THE HIDDEN SIDE OF LEADERSHIP IN TECHNICAL TEAM MANAGEMENT

Developing a high-performing team is one of the most challenging tasks facing technical project managers. Not only must they as team leaders deal with planning, supervising, coordinating, and controlling their projects, but, equally important, they must cope with a multitude of interpersonal issues always present in team-oriented work environments. If these issues are not handled intelligently and constructively, they can quickly derail the best-intentioned projects. This article, based on a field study of 100 project leaders, examines several interpersonal issues found in most technical teams and suggests a number of options for managing them. The authors argue that attending only to the technical dimensions of the team leader's responsibilities presents an incomplete and misinformed view of leadership. Effective project leaders understand and are competent in dealing with a wide range of hidden interpersonal issues that can undermine the management of project performance.