What is the difference between leading and managing a project?

1. Project Management: The Managerial Process, 7th Edition, Larson and Gray, Chapters 10 and 11
2. Information Technology Project Management, 9th Edition, Schwalbe, Chapters 9, 10, and 13
The project managers have to be able to cope with the ambiguous nature of their work. They must often work under less-than-ideal conditions to develop a cohesive team committed to working together and completing the project to the best of their abilities. Project managers have to recruit personnel from other departments and manage the temporary involvement of team members. They have to bring strangers together and quickly establish a set of operational procedures that unite their efforts and contributions. They have to be skilled at managing meetings so that they do not become a burden but rather a vehicle for progress. Project managers need to forge a team identity and a shared vision, which command the attention and allegiance of participants. They need to use group incentives to encourage teamwork while recognizing when it is appropriate to single out individuals for special recognition. A successful project manager needs to be a well established leader. Reviewing chapters 10 and 11 including Snapshots from practice and Research Highlights from Larson’s & Gray’s, and chapters 9, 10, and 13 from Schwalbe’s textbooks please answer to the following four questions:
1. What is the difference between leading and managing a project?
2. Review and analyze the eight traits / skills associated with being an effective project manager – Larson’s & Gray’s text. Which of them are more important and why?
3. Describe the different types of team-building activities? What are the unique challenges to managing a virtual project team?
4. Why it is critical for a project manager to build a trust among stakeholders – how this associates to the PM leadership qualities?
5. Discuss different ways how to identify project stakeholders? Based on different cases from the textbooks, external professional sources, or your personal experience, provide examples of how you as a PM might control and manage stakeholder engagement?

Please state each question and address them separately in your write up.
For a full score the student needs to use external professional resources, preferable from PMI web site at: http://www.pmi.org – searching under Knowledge & Tools section for articles and / or White Papers on the suggested questions.

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