Not only that, but there are also nine (9) leadership skills needed for project managers and five (5) strategies to improve leadership skills for project managers were identified through the comprehensive literature review. In short, this study has resulted in a useful list of key differences between managerial skills and leadership skills that are relevant to the Malaysian industry sector.
Introduction
Research Background
This is mainly due to the fact that most project managers in Malaysian work sectors have mastered the application of project management approaches. In addition, the objective of this paper is to examine how leadership skills are able to turn a successful project manager into an effective leader who is able to deliver the project more successfully.
Problem Statement
What are the leadership skills needed for a project manager to manage their project in an effective and efficient manner. How are the leadership skills able to transform a successful project manager into an effective and efficient leader.
Research Aim
Research Objectives The research has three objectives
Brief Research Methodology
To be more specific, the quantitative research method will be adopted for this research, which is ideal for large research samples. To examine the leadership skills necessary for project managers to manage their projects in an effective and efficient manner.
Research Scope
After primary and secondary data collection, further analysis will be performed using statistical and correlation testing to help this study justify the possible analysis results in support of the objective of this study. Not only that, but the respondents should range from junior level project managers to executive level project managers.
Chapter Outline
Introduction
Definition of Leadership
The term 'leadership' can be defined as the capacity for collective action to vitalize (Kotter, 1990). Leadership can also be defined as people who serve others and expect others to follow them (Bennis and Nanus, 1997).
Definition of Management
An effective manager needs three different skills: technical skills, people skills and conceptual skills (Algahtani, 2014). According to Hysong's (2008) research, the findings showed that technical skill is necessary for managerial performance.
Comparison between Leadership and Management
In addition, leaders are considered good communicators and motivators because they tend to spend most of their time with followers (Hull and Ozeroff, 2004). Moreover, leaders are more concerned with people while managers are more concerned with work (Wajdi, 2017).
Concept of Leadership Skill
Life Skill
In short, life skills can be known as an interpersonal skill that is essential for building relationships among team members in order to establish a successful and cohesive team.
Social Skill
People Skill
Essential Leadership Skills Required by Project Manager
- Communication Skill
- Problem Solving and Decision-Making Skill
- Team-Building Skill
- Conflict Resolution Skill
- Planning Skill
- Negotiation Skill
- Collaboration
- Emotional Intelligence
In addition, it is also vital for the project manager to build trust among team members (Krot and Lewicka, 2012). By doing so, the project manager is able to reduce unproductive conflict in the organization.
- Mentoring Programme
- Training
- Performance Appraisal
- Rewards
To be more precise, there is either a formal or informal mentoring program that can be implemented to help project managers improve their leadership skills (Abdullah, Ismail, & Francis, 2009). As previously mentioned, self-learning is another excellent opportunity for project managers to develop their leadership skills. To cut a long story short, both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards can help project managers improve their leadership skills.
Chapter Summary
Luthans (2000) strongly argues that intrinsic rewards such as recognition are sometimes more effective and efficient compared to extrinsic rewards. From the study, it was clearly stated that recognition should be given immediately and personally whenever the project manager manages to exercise leadership skills in their projects.
Introduction
Research Design
Examples of quantitative research include an online survey, online polls, telephone interviews, and so on. Quantitative research is used in this research to generate numerical data and transform the collected data into useful statistics. In addition, the sample size in quantitative research is also large enough to provide more accurate data.
Research Instrument
Questionnaire Survey Design
Section C consists of matrix questions to determine the leadership skills required for project managers to manage their projects in an effective and efficient manner. Respondents are asked to rate certain leadership skills from strongly disagree to strongly agree using a five-point Likert scale. All the data collected in this section is to determine the most important leadership skills required of a competent project manager.
Sampling Method and Population
Snowball sampling is a non-probability sampling method where initial study subjects help recruit other participants who meet eligibility criteria and may contribute to this study through their acquaintances. Consideration of the sampling method is essential as the accuracy of data is significant to the research. It is a non-random sampling method in which the respondent is selected based on their predetermined characteristic.
Sampling Size
Data Analysis
Descriptive Analysis
- Relative Important Index (RII) Analysis
Not only that, but it will also determine important leadership skills required by project managers, as well as the key strategies to improve leadership skills. Unlike important index (I.I), the closer of SV value to 0, the more consistent is the result obtained from the respondent. That said, the ranking of all variables will be identified by reading important index.
Reliability Analysis
- Cronbach’s Alpha Test
- Kruskal Wallis Test
- Spearman’s Rank Correlation Test
As said, the main purpose of this test is to determine the significant difference between the required leadership skills from the questionnaire. Spearman's rank correlation test is a test commonly used to measure the relationship between two ranked variables. The main purpose of this test is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the management skills required by project managers and strategies to improve management skills.
Summary
Introduction
Respondent Background
- Designation versus Nature of Business
- Designation versus Age Group
- Designation versus Years of Working Experience
- Designation versus Highest Academic Qualification
Therefore, it simply indicates that the majority of respondents who participated in the study were junior-level project managers. This is followed by 29.40% of the respondents who have 6 years to 10 years of work experience. The relationship between respondents' designation and years of work experience of the respondents in the context of project management is indicated in Table 4.4 below.
Section B- Main differences between managerial skills and leadership skills
Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Test
As shown in Table 4.7, the Cronbach's Alpha reliability test was performed to measure the internal consistency of the collected data. However, the results are only acceptable if the Cronbach's Alpha value is greater than or equal to 0.700. After completing the Cronbach's Alpha reliability test, it shows that the variable "Main differences between management skills and leadership skills".
Arithmetic Mean Test and RII Analysis
Since most of the respondents to this survey questionnaire are from the construction industry, it is normal and expected that construction project managers are more risk averse. This is mainly due to the fact that most construction project managers tend to have good planning in place to reduce and minimize the risks that can arise during the project. In other words, most project managers only work with well-defined tasks, timelines, budgets and scope.
Kruskal-Wallis Test
- Influences with Different Relationship
Not only that, “B.01” also achieved the highest median score with a median of 4,000 for project managers from the computer and technology industry. A leader has followers while a leader has subordinates” or “B.08” has the highest mean value of 5,000 for project managers from the healthcare industry. In addition, "B.03" has the highest average value of 4.270 and a relatively significant index of 0.8533 for senior level project managers.
Section C- Leadership Skills Required for Project Managers The second objective of this research is to examine the leadership skills required
Cronbach’s Alpha Test
Arithmetic Mean Test and RII Analysis
Good communication skills are able to help project managers build rapport while dealing with various stakeholders in the construction industry. There is also another pilot study by Seetha (2014) which indicated that communication skills were ranked highest among the six (6) leadership skills in the area of Klang Valley, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. Therefore, the "Communication Skill" or "C.01" deserved to be one of the top leadership skills in this research study.
Kruskal-Wallis Test
- Influences with Different Relationship
Meanwhile, “Communication Skill” or “C.01” scored the highest average score for project managers from the advertising and marketing industry with an average value of 4500. For project managers belonging to the education industry, it has the value the highest average of 4.330 and the Relative Importance Index of 0.8667. As previously mentioned, it has the highest mean value of 5,000 and Relative Importance Index of 1.0000 for project managers from the manufacturing industry and the healthcare industry.
Section D- Strategies to Improve Leadership Skills for Project Manager
- Cronbach’s Alpha Test
- Arithmetic Mean Test and RII Analysis
- Kruskal-Wallis Test
- Influences with Different Relationship
- Spearman’s Correlation Test
Meanwhile, “Mentorship Program” or “D.01” achieved the highest average score for project managers from the education industry with a median of 4,000. In addition, "Intrinsic Reward" or "D.05" has the highest mean value of 4.580 and a relatively significant index of 0.9165 for senior level project managers. "D.05" also has the highest average value of 4.690 and a relatively significant index of 0.9375 for executive project managers.
Summary
All the data collected for this section of the survey questionnaire were analyzed using Cronbach's Alpha Reliability. As previously mentioned, all the data collected for Section D of the survey questionnaire were analyzed using Cronbach's Alpha Reliability. Furthermore, all the data collected for Section D was also analyzed by the Relative Importance Index (RII).
Introduction
Accomplishment on Problem Statement
Accomplishment on Research Objectives
Objective 1: To identify the main differences between managerial skills and leadership skills
The first objective is achieved by allowing respondents to rate their level of agreement regarding several main differences between managerial and leadership skills. All ten (10) main differences between management and leadership skills and their general classification are listed in Table 5.2 below. According to the collected data, there are no big differences between the views of respondents from different backgrounds.
In summary, the result obtained in section C is in line with the work needs of the real industrial sector.
Research Limitations
Research Recommendation
2015) 'Impact of Project Manager's Soft Leadership Skills on Project Success', Journal of Poverty, Investment and Development, 8, pp. 2011) 'Soft and Hard Skills Development: A Current Situation in Serbian Companies', International Conference of Management, Knowledge en Leren, pp. De rol van technische vaardigheid in percepties van managementprestaties. 2013) 'The Effect of Training on Employee Performance', European Journal of Business and Management, 5(4), pp. 2015) 'Effective Leadership is all About Communicating Effectively: Connecting Leadership and Communication', International Journal of Management & Business Studies , 5(3).
