Question

1. Describe a situation (made up or real) where a leader focused so much on leading the team that the project failed because of poor management.

Answer 1

Leadership is quite important for the success of any project. But if proper management is not done, employees are not appreciated and provided with proper dues, and discipline is not created, the project is bound to fail. A situation where a leader focussed so much on leading the team that the project failed because of poor management is as follows:

It is about a small manufacturing company having some 50 employees. The company was in room heater manufacturing. The company was awarded a pilot project to manufacture 500 units of low-cost electric kettle in 5 days that too in a peak season of room heaters. A team of 5 people was assigned along with a leader. The leader knew that he had to keep his team motivated as 500 was a big number to achieve with 5 employees. The prototype was created and essential raw material was bought from the market. The leader focussed on the motivation of the people and announced the incentive as well. The team worked on the quantity and failed to see the defects in the kettles they were manufacturing. It was the third day when the team realized that the kettles they have manufactured do not work after a certain number of heating. The team was left with only 3 days and insufficient raw material. The leader was having no plan B in the place. One more day was spent in procuring raw material and dealing with the defects. In the last, the company ended up with 260 electric kettles. The company could not deliver the right quantity and right quality at the right time to the client because of its poor management and merely focussing on the leadership. The project failed on various front and was ultimately assigned to a competitor.