Introduction
All organizations experience a myriad of challenges during the process of implementing projects and programs. After almost two years of implementation, my organization has encountered different challenges that have led to the emergence of propaganda amongst the stakeholders. While it is agreeable that the project has achieved some significant goals, it is important to highlight various sources of failures. The organization’s stakeholders have doubted the project’s ability to achieve its goals (Treadway et al., 2005). This, in turn, has led to propaganda that the project has failed. This essay explains the ways to inspire the stakeholders and ensure that the project begins to benefit the organization and all investors.
Enhancing Short-term Gains and Changing Hoopla into Success
Before inspiring the stakeholders and minimizing their doubts, it is imperative to ensure that the project team has substantial inspiration to spearhead short-term gains. For the large-scale project to achieve short-term gains, the team leader must cultivate a sense of openness, honesty, and consistency amongst the members of the team. This will not only lead to the development of trust but also improved inspiration. Treadway et al. (2005) argue that team members ought to trust the team leader to work together during the planning and implementation phases of a project. Indeed, consistency involves objectivity, selflessness and being predictable. Cultivation of trust in the organization will eventually lead to improved productivity, minimized turnover as well as optimized profits (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). As such, building trust amongst stakeholders (both internal and external) will be the first step in inspiring investors and enhancing short-term gains. As elucidated by Gershon & Straub (2009), a team of trustworthy employees is a major ingredient of improved performance both at planning and at implementing stages of project management.
As the leader of the project implementation team, it is important to enhance effective communication. Instead of the fact the leaders have the responsibility of generating, storing and disseminating information, the leader should comprehend that the followers have no direct contact with the organization’s information (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). To that end, the team leader needs to provide all essential information without undue delays and hiccups. This will not only enhance the top-down flow of information but also provoke the team members to suggest available alternatives. In this scenario, the new team leader should communicate with the project team members and express the dissatisfaction of the stakeholders on the project. Besides, the team leader will also ensure that the members and employees propose alternative ways of achieving short-term gains for the stakeholders. According to Treadway et al. (2005), communication is an aspect of organizations that may enhance its ability to achieve myriads of objectives. As such, the leaders and managers ought to enhance the bottom-up approach to communication. This will lead to the active participation of the employees and constant performance appraisal.
According to Gershon & Straub (2009), team leaders bear the responsibility of ensuring that they prepare and set stakeholders for the impending success. The rationale is that the major role of a team leader is to assist others to succeed. Therefore, the leader ought to ensure that employees adopt appropriate behavioral changes to be ready for success. Other aspects of an organization such as performance appraisal ought to shape the goal attainment processes of the project. This is possible through the creation of a context where members of the team can engage in conversations and discussions that explore all opportunities for performance improvement. Gershon & Straub (2009) assert that many organizations fail to recognize the psychological aspect of preparing people for success. Consequently, they are unable to adopt the appropriate organizational cultures and behaviors that are related to success.
To reduce the ambiguity associated with short-term goals, the leader needs to embark on a process of planning and defining short-term goals that can inspire the stakeholders (Bolman & Deal, 2008). For instance, the team leader should analyze the overdue projects and ensure that the team prioritizes their completion. The rationale is that the majority of the stakeholders are probably disappointed because of sluggishness and incompletion of certain aspects of the project. This will not only lead to a substantial reduction in the number of incomplete projects but also reduce the workload and the number of goals to achieve. Bolman & Deal (2008) point out that the failure by the organization to achieve its set goals emanates from poor planning and prioritization of insignificant objectives. By introducing new goals and objectives into the project, the team leader will be unrealistic. The reason is that the project has already failed to achieve its previously set goals (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). As such, prioritizing on the completion of the delayed aspects of the project will inspire the stakeholders in addition to demystifying the hoopla that has emerged in the organization.
The ability of a team leader to reduce anxiety associated with the sluggishness of the project should play an important role in goal attainment. Currently, many stakeholders have lost faith in the ability of the organization to complete the project. As such, they feel that the project has failed to reap benefits and profits. It is therefore critical for the team leader to demystify the widespread notion that the project has failed to achieve its objectives. This will be dependent on the ability of the team leader to be candid and explain the challenges that have acted as impediments to the anticipated success (Bolman & Deal, 2008). This way, the stakeholders and investors will be able to have an objective examination of the project. This will not only enhance the reduction of the anxiety amongst the stakeholders but also ensure that the project regains the goodwill of all key stakeholders. Other than quelling the growing anxiety, the leader ought to get the desired results and maintain the relationships. The leader should establish a link between the desired outcomes (objectives) and organizational values, culture, and mission (Bolman & Deal, 2008). Also, the team leader should ensure that every member of the project team has access to all required resources to accomplish the task. To that end, the team leader will have inspired the stakeholders and changed the hoopla into an organization’s success.
Conclusion
In essence, the new team leader should take various measures to enhance short-term gains and change the growing dissent among the stakeholder into success. The team leader should build trust, prepare the employees for success, enhance effective communication and set short-term goals. Also, the leader should drive change in the organization by managing relationships and achieving goals. This way, the organization will become successful.
References
Bolman, L. & Deal, T. (2008). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gershon, D. & Straub, G. (2009). The Empowering Organization: Changing Behavior and Developing Talent in Organizations. Empowerment Institute, 25(3), 421–439.
Kotter, J. & Cohen, S. (2002). The Heart of Change: Real-life Stories of How People Change their Organizations. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Treadway, D. et al. (2005). The Formation of Political Sub-climates: Predictions from Social Identity, Structuration, and Symbolic Interaction. Journal of Business and Psychology, 20(2), 201-219.