Hey and welcome back to my blog!
This blog is going to be discussing the importance of effective team management and how different leadership and management styles learnt in the freelance and industry management will be used to manage a team of creatives in the major project.
Since this is a project management module, being able to demonstrate effective team management will help to display that the student is able to manage a project well. Collaboration is crucial within the major project, therefore, a team of creatives will need to be directed and managed throughout. All successful teams demonstrate strong and effective leadership.
What is Leadership?
Leadership is a relationship where one person influences the behaviour and actions of other people (Mullins, 2007).
There are numerous leadership and management styles which are used in different working environments for businesses and organisations, who then choose the best style to meet objectives essential for their business. Leadership styles that improve performance in one circumstance may not be considered as effective at improving performance in another circumstance, therefore the individual must be fluid and choose between different leadership styles to suit different circumstances (Bertocci, 2009). Figure 1 (O'Connor, 2022. Leadership Styles) shows a table created to evaluate different leadership styles.
Figure 1: Leadership Styles (O'Connor, 2022).
The main styles of leadership are autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire.
Autocratic leadership is a leadership style where one member of the team controls all the decisions and takes little input from other members of the team (Economic Times, n.d.).
Democratic leadership is where members of the team participate in the decision-making process and everyone is given the opportunity to have an input in the decision making, but the democratic leader is still there to offer guidance (Verywell Mind, 2022).
Laissez-faire leadership is where the manager decides that members of the team are working well on their own, so the decision to pass the focus of power to the members is made, giving them freedom of action, but help is readily available if needed (Mullins, 2007).
How does each theory link to industry and/or the major project?
Autocratic leadership would link to the media makeup industry because working within this industry requires management and planning and strict deadlines often need to be met. It also links to the major project as the individual has to supervise and manage a team that will be in collaboration together in order to achieve success. Taking everything into consideration, autocratic leadership would be an ideal management and leadership style to manage a team.
Democratic leadership would be effective within the media make-up industry because it would motivate and support a successful team. This promotes a team that has high morale and is motivated, which will support the success working towards the finished major project.
Laissez-faire leadership would link to the major project, where the team are all specialists in their own disciplines, but the final project is the responsibility of the student.
Which leadership style will be used throughout the major project?
From this research, it is suggested that a democratic style of leadership would be an ideal approach to managing a team effectively, but in terms of reaching set deadlines throughout the project, an autocratic style of leadership would be most suitable, which is the classical, scientific approach. Knowing and understanding these leadership and management styles will benefit the student when working in industry as it allows for effective teamwork and high productivity within a team. It ensures that the student would be able to manage a team successfully if requested.
Team Management and Soft Skills
In order to be a great leader, soft skills must be practised and obtained. Soft skills link to effective leadership and performance management. So, what are soft skills?
Soft skills can be defined as
"the ability to interact amicably with others. These personal attributes can affect relationships, interactions, and communications with others" (Rayes, 2022).
This essentially means that soft skills are personal attributes that a person develops in order to interact effectively with others. Soft skills allow individuals to build relationships, relate to people and encourage others to succeed. People skills or emotional intelligence are known as soft skills.
According to Rayes (2022), examples of soft skills include:
1. Communication
2. Team Work
3. Problem-Solving Skills
4. Decision-Making This list includes all the positive attributes that a good team
5. Creativity leader should hold, including communication, teamwork,
6. Delegation empathy and trustworthiness.
7. Empathy
8. Trustworthiness
9. Time Management
10. Critical Thinking
Soft skills and Emotional Intelligence
Soft skills are the way in which a person interacts with colleagues, solve problems, and manages work. Emotional intelligence can link with soft skills, however, it differs as it measures the ability to understand and be aware of emotions and those of others (European Commission, 2021).
Two emotional intelligence tests were completed in order to gain a better understanding of personal skills relating to understanding personal emotions and emotions of others.
Figure 2: First Emotional Intelligence Test (O'Connor, 2023).
Figure 2 (O'Connor, 2023. First Emotional Intelligence Test) shows the results from the first emotional intelligence test taken. This test was completed on the website:
The test results have been split into four different categories Self-awareness, Self-management, Social-awareness and Relationship Management. A brief description of what each category means can also be found in figure 2 (O'Connor, 2023. First Emotional Intelligence Test). Each category is scored out of 10, assuming that the higher the number scored, the better the individual performs in that category.
The test results show that social-awareness and relationship management are great strengths of the student, meaning that managing the team for the major project should come with ease as the student has the important skills and emotional intelligence necessary in order to manage this successfully. It also shows how there is a weakness of self-awareness and self-management, which is accurate as managing time is something which the student often struggles with.
Figure 3: Second Emotional Intelligence Test (O'Connor, 2023).
Figure 3 (O'Connor, 2023. Second Emotional Intelligence Test) displays the results from the second emotional intelligence test taken. This was completed on the website:
The test results show that there is evidence of high emotional intelligence, which is the reasoning for being driven and having high performance under pressure. It highlights that the student should sometimes take a break from their busy day-to-day life and take a step back and reflect on the things that bring meaning to life. To relate this to the major project, it is important not to get too carried away with working and to realise that it is okay to take a step back and breathe - this shows excellent project management as it demonstrates that the student knows their own capabilities and knows when they perhaps may have had enough and need to take a step back.
Collaborations
The brief for the major project states that collaboration is essential when completing the major project.
Collaboration will be effective in the major project as it will allow lots of creative minds to join together to produce effective, high quality work.
Currently there are 3 collaborations in place for one of the final images. Graphics, acting, and film and TV. An online message was sent to a student in graphics to discuss a potential collaboration.
Figures 4-7: Screenshots of direct messages relating to collaboration (O'Connor, 2022).
Figures 4-7 (O'Connor, 2022. Screenshots of direct messages relating to collaboration) display the screenshots of the messages sent, discussing a potential collaboration. A brief explanation of the project followed by the design idea was sent. The student from graphics was more than happy to collaborate on this project.
Another collaboration is with a film and TV student. There was a meeting where discussions took place with three film and TV students, where an explanation of the topic and any design ideas was discussed. This was out of the student's comfort zone as it included speaking to different people. This worked out as one of the film students loved the ideas presented to her and asked to collaborate. This has allowed for achievement in the major project already as it is encouraging stepping out of the comfort zone therefore improving personal skills and emotional intelligence.
Thank you for reading this blog!
As you can see, team management is such a crucial part of the major project with lots of different areas that surround it.
See you next time!
Alysha:)
Reference List
Bertocci, D. (2009) Leadership in Organizations, Maryland, University Press of America, INC.
The Economic Times. (n.d.) What is ‘Autocratic Leadership’ [Online]. Available at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/autocratic-leadership (Accessed 9 December 2022).
European Commision. (2021) Why soft skills and emotional intelligence are more important than ever [Online]. Available at https://eures.ec.europa.eu/why-soft-skills-and-emotional-intelligence-are-more-important-ever-2021-07-27_en (Accessed 4 January 2023).
Mullins, L. (2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour, 8th edn, Essex, Pearson Education Limited.
O'Connor, A. (2022) Leadership Styles [Table].
O'Connor, A. (2022) Screenshots of direct messages relating to collaboration [Images].
O'Connor, A. (2023) First Emotional Intelligence Test [Image].
O'Connor, A. (2023) Second Emotional Intelligence Test [Image].
Rayes, A. (2022) 10 Essential Soft Skills That Every Manager Needs [Online]. Available at https://www.oneeducation.org.uk/soft-skills-for-managers/ (Accessed 4 January 2023).
Verywell Mind. (2022) What is ‘Democratic Leadership’? [Online]. Available at https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-democratic-leadership-2795315 (Accessed 9 December 2022).
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