Chapter 4 Leadership and the Project Manager
1) For the *project manager*, leadership is: A) the process by which she influences the project team. B) the process of assembling a group of individuals. C) the process of building skills among all team members. D) the process of maintaining control of the budget.
A)
12) A more apt title for a project manager is: A) controller. B) comptroller. C) project director. D) project leader.
A)
33) A large sample survey was used to ask a total of 2,615 managers within U.S. corporations what they considered to be the most important characteristic of effective leaders. The item that ranked #1 was: A) inspiring. B) honest. C) imaginative. D) dependable.
B)
37) If all the project management studies discussed in the text are synthesized, it quickly becomes apparent that *the key to understanding leadership behavior* is to focus on: A) where in the organizational hierarchy the project leaders are located. B) where in the organizational hierarchy the project team members are located. C) who the leaders are. D) what the leaders do.
D)
53) Which of the following is a *traditional duty of a project champion*? A) cheerleader B) visionary C) politician D) technical understanding
D)
T/F: *Emotional intelligence* is a more important measure of leadership effectiveness than technical skill, analytical ability, and intelligence.
T
T/F: 32) The *number one flaw* that makes a project manager a poor leader is setting a bad example.
T
T/F: A project manager may also be the *project champion*.
T
T/F: A project manager must be able to shift temporal orientation from past, to present, to future.
T
T/F: Leadership may be part of a manager's job but other managerial roles are not necessarily part of a leader's job
T
14) Projects are often underfunded in the concept stage because: A) the project requirements were deliberately understated. B) there is complete trust in project managers by top management so more resources can be asked for at any time. C) the project's goals are too clearly defined. D) the project's top management sponsor is too influential.
A)
18) The project management pearl of wisdom that declares, *"If they know nothing of what you are doing, they assume you are doing nothing,"* means that: A) stakeholders must be communicated with on a continual basis throughout the project's development. B) the duration of most projects is sufficiently long as to contain many days when no actual progress is being made. C) the more complex a project is, the more likely that the client who will ultimately receive the project has no idea how it is being executed. D) a project manager that holds lengthy progress meetings with his team will generally complete projects more successfully.
A)
2) The facet of partnership that describes the requirement that every worker be responsible for defining the project's vision and goals is called: A) exchange of purpose. B) a right to say no. C) joint accountability. D) absolute honesty.
A)
24) The task-oriented behavior of summarizing accomplishes which specific outcome? A) Check on understanding and assess progress. B) Guide and sequence discussion. C) Check on agreement. D) Increase comprehension.
A)
28) Which of these is NOT an element of emotional intelligence? A) intelligence B) self-awareness C) motivation D) empathy
A)
32) *Project management* is first and foremost: A) a people management challenge. B) a customer service challenge. C) a perception management challenge. D) a budget management challenge.
A)
38) The temporal context or space to which an individual is oriented is their: A) time orientation. B) chronometer. C) chronological clock. D) biological clock.
A)
42) Uncle Rico spends every waking hour selling Tupperware and reminiscing about his glory years in high school, mostly the latter. The past is his: A) timeline orientation. B) time span. C) time conception. D) temporal preference.
A)
46) The project leader *duties of project problem solving, team member evaluation, and lessons-learned meetings* are best served by the temporal skill of: A) recapturing the past. B) chunking time. C) time warping. D) creating future vision.
A)
50) A champion that is an engineer, scientist, or similar person who is the driving force behind an idea is termed a(n): A) creative originator. B) entrepreneur. C) godfather. D) sponsor.
A)
54) Which of the following is a non-traditional role of a project champion? A) cheerleader B) leadership C) administrative D) control
A)
62) A recent study of new product development projects at a variety of organizations revealed that: A) about 5% of the unsuccessful projects had a clearly identifiable champion. B) about 25% of the unsuccessful projects had a clearly identifiable champion. C) about 45% of the unsuccessful projects had a clearly identifiable champion. D) about 65% of the unsuccessful projects had a clearly identifiable champion.
A)
66) Recent research in organizational leadership declares that the new project leader generates and sustains: A) trust. B) revolution. C) innovation. D) joy.
A)
69) In the new project management professionalism model: A) personnel should be in a state of flux with regard to job assignment. B) process skills will not be important. C) traditional project champion activities will supplant the currently emphasized nontraditional skills. D) project management should be a dedicated career path.
A)
70) Which personality trait is a poor match for project work? A) introverted B) outgoing C) gregarious D) people-oriented
A)
15) A project champion is: A) a project manager that always completes projects within the allotted time frame. B) a sponsor in top management that is keenly interested in the project's success. C) a project manager that always completes projects within the allotted budget. D) a project manager that always completes projects within the allotted time frame and under budget.
B)
19) Project meetings do not generally serve this purpose for the project team: A) help all stakeholders increase their commitment to the project. B) provide a forum for airing grievances with stakeholders and team members. C) provide visibility for the project manager's role in managing the project. D) define the project and all the major team players.
B)
25) Which of these behaviors is task-oriented? A) harmonizing B) consensus testing C) standard setting D) process analyzing
B)
29) Which of these is the more meaningful measure of leadership effectiveness? A) subject matter knowledge B) emotional intelligence C) technical skill D) analytical ability
B)
3) The idea that all members of a project team have the ability to offer a *contrary position* in order to achieve true partnership between the project manager and the team is called: A) exchange of purpose. B) a right to say no. C) joint accountability. D) absolute honesty.
B)
43) The ability to cognitively bring the past and future closer together is: A) creating future vision. B) time warping. C) time compressing. D) tesseracting.
B)
63) Risk taking can be encouraged in an organization by: A) seeking out projects that stand little chance of success. B) avoiding the inclination to punish failure. C) promotion of workers that are ill-equipped to lead projects. D) demoting project managers that are too conservative.
B)
67) The Bennis article on competencies that determine a project leader's success indicates that it is crucial to continually *remind the team*: A) what the deadline is. B) what is important. C) who their leader is. D) who the customer is.
B)
71) A good starting point for matching employees to project work would be: A) finding out who has the most spare time. B) conducting basic personality assessment. C) making sure that every department in the organization has at least one representative on the project team. D) observing what clusters of employees develop during informal situations.
B)
8) Which of these lists of duties is more reflective of managerial tasks? A) creating vision and strategies B) problem solving C) long-term risk taking D) communication by word and deed
B)
10) Which of these is more characteristic of a manager? A) develop new processes B) originate C) state their position D) focus on people
C)
16) Project team motivation comes primarily from: A) the project manager. B) the project champion. C) within each team member. D) the project client's acceptance.
C)
20) Task-oriented leadership behavior is characterized by: A) showing trust in project team members. B) acting friendly and supportive towards project team members. C) contributing to the completion of project assignments. D) recognizing the accomplishments of team members.
C)
26) Which of these behaviors is indicative of *group maintenance*? A) stimulating communication B) clarifying communication C) process analyzing D) process structuring
C)
72) One practical step that should be taken in order for an organization to *begin developing a core of project management professionals* is to: A) fire the unprofessional project managers. B) hire professional project managers. C) formalize the organization's commitment with training programs. D) review instances where projects were poorly managed.
C)
74) A recent development in many companies is to: A) reassign functional managers to functions outside their area of expertise in order to build well-rounded employees. B) reassign project managers back to functional duties as soon as a project ends; then assign them to the next project within their functional area. C) keep skilled project managers in project work; when one project ends they are immediately assigned to another project. D) hire talent from outside the organization, effectively outsourcing project management talent to professional project management organizations.
C)
9) Which of these duties is more reflective of a leader's tasks? A) efficiency of operations B) delegation and maintaining C) motivation and inspiration D) marshalling resources
C)
11) Which of these is more characteristic of a leader? A) strive for control B) do things right C) demand respect D) inspire trust
D)
13) A project manager's function should be: A) to control the "soft" people issues. B) to manage the hard technical details. C) to holistically manage the entire project. D) to apply a laissez faire approach and let the work progress unimpeded.
D)
17) It is most important that a *project manager*: A) focuses on meeting daily challenges head on. B) focuses on meetings. C) remembers the overall picture, or goals, that define the project. D) operates on the boundary between strategy and tactics.
D)
21) Which of these behaviors is task-oriented? A) Every Friday is ice-cream day at the job site; everyone gets a double dip of their favorite flavor. B) The employee of the month plaque is updated monthly and placed in a prominent position near the checkout stand. C) The dean reached into his pocket, extracted his money clip and peeled off $3,000, saying, "Why don't you pick out some window treatments for the office? Something nice." D) When my computer broke, the project manager had it replaced immediately.
D)
22) Group maintenance behavior would be exhibited by a project manager who: A) provides the necessary support and technical assistance. B) plans and schedules activities and resources appropriately. C) contributes to the completion of project assignments. D) works with subordinates to understand their problems.
D)
23) The group maintenance behavior of *gatekeeping* helps to: A) increase and equalize participation. B) reduce tension and hostility. C) regulate behavior. D) increase comprehension.
D)
41) Bill runs his life like he runs Windows, always working on six or seven things at once. He exhibits: A) multitasking skills. B) simultaneity. C) co-processing ability. D) polychronic preference.
D)
45) Pete has worked in maintenance at the hospital for 30 years and knows all of the things about the pipes and circuits that don't show up on the blueprints. He also knows which outside contractors and suppliers have been bargains, how long every remodeling job has taken, and which major power brokers in the hospital still have scores to settle. When a new project is in the conceptualization stage the hospital architect always calls on Pete to regale him with tales drawn deep from his memory banks so his knowledge can be leveraged to its fullest. In the language of project management, Pete is: A) time warping. B) chunking time. C) positioning. D) recapturing the past.
D)
49) Your professor (yes, that person that has been informing and entertaining you for the past few weeks) has tirelessly advocated for a project management class. When the Dean and most of the rest of the faculty said "no," your professor took the case for project management to the streets, ultimately securing it on the schedule this semester. The project management term that best describes your professor's role is: A) director. B) advocate. C) instigator. D) champion.
D)
5) The authentic atmosphere that is vital for project manager and team to function in can be described as: A) exchange of purpose. B) a right to say no. C) joint accountability. D) absolute honesty.
D)
58) The administrative duty is best described by: A) managing and controlling the activities of the team. B) gaining access to the necessary resources to ensure a smooth development process. C) the ability to provide leadership for the project team. D) handling the important executive side of the project.
D)
65) Classic project champions are often more comfortable: A) performing traditional project activities. B) avoiding their projects during the early stages. C) avoiding their projects through the final stages. D) performing nontraditional project activities.
D)
73) A reward system for project management should be: A) greater than rewards for process management. B) based on the money saved managing the project. C) based on the money generated by the project. D) differentiated from normal functional rewards.
D)
Leadership is an innate characteristic that some people have and some don't
F
T/F: One reason projects are initially underfunded is because their requirements are sometimes deliberately understated.
T
34) A survey of 58 firms on their project management practices and skills identified which of the following as an essential skill? A) complex simplicity B) enthusiastic apathy C) productive creativity D) honest duplicity
C)
36) Pettersen's study of project managers found that most do not have the capacity to exercise power that derives from formal positional authority and therefore they must develop: A) project champions. B) cadres of trained professionals. C) effective influencing skills. D) efficient communications networks.
C)
4) In a partnership, each member of the project team is responsible for the project's outcomes and the current situation, whether it is positive or shows evidence of project problems. The term that best describes this responsibility is: A) exchange of purpose. B) a right to say no. C) joint accountability. D) absolute honesty.
C)
40) George believes that time is *cyclical *while Brad has a *linear view*. This is a significant difference in their: A) timeline orientation. B) future time perspective. C) time conception. D) polychronic preference.
C)
44) A project manager should have an ability to generate estimates of what will occur in the future, which is termed: A) time warping. B) creating future vision. C) predicting. D) chunking time.
C)
48) *Present-oriented tasks* make use of the temporal skills of: A) time conception and chunking time. B) recapturing the past and predicting. C) time warping and polychronicity. D) creating future vision and monochronicity.
C)
52) Michael wants to carry out his mentor's long-range strategic vision of expanding the company's customer base by entering the casino business in Las Vegas. He issues a series of memos that explain the *importance of these projects* and makes sure that *all necessary resources are at the disposal* of the project management team, which is fortunate to have such a(n): A) creative originator at the helm. B) entrepreneur. C) godfather. D) project manager.
C)
56) There is a significant chance that the project can be executed successfully but if it can't, the project manager and team may be updating their resumes. This champion can best be described as a(n): A) administrator. B) ambassador. C) risk taker. D) visionary.
C)
57) A(n) ________ maintains a clear sense of purpose and a firm idea of *what is involved in creating the project*. A) politician B) ambassador C) cheerleader D) visionary
C)
61) A recent study of new product development projects at a variety of organizations revealed that: A) almost 50% of the successful projects had a clearly identifiable champion. B) almost 25% of the successful projects had a clearly identifiable champion. C) almost 100% of the successful projects had a clearly identifiable champion. D) almost 75% of the successful projects had a clearly identifiable champion.
C)
64) Champions bring a great deal of energy and emotional commitment to their project ideas, but: A) most organizations have an oversupply of this. B) cannot effectively be the manager of a project. C) often refuse to give up on a project that has completely failed. D) must spend an equal amount of time and effort discouraging other projects that compete for the same resources.
C)
68) The *new leader and the led* are: A) separate but equal. B) strange bedfellows. C) intimate allies. D) separated by a common language.
C)
7) Which statement regarding the duties of leaders and managers is best? A) Leaders embrace change while managers support the status quo. B) Management is more about interpersonal relationships than leadership is. C) Leaders aim for efficiency. D) Managers aim for effectiveness.
A)
59) The traditional project champion *duties of coordination and control are on display when the project champion*: A) manages and runs the activities of the team. B) handles the important administrative side of the project. C) maintains a clear sense of purpose and a firm idea of what is involved in creating the project. D) provides the needed motivation for the team.
A) .
T/F: In a survey of thousands of managers within U.S. corporations, a significant majority felt that the most important characteristic of superior leaders is honesty.
T
39) Geoff sits at his desk and daydreams about what life will be like in 2030 when he retires. He can clearly picture events throughout the almost two decades that must elapse between now and then and what elements must come together to fulfill his lifelong dream of traveling the country in his RV. The temporal skill that Geoff is blessed (some would say cursed) with is: A) future time perspective. B) time span. C) time conception. D) timeline orientation.
B)
47) The salty project manager instinctively knew that this was to be no easy task. As she surveyed the project objectives and the resources she had at her disposal, she did some quick mental arithmetic and parsed the next two years into pieces that were easier to manage and easier to explain to the team that sat in stunned silence all around her. The only way that this project would get off the ground and ultimately be delivered was thanks to her ability to: A) create future vision. B) chunk time. C) time warp. D) recapture the past.
B)
51) Tim slapped together his first web page and proudly showed it to all his colleagues, pointing out what he thought were obvious and overwhelming advantages in simplicity and portability. His championing of web pages that he had read about in a trade journal ultimately shamed everyone else into adopting a web-based approach for all communication and cemented his status as a true: A) creative originator. B) entrepreneur. C) godfather. D) project manager.
B)
55) A project manager puts on his *"nontraditional hat"* and smoothly works the room, *networking* among functional managers and attempting to secure their cooperation with the project. This nontraditional role is best described as that of a(n): A) ambassador. B) politician. C) cheerleader. D) visionary.
B)
6) Which statement regarding the duties of leaders and managers is best? A) Leaders embrace the status quo while managers support change. B) A manager's title is bestowed by the organization. C) Leaders aim for efficiency. D) Managers aim for effectiveness.
B)
60) Which project champion role is least likely to be emphasized in the next project management article you read? A) leadership B) ambassador C) administrative D) technical
B)
30) The *emotional intelligence* element that implies having a deep understanding of one's own strengths and weaknesses, ego needs, drives, and motives is called: A) motivation. B) self-regulation. C) self-awareness. D) social skill.
C)
27) Based on a study of successful American project managers as perceived by project team members, *the most important characteristic of a project manager* is: A) visionary. B) good communicator. C) good motivator. D) leadership by example.
D)
31) Friendliness with a purpose describes: A) empathy. B) self-regulation. C) obsequiousness. D) social skill.
D)
35) Among the *essential abilities for effective project managers* identified by a survey of 58 firms on their project management practices and skills was: A) obfuscation. B) humor. C) speed. D) experience.
D)
An entrepreneur type of project champion is the source of the idea and also the main sponsor.
F
One way an organization can develop a core of project management professionals is to administer personality tests and match people attuned to project work to projects.
F
One way to distinguish the two roles is that *leaders aim for efficiency* while *managers aim for effectiveness *
F
Project leader duties include *present-oriented and future-oriented tasks*, but do not include past-oriented tasks.
F
Someone with a *polychronic preference* functions in two different temporal orientations, such as past and present.
F
Summarizing and consensus testing are two group maintenance behaviors that a project manager uses to show support for project team members.
F
The majority of a champion's time is spent performing the traditional project management duties of leadership, administration, obtaining resources, and coordination and control.
F
The most important characteristic of a project leader is ability to inspire.
F
The new leader must make a conscious effort to distance himself from the people being led.
F
The organizational factor that is most vital in preventing a project manager from being recognized as a leader is lack of resources.
F
T/F: One of the most important contributions of a project manager is to continually remind the team what is most important.
T
T/F: Outgoing, people-oriented individuals have a better likelihood of performing well on project work than quieter, more introverted people.
T
T/F: Providing the needed motivation for the project team is a nontraditional duty of a project champion.
T