PROJECT DESCRIPTION

            An upcoming Beauty and Cosmetics company named Leovici wants to come up with a new product that will be its flagship. Leovici requires the development of a special task force to carry out research, marketing, and sales strategies to come up with the perfect product. The essay writer team is comprised of different professionals in various fields and has one Project Manager who will oversee the running of the operations and report back to the main headquarters where at the end of ninety days, a comprehensive report will be required. Since Leovici is involved in the cosmetics industry, it is paramount that the team comes up with a unique and completely refreshing product that will be able to be distinctive from others in the market. Therefore, the team has to work cohesively and outside the box to achieve such a feat.

DELIVERABLES AND OUTCOMES

The team is tasked to come up with a specific target market segment that is either completely ignored, undervalued or offer them something they have not used. Moreover, by selecting a specific target market, the team can effectively narrow down on what kind of products are needed. Also, the team is required to understand and establish trends, shifts, and patterns in the market segment selected to create a versatile commodity. The team is also required to come up with a Consumer Behavior plan which is necessary to critically assess the buying process of the selected market segment.

However, the main task of the team is to create an appropriate marketing and sales strategy that will be able to generate sales and revenue for Leovici while meanwhile cutting a niche in the market. The desired strategy will encompass various marketing, sales, and research tools and techniques that when put in place, will produce desired results. It’s also important that the team comes up with a way to create brand awareness and ensure that the Leovici becomes a household name.

COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP STYLE ASSESSMENT

LEADERSHIP STYLE ASSESSMENT (SWOT)

Under Democratic leadership, Transformational leadership is a refined form that involves the motivation of employees to do more than as planned. These leaders set more challenging expectations and aim to achieve higher performance as they empower their employees more. According to Edward and Shelton (1), transformation leadership is a process in which leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation. Through this form of leadership, “at its heart is consciousness to raise awareness within the self and an ability to raise consciousness in others” (Hacker, Stephen & Tammy 4). Therefore, the project manager is more likely to elicit more feedback from the team in terms of productivity and motivation.

Transformational leadership allows for the team to have promoted enthusiasm. This is brought about when the project leader encourages the rest of the team by also involving himself/herself in the activities as they “are not afraid to share responsibilities” (Edward & Shelton 4). This quality provides an opportunity for the project leader to further understand the teammates and whatever activities they are responsible for. Besides, the project manager can use inspiration to motivate the team. By engaging in the tasks at hand too, the team members are motivated to engage in the tasks they are responsible for with enthusiasm. This enables a quicker and faster project analysis. The manager has the opportunity to tap into this enhanced enthusiasm and get a more detailed report for Leovici by encouraging the team to deliver better quality. Furthermore, since it is a form of democratic leadership, the project manager is capable of “encouraging participation from all the members concerning decision and policymaking” (Lang 24). By allowing the members to participate in a policymaking, the project manager seizes the opportunity to have a wide array of ideas from which the most suitable can be used to have more effective results.

Despite the strengths and opportunities provided, the adoption of transformational leadership will deal with the project manager a few setbacks and threats. Being democratic in structure, there is room for abuse. The team members may not feel compelled to actively engage in their activities as the leader comes off as passive. This brings about the threat of lackluster end product and unruly team members. Besides, there is also room to overlook reality and truth. The project manager and the team may come up with unrealistic targets and overstretch on their abilities while trying to come up with the strategies. This threatens the taskforce’s deadlines as the team may not be able to give feedback on time due to over-confidence. In the case of disagreements, the leader may lose power and authority as the members will gain no intrinsic motivation which is key for transformational leadership to work. Thus, the threat of lack of cohesion and unity is brought about.

COMMUNICATION STYLE

By engaging in assertive communication, the project manager can elicit more authority to curb the inefficiencies that come from the type of leadership used. This allows the project manager to be in control of the final decision-making process and while also engaging the other members to participate. Also, the team is encouraged to have an unrestricted form of both vertical and horizontal communication. Despite this freedom, the team leader has to ensure that its work-related chatter, to cut down on time wasted. Thus, a combination of these communication styles with transformational leadership will lead to a well-detailed project analysis by the team.

MOTIVATING PROJECT TEAM STRATEGY

                It is important that every party on the team is motivated to perform and the tops of their ability. But ensuring optimal performance by every individual on the team, the company can be more assured to achieve the best results. The job of ensuring the team is motivated is the project manager. He or she is responsible for understanding each party’s motivations in order to create a team that is strong. The team needs to have a direct vision in order to accomplish great things.

METHODS

                Method A: Engage All Parties

                By ensuring that all parties are engaged in the process, it is much more likely that the team will be willing participants. Project managers can sometimes find themselves not encouraging others to participate in the process, and this can lead to a lackluster performance by the team.

Method B: Goal Setting

While it is important that the project has a clear goal from the start, it is also important to ensure that the individual goals of each member of the project are understood. For example, is each participant encouraged by money, are they looking to pad their resume, or do they want to simply enjoy the process of working with a team?

Theory that most closely aligns with how you intend to motivate your team

                Clear communication from the very beginning is the theory that most closely aligns with how I want to operate the team. By ensuring everyone understands not only the project they are working on, but also their fellow team members, the project will be much more likely to find success.

Team-building activities that you plan to implement

                While it is important to maintain a professional environment where employees understand that work needs to get done, and focus is imperative, it is also important to ensure that the team is able to learn about each other on a more personal level. This will help ensure they are feeling stronger as a team, rather than not caring for the other individuals with whom they are spending considerable time.

PROJECT CONFLICT AND STRESS IDENTIFICATION PROCESS

                CONFLICT RESOLUTION PLAN

                                Identify potential sources of conflict within your project

                Project planning is an important component of identifying potential sources of conflict. This is started by involving defining clear, distinct activities to participate in during the project. If the expectations are set out from the beginning, there is much less likely of a chance of someone participating in conflict, and it also becomes much easier to identify when someone is participating in conflict. Conflicts typically arise when someone disagrees with the other person about the way that something should be done. If everyone understands the expectations, however, there won’t likely be any issues (Ohlendorf, 2001. And, if there are, it can be easily seen who is correct in the situation, by comparing the views of one person and the views of the other person. Whosever views line up with the original expectations of the project will be correct in the situation and that will end whatever conflict that could arise.

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Describe how you will determine if they are good or bad conflict

                The best way to decide whether the conflict is good or bad is to project what the potential outcome would be on the project if that conflict were to continue. The primary concern should be with the project, so any other factor does not need to be considered when determining whether the conflict should be welcomed, or if it should be rejected. Always ask, “how does this help/hinder the project goals?”

Identify potential sources of stress within your project

                Generally, people’s egos are the biggest source of stress. With conflicting personalities and opinions, and considering that the human brain is not that far off from our chimpanzee ancestors, humans represent the biggest hurdle to overcome when delivering on a project. As Tony Robbins once said, “success is 80% psychology and 20% action.” If the actions that the team are making are predicated on juvenile attachments to one’s own ego, the project will suffer, no matter what actions are taken. People will hinder the actions from being progressive and successful.

Methods that you can employ to reduce stress

            Certainly, if the company had a lot of money, it would hire a top-rated psychologist to ensure everyone on the team is in a positive mental state. However, since the company does not have a considerable amount of money, it would be best if work was mixed with leisure time. Even something as simple as having a drink among team members at a bar, could take the edge off and it could result in the team being more focused and less stressed.

CONSENSUS DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Describe what your approach will be to consensus decision making

            Certainly, it is important that everyone in the company is consulted regarding implementing changes in the company, which will help ensure there is greater participation among the members of the group. However, when there is a spur of the moment decision to be made, it is not necessary that every department is consulted. Each department should be focusing on their own activities, in order to ensure they are not distracted by what is going on in other divisions of the company.

Outline the process that would be used from the initial decision that needs to be made to full decision implementation

• Identify the decision that needs to be made
• Whomever identified the issue comes up with a plan
• Issue identifier holds a meeting with the stakeholders with whom the decision is relevant
• Feedback is received from the stakeholders
• A vote among stakeholders is made on the best decisions to make
• Decision is drafted
• Stakeholders sign off on implementation
• Other parties are then trained on the decision so they can accomplish the goals of the decision

Work referenced

Hacker, Stephen, and Tammy Roberts. Transformational leadership: Creating organizations of meaning. ASQ Quality Press, 2003.

Lang, Michael. Transformational Leadership: Fundamentals-Models-Differences-Impact on Employees. GRIN Verlag, 2011.

Ohlendorf. A. (2001). Conflict Resolution in Project Management. MSIS. Retrieved from

https://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/488_f01_papers/Ohlendorf.htm

Shelton, Edward J. Transformational leadership: Trust, motivation, and engagement. Trafford Publishing, 2012.