Discussion Questions for Project Management

As it was often cited in class, no project can achieve success without proper coordination between three essentials: scope, schedule and cost. Change one, and the other two will be impacted. On the other hand, trying to prohibit all changes to a project is often fruitless and can have very adverse consequences.

When we think about what a leader and manager is, most of us will use the same meaning. But in actual fact this is incorrect. We have to look at these two terms differently. What is a manager? A manager is someone who is responsible for directing and controlling the work and staff of a business, or of a department within the organization. So what is a leader? A leader is someone whom people follow, somebody who guides or directs others. Looking at both terms they both are very different. The question is always asked is a manager can be a leader and leader a manager. The true answer is managers are not always leaders, while leaders can be

Quoted by Ronald Reagan “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” A manager gets things done via planning and delegation. Tasks are usually assigned and results are obtained by other efforts. A leader gets things done by holding a vision, modeling behaviors and usually have very inspiring actions. A manager is defined as, “An individual who is in charge of a certain group or tasks” (Business Dictionary). A leader is defined as “The person who leads or commands a group, organizations” (Business Dictionary).

Managers direct and control. Leaders motivate and inspire. Stated another way, Managers get people to do what needs to be done. Leaders get people to want to do what needs to be done (read that again if you need to; the

There is a difference between leadership and management, although they are similar in some ways. While, they both want to achieve common goals, influence people, and work with people, they are different. Managers aim to create consistency and

Tuckman (1965) proposed that when developing teams, groups proceed through four general stages of development, namely: Forming, storming, norming and performing.

Leadership vs. Management, are they the same? No!. “A leader focus on setting goals and direction, challenging the norm, and seeking new ways of working towards the goals. On the other side, Managers specialize on conformance to the standards. They manage teams and individuals, organizing, directing and controlling to achieve goals” (EBA, 2016).

All with differing skills and levels of experience, to allow a service to be provided efficiently and effectively. Each member of the team has a purpose and a function within that team, so the overall success depends on a functional interdependency. There is usually not as much room for conflict when working as a team. The team also does not rely on groupthink to arrive at its conclusions.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes the word leader as a “person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country” and describes the word manager as a “person responsible for controlling or administering all or part of company or similar organization”. Each of these meanings are very close in proximity however many in the business world have different definitions for each of these roles. Although they are different they are linked and are complementary to each other (Oxford Dictionary (American English)).

The differences between the two are; management you are to provide order and consistency to organizations, and leadership is to produce change and movement. A good example the difference between the two is shown on figure 1.2, where is strictly labels the difference between the management functions and leadership roles. Like mentioned above, management is to plan, organize, staffing and control, and leadership is to establish, align and motivate individuals. Again, they both overlap with having to work with people and working toward a

The difference between managers and leaders is that leaders have visions, strategies, and influences on people, while managers are more focused on implementing these elements (Robbins et al, 2012).

Management and leadership are viewed as two different perspectives in the business environment. As described by Dr. Warren Bennis ‘Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing’, this means that managers do things by the set rules and follow company policy, while leaders follow their own intuition, which may in turn be of more benefit to the company.

Not all managers are leaders and not all leaders are managers. The biggest difference between management and leadership is people skills. In determining if a person is a leader or a manager, Bova (2008) lists some differences with which many a person would agree. One difference is that a manager directs people. Managers essentially tell employees to get the job done. Many people work on autopilot until their work shift ends. However, people will follow a leader. Leaders inspire others to want to strive for their best and to go beyond their normal duties.

What are the differences between managers and leaders? “The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do” (Changing Minds, 2008). Managers hire people to work underneath them to accomplish tasks for a common goal. These people are considered subordinates. Leaders have followers. These followers are considered employees. Leaders are passionate about something and bring this level of understanding and emotion to others around them. Managers deal with the physical aspect of the position, whereas leaders deal with the personal aspect of the position.

Managers are acknowledged based to their title within the organizations, whereas leaders are recognized by their characteristics. A good leader has the ability to influence people, while having integrity, and the ability to look outside of the box. A good leader is a person who is defined by the actions they take. Leaders have the ability to inspire those around them (Anderson, 2013). A good manager will do their job correctly according to expectations and job descriptions (Finkelman, 2012). Managers are usually more task oriented.