Us
• The Case of the Brazilian Caddie
• Global Project Teams: A Primer
• Stages of Team Development
• Research on Project Synergy
• Leading Global Projects Quiz
• A Framework for Identifying What Blocks Motivation and Performance
• Dealing with “Interesting” People
• Persistence and Optimism
• What Virtual Project Team Members Need
• What Team Members Need from Us – Imperatives
7 Leading Projects at the Edge of Chaos
• Understanding Chaos
• Complexity and Uncertainty
• Early Warning Signs
• Expressed Confusion About the Strategy That the Project is Fulfilling
• Real or Perceived Confusion About the Project Scope
• Project Team Members Focusing on Work Unrelated to the Project
• Isolated Virtual Team Members
• Stuck in the Glue of a Fuzzy Front End
• The Perfect Storm
• Clarity-Seeking Project Leadership
• Identify and Communicate Project Scope and the Link Between Scope and Strategy
• Carve Long-Duration Projects and Tasks into Value-Producing Chunks
• Ask the Critical Three Questions Frequently, Daily if Possible
• Simplify
• Leverage Diversity to Achieve Project Breakthroughs
• Perform Project Team Tune-Ups on a Regular Basis
• Engage in Lateral Thinking to Minimize Assumptions and Explore Butterfly Effects
• Structure Your Project by Project Type
• Edge of Chaos Realities
8 Shaking Up the Project Team
• The Change Process
• Change Implementation Insights
• Change Imperatives
9 Leadership/Culture/Project Management: Capturing the Learnings
• Methods of Learning
• Action Learning
• Learning Logs
• Capturing the Learning Imperatives
10 Mindstretching Question, Summary, and Epilogue

O autorze

Robert T. Moran