PPMP20009 Assessment 2: Leadership Styles and Lean Project Management

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Central Queensland University, Australia
Term –
PPMP20009Assessment 2
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Assessment: Group Assessment
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Comparison of leadership styles................................................................................................4
3.0 Preferred leadership style..........................................................................................................7
4.0 Characteristics to become a valuable team member of "THE A TEAM."................................9
5.0 Tools and techniques to facilitate lean business operations....................................................11
6.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................13
7.0 References................................................................................................................................14
Appendix........................................................................................................................................16
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1.0 Introduction
The concerned assignment is related to the operations of SINTEF ltd, which is a functional
organization. The organization holds the responsibility of different departments. In order to
manage the departments and to control the operations of the firm, it is essential to implement
effective leadership programmes in the organization. Leadership is essential for the
implementation of the project. With the support of the leaders, the organization will be able to
fulfil its objectives. Leadership will help in managing and integrating the efforts of all the
teammates and likewise promotes the adequacy of the operations. With the help of the
assignment, a number of leadership styles are identified and elaborated. All of these leadership
styles are incorporated with both negative and positive aspects. These leadership styles will help
in enhancing the growth of the organization. Among all of these leadership styles, the most
effective one is selected for the SINTEF. The assignment also incorporates the traits of
evaluating team members. These identified traits will help in the development of the team
members at different levels of the organization. With the assistance of the organization, several
tools and techniques of the agile project are identified that will help in enhancing the quality of
operations in the organization. With the help of respective information, the users will be able to
implement changes effectively in the organization.
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2.0 Comparison of leadership styles
Leadership is the most important component of management. Leaders are the main element of
the organization; these work and concerns prove significant for the productivity of the
organization. With the help of the leaders, the organizations are able to guide and supervise the
subordinates effectively. SINTEF is an agile organization that is currently focusing on the
implementation of the lean project in the firm. With the help of the respective project, the firm
will be able to handle challenges and will likewise be capable of handling risks and uncertainties.
Implementation of the project would not be possible without effective and efficient leadership in
the organization (Doyle, 2016). A number of leadership styles that the managers of SINTEF can
introduce in their organization are as follows:
Democratic leadership
Democratic leadership is a style of leadership in which all the important decisions of the
organization are taken by the consent of both the leader and the subordinates. It is a widely used
approach, and the results of this leadership pattern are mostly positive. Under this style of
leadership, the leader always tries to welcome ideas and initiative from the subordinates. This
helps in enhancing the level of creativity and innovativeness among the subordinates. With the
assistance of this approach, the leaders are able to maintain an effective working environment in
the organization.
Positive aspects:
 Helps in enhancing the growth and
productivity of the organization
 Enhances creativity in the organization
 Helps in enhancing the skills and
capabilities of the employees
 Assists in maintaining an effective
working environment in the firm
Negative aspects:
 Quick decision making is not possible
 Creates insecurity among the
employees
 The work pressure on employees can
increase with this practice
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(Doyle, 2016).
Pacesetting leadership
Pacesetting is a form of leadership in which the leader usually set a high degree of expectation
for the subordinates. In this style of leadership, the will of the employees is not entertained. They
try to set high standards and demand the employees to fulfil them as per the direction of the
leader. Under this style of leadership, the main objective of the leader is the profitability of the
organization, the perspectives of the employees are not welcomed in this scenario (Doyle, 2016).
The leaders try to obtain quick results of the situation, and for this, they sometimes pressurise the
subordinates.
Positive aspects:
 Quick decision making is possible
 The firm is able to fulfil its objectives
effectively
Negative aspect:
 Overpressure over the employees
 Can demotivate the employees
 Reduces the level of creativity
 The will of employees is not
entertained
 The results are negative sometimes
Affiliative leadership
Under this style of leadership, the employees or the subordinates are given priority. The leaders
always try to entertain the will of the subordinates while fulfilling the objectives of the
organization. The main objective of the leader is to create an atmosphere of harmony and peace
in the organization. The leaders always make efforts to maintain an effective environment in the
organization in order to motivate their team members. With the help of this leadership style, the
leaders are able to motivate the subordinates in the most effective manner (Doyle, 2016). They
will likewise be able to enhance the scope of communication in the organization with the
adoption of this style of leadership.
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Positive aspect:
 Helps in enhancing the scope of
communication
 Helps in nourishing the skills of the
employees
 Helps in motivating the subordinates
 Helps in marinating effective
environment in the firm
Negative aspect:
 Basic objectives of the firm can be
hampered
 Quick decisions are not possible
Authoritative leadership
This style of leadership is focused on the predetermined goals or objectives of the organization.
Under this style of leadership, the leaders try to promote the objectives of the organization and
put all their efforts in the fulfilment of the objective of the firm. The leaders always make efforts
to deviate the actions of the subordinates for the fulfilment of organizational objectives. Changes
and flexibility of operation are possible under this style of leadership. This style of leadership is
adopted when the leaders are clear with the goals or vision of the organization (Doyle, 2016).
Positive aspect:
 Goals of the organization can be
fulfilled efficiently.
 The leader tries to guide and direct the
subordinates effectively.
 The flexibility of operations can be
increased
 The results of the respective style are
mostly positive
Negative aspect:
 There is less scope of creativity
 The employees ca feed over pressured.
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3.0 Preferred leadership style
Lean project management is crucial for handling all the departments of SINTEF. This project
will help in eliminating all the failures of the organization and will similarly assist in managing
the resources effectively. The lean project can be implemented in SINTEF with the help of
effective leadership. From all the above-identified leadership styles, Authoritative leadership is
considered the most suitable one (Ng, & Sears, 2012). With the respective leadership style, the
leaders of the firm are capable of implementing the project in the most effective and timely
manner. This type of leadership likewise facilitates easy and quick decision making in the
organization. A number of other benefits of the respective leadership style are as follows:
 Enables consistent results
Consistent results are essential for the implementation of agile projects in the
organization. With the help of respective leadership patterns, the leaders of SINTEF will
be able to maintain consistent results. This will help in improving the productivity and
potential of the organization. This style of leadership helps in maintaining the quality of
operations in the organization (Ng, & Sears, 2012).
 Quick decisions are possible:
With the assistance of authoritative leadership, quick decision making is possible in
SINTEF. Under this style of leaders, the leaders are very clear with the goal or vision of
the organization. This clarity helps the leaders in enhancing the efficiency of functioning
and likewise helps in framing quick and firm decisions in the firm.
 Guidance and direction to the subordinates
In this style of leadership maximum operations of the firm are handled by the leaders
itself. They are responsible for guiding and directing the subordinates in the most
effective manner. With the adequate support of the leaders, the subordinates will be able
to manage the activities of the firm in the most significant manner. Direction and
guidance of the leaders will help the subordinates in carrying out the activities quickly
and effectively.
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 Reduce the number of failures
In an authoritative style of leadership, all the important or key activities are performed by
the leaders of the organization. These leaders are experienced and have skills to handle
the tasks with full efficiency. In this manner, the respective style of leadership can help in
eliminating any failure from the organization. Along with this in this style of leadership,
all the tasks are conducted in a planned and scheduled manner. This factor likewise helps
in reducing the level of inefficiency and mistake form the organization.
 Boost productivity
Under this style of leadership, all the tasks are cleared and described on a prior basis. The
leaders try to provide all the guidelines and schedules to their subordinates in order to
enhance the potential of the organization. With the effect of this factor, the leaders are
able to improve the productivity of the organization. With the assistance of the respective
leadership style, all the tasks are completed in a significant manner without the wastage
of resources (Gibson, &Robert.,2012).
With respect to the above information, it can be identified that the authoritative style of
leadership will suit the functioning of SINTEF. With the help of respective style, the leaders of
the firm will be able to implement an agile project in their organization. They will likewise be
able to improve the capabilities of the employees that in turn, enhances the profitability and
productivity of the organization.
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4.0 Characteristics to become a valuable team member of "THE A
TEAM."
In SINTEF, the process of implementation can be conducted with full efficiency by the support
and skills of an effective leading team. In this respective situation, THE A-TEAM is made
responsible for handling the concerned task. The efficiency of the team is depended on the skills
and capabilities of the embers of the team. With the skills and support of the team members, the
leaders are able to implement the project in the organization. A number of characteristics of the
team member of an effective team are as follows:
(Figure 1: Characteristics of a valuable team member)
(Source: By Author)
 Feasible
It is essential for a team member to be flexible and adaptable. With the assistance of
flexible team members, the team will be able to face an uncertain situation that can help
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FlexibilityHonestyandintegrityCommunicationskills

the firm in entertaining the difficult situations in an easy and effective manner (Gibson,
&Robert.,2012).
 Honesty and integrity
Honesty and integrity is another effective element that is must in a valuable team
member. An honest team member is capable of handling all the function of the
organization in a quick and effective manner. Honest team members also try to work with
more enthusiasm in the organization (Ng, & Sears, 2012).
 Communication skills
An effective team member must incorporate effective communication skills, and this skill
will help the member in developing its identity while at the same time, will help in the
growth of the organization. With the help of effective communication skills, the member
will be able to understand the objective of the organization that will help in fulfilling the
same effectively (Gibson, &Robert.,2012).
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5.0 Tools and techniques to facilitate lean business operations
For SINTEF LTD to make sure its efficiency is achieved in all of its departments, it needs to
apply various tools and techniques of lean management. Though there are many techniques
available for increasing efficiency of the various departments, these are the ones that are going to
be used for the case of SINTEF LTD.
Project management Body of Knowledge is one of the tools that can be used by the organisation
to achieve efficiency in the departments. The theory that can be made here is that by using such a
tool, each of the departments will have more control over its process, making the work more
profound. This would also help the projects as guidelines would be set forth and be followed that
would lead to more efficiency obtained by the departments (Gibson, &Robert.,2012).
PRINCE2 is yet another tool that can be used for increasing efficiency. An assumption can be
made that by using this tool, the projects which are occurring in the departments would be
divided furthermore into smaller parts so that each part can be worked on separately. By doing
this, each task would be given more importance, thus making it more successful. For example, if
a project is divided into smaller parts, then they would be more controlled, and it would be easier
to manage the smaller tasks. As the projects are controlled by smaller groups, this would ensure
that teams in the department work, thus making it more efficient (Renen et. al. 2013).
The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Control, Improve is a technique which helps
departments for improving their project. It can be said that if this tool is used in any one of the
departments of the organisation, then the project will become stable, resulting in a more
successful rate. For example all of the factors that are involved in the tool will make sure that the
aspects of the projects are fully analysed thus leading benefits for both the departments and the
customers. In this technique, the project has to go through all of the stages in which the project
will be thoroughly analysed as well as assessed so that it can be effective (El Dabee et al. 2013).
The problems solving cycle PDCA (Plan, Do Check, Act) is a technique which can be assumed
that will go to the core of the problems that are occurring in the departments. An example can be
taken of the manufacturing department in which there may be a problem occurring with a
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process regarding the product. If this tool is used when the root of the problem would be
identified from which the problem would not occur again. This technique shows a cycle that after
assessing the problem, it will then again apply the cycle to see that none major issues are left,
thus increasing the efficiency of the department (Prashar, 2017).
Takt Time is one of the techniques that can be used for increasing different department's
efficiency. By using this technique, it will be assumed that every project which is occurring in
the organisation has to be completed within a time frame. For example, if a new innovative
product is being thought about, then the whole project would be split up, and each task would be
given a specific time slot. This would mean that the project will be delivered on time and at a
higher success rate hence increasing the efficiency for each of the departments (Millstein et. al.
2014).
To improve the efficiency of the department's Kanban technique can be used. This technique
often referred to as just in time method, can be used, especially in the manufacturing department
(Shnaiderman, & Ben-Baruch, 2016). It can be assumed that by using this method, the
production rate from each of the departments would increase. For example, in the manufacturing
department, there would be cards that would have to be kept so that it could be identified what
days did the production rise and what days there was seen a downfall in the products. By doing
this, it could be seen that each of the departments is linked together, and if one department's
efficiency increases the other department's efficiency would also increase (Millstein et. al. 2014).
The agile tool is one of the most important tools that can be used in the organisation. As SINTEF
LTD is more focused on its information and technology department, this tool is the best one to
increase the department's efficiency. A hypothesis can be made that this tool will make sure that
the softwares used in the organisation are up-to-date and working effectively. The example of the
‘THE A-TEAM' can be taken as this tool will make sure that the team works in collaboration
with the customers and provides a higher success rate (Jacobson et. al. 2013).
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