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Key Tip – leader styles for Project Managers
Horses for Courses? Project Managers (and Functional Managers for that matter) can choose from a variety of styles in their day–to–day interactions with staff and colleagues. At one extreme is where a Directed task must be performed which is clearly defined, understood, and routine in its application – assay of the active in a formulated product to establish it is within allowed limits might be an example. Of course, there is room for continuous improvement and Standard Procedures will be updated in the light of experience.
But in essence, communication can be top–down, staff can be told what to do and, after initial training, there is little to debate. At the opposite extreme is Chaotic – perhaps an explosion in actives manufacture – and here action–minded individuals can seize leadership when others have no clear sense of direction.
The day–to–day work of the Project Manager lies between these extremes and the next domain to consider is the Complicated. Whilst we might wish it otherwise, Pharma Projects are voyages into the unknown because we only uncover the properties of our asset – we hope good, but too often bad – as we progress through development. So for example, clinical development is closely aligned with scientific method because we don't know the answer in advance but we have a robust methodology for uncovering it. This is typically closely controlled, reductionist work, proving the effects of treatment at molecular levels. Nevertheless, we need to manage our scientists with a lighter touch, ensuring communication up, down and across.
The fourth domain is the Complex. This is the land of cross–function Projects, Programs and Portfolios. In these situations, Project Managers have to harness and integrate the skills of a wide network of professionals varying in seniority, experience and temperament – interconnected systems where every player can affect each other. Managing in this environment is challenging at the best of times, but there is both an incredible opportunity and a fatal hazard facing the unwary: emergence.
 Humans have endless capacity for self-organisation and in the choppy waters of the Complex, traditional centralized control and chains of command, based on simple cause and effect, fail to deliver real progress. The key leadership skill here is to connect the players and enable them to perform to their very best.
We often find ourselves coaching Project Managers, originally reputable scientists, who fall into the trap of overzealous directed control, micro-management, and a vain quest to seek more authority. Instead they should focus on the original intent – the purpose – to derive legitimacy, build trust with their teams and use that collective intelligence to decide the best way forward.
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