Comment on the relevance of Hodgkinson’s (1983) statements in relation to the ar
ID: 435996 • Letter: C
Question
Comment on the relevance of Hodgkinson’s (1983) statements in relation to the area of project management.
“Know the task. What is the mission of the organisation? What are the sub-factorings of this mission? How are they articulated and coordinated?
“Know the situation. What are the significant and salient features of context which interpose themselves between organisation and task? Which aspects need special attention? Which aspects may be ignored?”
"Know the group. A knowledge-value to which there is in principle no upper desirable limit save that imposed by the other three maxims and the ordering constraints of time and space."
Explanation / Answer
Hodgkinson's (1983) statements - also said as the laws of leadership define the skills which are required to win over people and manage things, one of the principle and the most important task at hand for the manager or leader.
Project Management today is a field which is a part of organization's matrix and the project manager apart from having the technical skills is required to have leadership skills as well, which will enable the project manager to get manage the team and other stakeholders involved in the delivery of the project.
below are the six categories considered to be most important in project management :
1. Organizational skills
2. Leadership skills
3. Technical skills
4. Team building skills
Hodkinson's statement - "Know the task" - defines an aspect of organizational understanding, to see where the tasks fit in the mission of organization such that as project manager, one can understand his/ her role in accomplishing that.
The second statement - "Know the Situation" - assists the project manager to collate and understand the risk/ challenges, before initiating any project, enabling him/her to have mitigation/ workaround plans ready for critical activities and to prioritize the tasks at hand ensuring successful delivery of the project.
Hodgkinson's statement - "Know the Group" - is about knowing the team which a person as a project manager is supposed to lead and guide. Every individual has certain strengths, having a better understanding of the team, will assist the project manager to allocate the tasks in the most befitting way. having better knowledge about team member will also help in bridging the links, which will enable the project manager to apply the leadership skills an individual will work best into.