Saheed O.

What's the difference between a project manager and a project leader? If you've ever gone hunting for a definitive answer to this question, you probably ended up disappointed. Depending on your company's size, policies, and management, these terms might be used interchangeably or signify wildly different roles. Leadership is a hot topic in every part of a growing business. And if you have ambitions to lead a project team, you need to understand exactly what makes a project leader different from a project manager. What's the difference between a project leader and a project manager? As project management expert Jim Highsmith wrote in his book Agile Leaders, "most projects are over-managed and under-led." The reason it's so hard to find clear definitions between what a project manager and project leader do is that their jobs often overlap. In many situations, a project leader is a project manager (just with extra responsibilities). With no clear definitions to work off of, the easiest way to see the difference between the two roles is to look at their key responsibilities. Here's how these normally look: A project manager is responsible for: Implementing product strategy, including product improvement, feature prioritization, costing, and release Setting deadlines and ensuring that projects remain on schedule Tracking sprint deliverables and providing updates to relevant stakeholders Ensuring the project is sticking to the agreed-upon budget Managing every moving part relating to milestones, including schedules, documentation, staffing and, sometimes, HR concerns While a project leader is responsible for: Communicating with team members, including relaying briefs, connecting daily tasks to larger goals, and providing context and support Ensuring the team remains focused and on track, including addressing any conflicts or bottlenecks Creating a vision around the project to provide team members with a sense of purpose and motivation Offering less tangible and more emotional support to help a team stay focused on the ultimate goal Fostering a workplace atmosphere that helps bring out the best in his or her team Leadership is often more art than science. While there are undeniable similarities between the two roles, the clear main difference is that a project leader focuses more on the people than the more technical aspects of a given project. There's a reason a project leader's responsibilities include words like "vision," "emotional support," and "purpose." Like in other parts of the business world, leadership is often more art than science and requires the development of specific and unique soft skills and the more typical hard skills listed in your job description. (Soft skills are key traits that often apply to communication, decision making, leadership abilities, attitude, instincts, and work ethic). The reason these skills are so important is that project leaders often work in grey areas. Rather than clearly defined deliverables and schedules, they deal with the intangible aspects that hold a team together and lead a successful project. On the other hand, project managers work with known tasks, timelines, budgets, and scope. They have a more black-and-white, easy-to-communicate-on-paper role. Managers are constantly focused on the bottom line, pushing deadlines and the practical applications required to accomplish a project. Project leaders and managers aren't always distinct roles. This isn't to say that these are always two distinct roles. In fact, a project leader could be a project manager handling the day-to-day technical duties of moving the project forward while also leading, inspiring, and motivating the team to do their best work. In many cases, the size of the team dictates whether these roles are different or connected. Small teams are less likely to have a dedicated "project leader"-at least in terms of an official title. Some teams, on the other hand, are large enough to have multiple project leaders. Remember: If you're trying to figure out which of these descriptions best fits your role, that likely means you're also working with others who need clarification. And regardless of whether you're a project leader or project manager, you must know your responsibilities to make sure you can do your job to the best of your abilities and avoid stepping on anyone else's toes. The five essential project leadership skills Leadership skills are often harder to define as they're about people, not products and processes. As Astronaut Chris Hadfield has noted: "Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It's about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others' success, and then standing back and letting them shine." Unfortunately, while inspiring, this doesn't really get into the tangible skills you need to lead. To get more specific, we've put together a list of the essential project leadership skills: 1. Team management Project leaders are the Captain of their team. This doesn't mean they're necessarily the best player. But that they know how to set-up their team and each member for success. While project leaders always need to keep their eyes on the prize when it comes to the smooth completion of any given project, they're also responsible for the daily mechanisms of team harmony. In other words, this means ensuring the whole team stays focused and works smoothly together towards a shared vision. But team management isn't just about what you're working on today. Project leaders distinguish themselves by identifying and elevating the right teammates to the right position so they can truly shine. A project manager might dedicate a lot of his or her time to making a process work on paper, but a project leader will bring that process to life in the context of a team. To do this, they'll use management tools like cheerleading, motivation, goal setting, and others, as required. For example, a leader, recognizing that her team has been putting in extra hours on a project, might come up with a special reward-like a special team dinner together, or a day off post-project-to both demonstrate appreciation and incentive continued hard work. 2 Conflict resolution Nothing slows down a project like conflict. But it's a pipedream to think your team will spend all day happily working together. Instead, conflict resolution is at the core of being a good leader. On a larger team, this might mean resolving conflict among multiple project managers. As every manager aims to carve out their contribution to the bigger puzzle, it's essential to maintain open channels of communication, ensure that individuals can work productively together and feel greater than the sum of their parts. For example, let's say you've got two teams working on dependent parts of a project, but they've gotten out of sync with each other and feel like they're being held back. All of a sudden, they're missing deadlines and pointing the finger at each other. At this point, a project leader needs to step in, de-escalate, and get the teams back working productively together. You could add each project manager as a "watcher" on key issues. This way, they get visibility into dependent tasks and know there are valid reasons they're being held up. In project management theory, this is called confronting (or, more generally, problem-solving, integrating, collaborating, or win-win). However, not all conflicts are easy win-win scenarios like this. As a project leader, you also need to be aware of the scenarios where someone is going to feel like they're on the losing side. And remember: there's a difference between being a leader and a micromanager. Creating a successful environment doesn't mean always being up in everyone's business to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Be clear about boundaries, and then give your team members the room to flourish. 3 Motivation Nearly every project hits what's called the "messy middle." This is where the clarity and energy from the start suddenly disappear, and your team feels like every day is a slog towards nowhere. This can happen for several reasons. Maybe early feedback on their work isn't what was expected. Or a stakeholder came in wanting to change the scope. Or maybe they're simply losing steam from long hours and high expectations. Whatever the case, a good team leader will be able to read the signs of discouragement-and, even burnout, and implement strategies to ensure that people stay both inspired and on track. This is more than just a pat on the back or a "good job!" You need to be aware of the psychology of motivation and how to keep your team focused and inspired. For example, one recent study published in the Harvard Business Review found that workers who spend 15 minutes at the end of every day writing reflections on what they did right, what they did wrong, and what they learned, were able to improve their performance by 20%. There are lots of other ways to help your team be more productive and motivated. The key is to understand that these small practices can have an outsized impact on your team's ability to get things done and feel good about their progress. It also gives you tangible feedback to work with, so you can continue to optimize their roles and responsibilities for their strengths and weaknesses. 4 Communication One of the most important roles a project leader can play is that of the chief communicator. Communication can cover a lot of ground, including persuading team members to collaborate in a way they're not accustomed to, negotiating with different project stakeholders on timelines and expectations, and removing any ambiguity about what's expected from each team member. In addition to keeping your team members productive and feeling appreciated, you'll likely have to engage with stakeholders and clients, update them on progress, manage their expectations, and communicate their feedback to your team. But more than just transferring knowledge and information, a project leader is differentiated by their ability to be seen as objective, transparent, trustworthy, focused, and confident. Here's a little bit more about each of these qualities and how you can cultivate them: Trustworthiness: Above all, project leaders need to be trusted. Studies show that trust is the primary defining characteristic of the very best workplaces. To be seen as trustworthy, you need to put your words into action. This means trusting teammates to get things done without micromanaging or even simply expressing that you trust them to do what they say. Transparency: Transparency goes hand-in-hand with trust. How can your team trust you if you're holding things back from them? The best project leaders know that it's more important to be open and honest about what's going on and work together as a team towards a better solution. There are no hidden agendas or reading between the lines. Objectivity and fairness: Complex projects mean you're bound to have conflicts and disagreements. And project leaders can't be seen as playing favorites. Strong project leaders actively listen to all sides and work without bias. Focus and stability: Project leaders need to be unwavering in their ability to work under pressure. Not all projects will go as planned, but your skill as a leader is to steer the ship no matter how rough the seas get. Confidence: Lastly, stakeholders, executives, and team members all want a project leader who is confident in their knowledge and abilities (without being conceited!) Be clear in your language, direct in your suggestions, and honest and open with your feedback. 5 Creating solutions Lastly, a great project leader doesn't just address problems; they create solutions. A good project leader will be able to spot trouble-and; ideally, potential trouble-and then present and implement solutions that satisfy their team and any relevant stakeholders. You need to be seen as a solution person who's always looking for the positives rather than drowning in the negatives of unexpected issues. Part of this is maintaining a positive attitude and focusing on what can be done rather than whatever is going wrong. For example, if you have a team member who's struggling to meet deadlines, you have a practical problem that needs to be addressed and corrected as soon as possible. But you also have to dig deeper for solutions: Why isn't this person performing up to expectations, and how can you help them succeed? Take the time to look beyond the surface of an issue and discover why it happened in the first place. Remember, project leaders are servant leaders. Underneath it all, your responsibility is to the team and the individuals that make it up. Distinguishing yourself as a leader. Ultimately, if you want to distinguish yourself as a project leader, you'll need to demonstrate that you're up to the task. So if those lists of skills still feel vague, here are a few ways you can differentiate yourself from the other project managers at your company: Demonstrate your interest and ability in managing human resources and team dynamics Set clear expectations for yourself and your team, and then make sure they're met Contribute to resolving-not creating-conflicts Act as a cheerleader for every team member, ensuring that they're both recognized and rewarded for accomplishments Take ownership over every aspect of the team's progress, demonstrating that the buck stops with you and that you're up to the task It's not the title; it's the work. A project leader isn't always called a Project Leader. As someone with these skills, you'll naturally rise to the top and separate yourself from the other PMs. Just keep in mind that being a leader isn't simply about hitting targets and delivering the goods. It's also about projecting the right attitude and inspiring others to do their best work. Everyone needs a good manager to keep things on track and budget. But a leader will transcend those essentials and help create a better work environment that allows every team member to thrive.