Applying Management Functions: A Project Leadership Incident Analysis

This essay reflects on a project management incident where the author had to assume leadership responsibilities due to the team leader's absence. The author details the application of planning, organizing, leadership, and controlling functions to successfully manage an online marketing project. The planning phase involved analyzing client requirements and assigning roles based on team members' schedules. Organizing focused on clear communication and expectation setting to avoid conflicts. Leadership was demonstrated by assisting the design team with reference materials and resolving conflicts between teams. Controlling involved monitoring progress against the initial plan to ensure timely and quality delivery. The reflection highlights the importance of proactive planning and communication, suggesting that discussing design specifications with the team and client beforehand could have improved efficiency. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments for students.

Incident Discussion
A task and incident in my life where I was supposed to take care of all 4 types of management
functions i.e. Planning, Organizing, Leadership and Controlling; was when a project of online
marketing for a customer was signed with our organization and our team leader fell sick. Although I
had little experience with management, I was given the responsibility to handle the project end to
end as our organization did not have a back up for our team leader.
Planning: I planned the project in accordance with the usual company norms. I used to watch my
team leader plan every project and that is where I knew how the planning for a project is expected to
be done. I analyzed the client requirement and the budget assigned. Based on my analysis, I
disintegrated the roles and responsibilities for each team member after a careful analysis of their
existing schedules and projects.
Organizing: to organize the project in the most effective manner, I discussed the roles assignment
with every team member, explained the expectations, the timelines and the quality that would be
expected out of them. In addition to this, I also ensured that none of the team members had any
overlaps or reason to have a conflict with each other. I ensured that the design team and the
promotions team understood the client requirements and would use the methodologies to deliver
quality designs and content in their marketing techniques.
Leadership: I used my leadership skills when the design team was unable to meet the timelines. I
discussed with them the problems that they were facing and offered my assistance in completing the
work within the timeframe that was given to the customer. I gave them reference materials, sent
samples to understand client expectations and discussed the outcomes of communication with the
design team so they recognize the competition, the industrial challenges and are able to deliver
quality work. My leadership skills were also involved where I resolved conflicts between the design
team and the promotion team. The promotion team blamed the design team for delay in work. I took

this opportunity to help my team understand certain other strategies that can be used to cover up the
time lost and complete the project within the timeline.
Controlling: I exercised the aspect of controlling by analyzing the progress that was made in
comparison to the planning that I had earlier done. I recognized the aspects where the team was
lacking control and helped in ensuring that the project was delivered in accordance with the quality
parameters and within the timeline.
Reflection
It was my first time in management of a project. I wouldn’t say that I did not make any mistakes.
Once I reflect on my actions and the management of the project, I can say that if given the
opportunity to manage the same thing again, I would have changed my planning procedure. During
the planning, I would have discussed the design specifications with the team before hand and
discussed the same thing with the customer as well. If I had not waited for the design team to
complain, I would have been more efficient in delivering the project.