Characteristics of the Project Leadership Situation

Projects are relatively unique solutions to extraordinary organizational problems for which the traditional bureaucratic responses are considered too slow or inflexible to be effective (3). Many organizations employ project management because there are advantages in having a “custom-designed” project unit that is sufficiently responsive, flexible, autonomous, and effective in coordinating activities of different specialists and diverse groups.

There are two characteristics of project situations that are particularly challenging for the project manager: one concerns the organizational structure, and the other concerns the decision-making environment. These characteristics do not necessarily describe all project situations, nor are they permanent, even when they do occur for any given project.