crisis leadership for project managers

1. Supervisor by:
Assoc. Prof. Nabeel Alsohybe
Crisis Leadership for
Project Managers
Prepared by:
Zahra Rajeh
Somaia Albahri
Nassmah Almatari

2. 1. Introduction
2. Statement of the problem
3. Purpose of the study
4. Research question
5. Literature review
6. Practicing crisis leadership skills
7. Limitations
8. Future research
9. Conclusion
Outlines

3. Introduction
crisis leadership is essential in project management;
there is also a need to train project managers in crisis
leadership (Weick, 1988). There needs to be a
framework for training that organizations can quickly
implement to ensure that their project managers are
ready to handle a crisis that affects their projects. This
framework, which includes practicing crisis leadership
skills, will help organizations and project managers
weather any crisis that interrupts their projects.

4. Statement of the Problem
Project managers lack the skills and experience to lead projects
during a crisis. This is because of a lack of awareness of how
crisis leadership affects project management and the high cost of
training project leaders (Kapucu & Ustun, 2018). The lack of
training is a significant factor in why some projects fail (Spinelli
& Pellino, 2020).

5. Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to provide organizations
with a framework for training project managers to lead
projects during and after an external crisis effectively.
In addition, this study examined other disciplines such
as the emergency management field to see what skills
make an effective crisis leader and how project
managers can use those skills to better prepare them
for leading during a crisis.

6. Research Questions
A. How does a project manager adjust to rapidly changing project
requirements during a crisis?
B. How does a project manager quickly identify a crisis?
C. What skills are needed to be a successful crisis leader?
D. How are communication tools used differently by project managers
during a crisis?
E. How can project managers practice their skills to prepare for a crisis
?
F. How would a project manager use the project retrospective process
to improve the current and future projects?

7. Literature Review
A literature review of crisis leadership in the project management settin
g has found that this topic has not been thoroughly explored related to
project management ;however, other disciplines have studied how to le
ad during a crisis
There are several key areas to be explored:
 identifying a crisis
 changing project requirements during a crisis
 skills needed during a crisis
 communication during a crisis
 practicing required skills before a crisis happens
 using project retrospectives following a crisis.

8. Practicing crisis leadership skills
Knowing how to communicate during a crisis is essential for
every project manager to have in their toolbelt. Just as impo
rtant as having these skills is to practice them before they a
re needed;
• Dry Runs
• Role-Playing
• Using Project Retrospective during
• after a Crisis
• During a Crisis
• After a Crisis

9. Limitations
The SCLF was designed to help project managers learn and
practice the skills needed to be better project managers whe
n a crisis affects their organization. However, one limitation
of this research is that the solution has not been tested and
may not provide a good return on investment when
implemented. Therefore, the SCLF will need to be evaluate
d after many project managers use it to see if it helps make
them better crisis leaders and is cost-effective.

10. Future Research
The "skills needed" will need to be studied continuously
to ensure they are still relevant in the future. For exampl
e, just because the current literature has determined that
learning how to manage changing project priorities duri
ng a crisis is relevant now, it may not be applicable in th
e future. In addition, future research may uncover new s
kills required by crisis leaders, and
the SCLF could change accordingly.

11. Conclusion
When project managers are routinely taught the SCLF, project managers
will be better prepared to lead projects during crises, whether those crise
s are small in geographical nature like a hurricane in South Florida or aff
ect the entire world simultaneously like the COVID-19 pandemic. These
better-prepared project managers will have the confidence and skills nee
ded to lead their stakeholders and projects through any crisis. As a result
, they will be stronger leaders overall, thus improving their value to the co
mpanies they work for.

12. Thanks