Mastering Project Leadership and Communication

Overview

This advanced course moves beyond traditional project management to focus on the human side of delivering projects. Develop the essential leadership, communication, and influence skills required to inspire high-performance teams, navigate complex conflicts, manage diverse stakeholders, and lead successful organizational change.

Target Audience:

Senior Project Managers, Program Managers, Project Leaders, and anyone tasked with leading project teams and managing key stakeholder relationships in complex environments.

Upon completion, students will be able to:

• Adapt leadership styles to motivate teams and navigate different project situations.
• Apply advanced conflict resolution and negotiation techniques to achieve project goals.
• Develop and execute a sophisticated stakeholder engagement and influence plan.
• Implement effective communication strategies for co-located, hybrid, and fully virtual teams.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing team culture.
• Lead people through project-related change and drive innovation.

Outline

Module 1: Advanced Leadership Styles and Their Application to Projects

• Leadership vs. Management: Distinguishing between managing tasks and leading people.
• Situational Leadership® Model: Adapting your leadership style (Directing, Coaching, Supporting, Delegating) based on team maturity and task complexity.
• Servant Leadership & Transformational Leadership: Applying frameworks that focus on empowering teams and inspiring change.

Module 2: Conflict Resolution and Negotiation Strategies

• Sources of Project Conflict: Identifying common causes (e.g., schedules, priorities, resources, personality).
• Conflict Resolution Models: Applying the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) to choose the right approach (Competing, Collaborating, Compromising, etc.).
• Principled Negotiation: Using strategies from “Getting to Yes” (focus on interests, not positions) to achieve win-win outcomes.

Module 3: Stakeholder Engagement and Influence Skills

• Stakeholder Analysis & Mapping: Advanced techniques for identifying power, interest, influence, and attitude.
• Developing Influence Strategies: Building coalitions, crafting compelling arguments, and using the Cialdini principles of persuasion (e.g., reciprocity, scarcity, authority).
• Creating a Stakeholder Engagement Plan: Moving from analysis to actionable engagement activities.

Module 4: Advanced Communication Strategies for Virtual Teams

• The Virtual Communication Challenge: Addressing proximity bias, building trust, and fostering inclusion remotely.
• Choosing the Right Channel: Matching the communication medium (email, video, chat, collaborative tools) to the message’s complexity and sensitivity.
• Running Effective Virtual Meetings: Designing and facilitating engaging virtual meetings that achieve their objectives.

Module 5: Building and Sustaining High-Performance Project Teams

• Tuckman’s Model Deep Dive: Actively guiding a team through Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing stages.
• Creating Psychological Safety: Establishing a team culture where members feel safe to take risks and voice opinions.
• Motivation & Recognition: Applying motivational theories (e.g., Herzberg, Pink’s Drive) and designing effective recognition systems for project teams.

Module 6: Leading Change and Driving Innovation Within Projects

• Change Management Models: Applying frameworks like ADKAR (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement) to project initiatives.
• Overcoming Resistance: Identifying the root causes of resistance and developing strategies to address them.