Leadership Skills for Project Managers Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Programme Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-162

Before you join: Participants should have experience contributing to, coordinating or managing projects, workstreams or cross-functional initiatives.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Project managers are expected to deliver outcomes through people they often do not directly manage. Matrix reporting lines, competing functional priorities, sponsors with limited availability and geographically dispersed specialists can weaken accountability and delay decisions. Effective project leadership requires more than scheduling and status reporting: it requires influence, clear decision rights, constructive challenge, conflict management and credible stakeholder relationships.

This course develops the leadership behaviours needed to lead projects and matrix teams with authority, even when formal authority is limited. Participants learn to clarify roles using RACI and RAPID, adapt their leadership style to task maturity, build team agreements, influence senior stakeholders, run decision-focused meetings and address performance concerns early. The course also covers interest-based negotiation, difficult conversations, change leadership and practical methods for sustaining commitment through project uncertainty.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic project cases, group analysis, role-based simulations and structured peer feedback. Participants apply the methods to a current or recent project, examining its stakeholders, decision bottlenecks, team dynamics and delivery risks. They leave with a project leadership action plan, stakeholder influence map, team charter and practical communication tools that can be used immediately with sponsors, functional managers and project team members.

The course is suited to project managers, programme managers, workstream leads and technical specialists moving into broader delivery leadership. It is particularly relevant for professionals working in government, banking, infrastructure, technology, healthcare, NGOs and multinational organisations where delivery depends on cross-functional cooperation.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply RACI and RAPID to clarify project roles, decision rights and accountabilities
  • Adapt leadership behaviours using Situational Leadership II and task maturity assessment
  • Create stakeholder influence maps and targeted engagement plans
  • Conduct decision-focused meetings using structured agendas, decision logs and escalation paths
  • Build team charters that establish working agreements, norms and conflict protocols
  • Handle difficult conversations using SBI feedback, GROW coaching and interest-based negotiation
  • Develop change leadership messages using ADKAR and change impact assessment
  • Produce a 30-day project leadership application plan with measurable actions

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence influencing sponsors and functional managers without formal authority
  • A repeatable approach for resolving role ambiguity and decision delays
  • Stronger skills for handling resistance, conflict and difficult performance conversations
  • Clearer communication with executives through concise recommendations and decision requests
  • A practical leadership plan linked to a current project challenge

For your organisation

  • Faster project decisions through clearer authority, escalation and accountability arrangements
  • Reduced friction between project teams, functional departments and senior stakeholders
  • Earlier identification and resolution of delivery risks caused by weak engagement
  • More consistent leadership behaviour across project and programme teams
  • Improved adoption of project outputs through structured change leadership and stakeholder communication

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can establish credible leadership and clarify authority within matrix project structures.

  • Project manager authority, accountability and influence within matrix reporting relationships
  • Distinguishing sponsor, functional manager and project manager decision rights
  • RACI matrix used to expose ambiguous ownership and approval bottlenecks
  • Leading without authority through credibility, reciprocity and reliable commitments
  • Power-interest mapping for stakeholders controlling resources, expertise or access
  • Personal leadership brand defined through observable behaviours and operating principles
  • Leadership stance matched to project phase, risk and team maturity

Participants can select leadership behaviours that fit team members' competence, commitment and task maturity.

  • Situational Leadership II matched to competence and commitment for key tasks
  • Diagnosing directive, coaching, supporting and delegating behaviours before intervention
  • Task maturity assessed separately from professional seniority and job grade
  • Delegation agreements specifying outcome, authority boundaries, checkpoints and escalation triggers
  • Coaching questions using GROW to develop judgment and ownership
  • Adaptive leadership responses during ambiguity, resistance and changing priorities
  • Feedback sought from colleagues to identify habitual leadership patterns

Participants can communicate project information clearly to secure alignment, action and timely decisions.

  • Communication charter linking stakeholder needs, channels, cadence and message ownership
  • Audience analysis separates information needs, influence level and likely concerns
  • SBAR briefings structure concise recommendations for senior decision makers
  • Message framing connects project choices to benefits, risks and trade-offs
  • Active listening techniques test assumptions before responding to objections
  • Meeting design assigns purpose, decisions, attendees, timing and follow-up
  • Executive updates distinguish decisions required from information and emerging risks

Participants can analyse stakeholder influence and build engagement strategies for project support.

  • Stakeholder salience model assesses power, legitimacy and urgency
  • Influence maps identify formal authority, informal networks and potential blockers
  • Engagement strategies tailored for champions, neutrals, critics and affected groups
  • Interest-based conversations surface underlying needs behind stated positions
  • Resistance diagnosis separates technical concerns, political concerns and personal loss
  • Sponsor briefings secure timely decisions, visible support and resource commitments
  • Stakeholder engagement plan records messages, owners, dates and response measures

Participants can create team conditions that support trust, accountability and coordinated delivery.

  • Tuckman's team development stages inform interventions during formation and conflict
  • Team charter establishes purpose, norms, decision rules and working agreements
  • Psychological safety built through inquiry, candour and constructive challenge
  • Cross-functional handoffs defined with acceptance criteria, service levels and escalation
  • Virtual team routines balance synchronous meetings, asynchronous updates and time zones
  • Recognition practices reinforce collaboration, accountability and delivery behaviours
  • Team health checks reveal participation gaps, unresolved tensions and workload pressures

Participants can address conflict constructively and negotiate workable project agreements.

  • Thomas-Kilmann modes selected according to stakes, relationships and time pressure
  • Conflict diagnosis distinguishes data, process, relationship, values and structural sources
  • Interest-based negotiation separates people, positions, interests and objective criteria
  • Preparation identifies BATNA, reservation point, concessions and desired agreement
  • Difficult conversations use SBI feedback and clear requests for changed behaviour
  • De-escalation techniques acknowledge emotion while returning discussion to shared facts
  • Conflict agreements specify actions, owners, review dates and escalation routes

Participants can facilitate transparent project decisions and escalate issues at the right level.

  • Decision rights mapped using RAPID for recommendations, approvals and execution
  • Decision log captures options, criteria, assumptions, owner and rationale
  • Facilitation methods separate divergent thinking from convergent decision making
  • Weighted decision matrices compare options against agreed criteria and constraints
  • Bias checks address anchoring, confirmation bias, groupthink and sunk-cost effects
  • Escalation paths distinguish tolerable risk from sponsor-level decisions
  • Decision communication states the choice, rationale, consequences and next actions

Participants can strengthen individual accountability through coaching, feedback and performance conversations.

  • SMART outcomes translate work packages into observable delivery commitments
  • Performance conversations address expectations, evidence, consequences and support needed
  • Coaching using GROW builds problem-solving capability without taking over
  • Feedforward requests focus discussion on future behaviours and practical options
  • Accountability reviews track commitments, blockers, dependencies and recovery actions
  • Motivation diagnosis considers autonomy, mastery, purpose and perceived fairness
  • Recognition and corrective action applied consistently within organisational policy

Participants can lead stakeholder adoption by planning and communicating the people side of change.

  • Change impact assessment identifies role, process, system and capability consequences
  • ADKAR model structures awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement actions
  • Readiness indicators reveal sponsor commitment, local capacity and adoption barriers
  • Change messages explain the case, expected behaviours and available support
  • Transition plans coordinate training, communications, cutover and early-life support
  • Resistance conversations convert concerns into actions, decisions or risk responses
  • Benefits ownership links project outputs to operational adoption measures

Participants can establish a personal operating rhythm for sustained project leadership.

  • Leadership operating system combines cadences, decision forums and escalation routines
  • Weekly leadership plan prioritises stakeholder actions, team needs and unresolved decisions
  • Project leadership dashboard tracks commitments, engagement signals, risks and dependencies
  • Personal influence map identifies relationships requiring deliberate investment
  • Thirty-day application plan schedules behaviour experiments and feedback conversations
  • Peer accountability arrangements define review questions, evidence and follow-through
  • Lessons learned capture leadership practices to retain, stop and adapt

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Project leadership operating system template
  2. Stakeholder influence map and engagement plan
  3. Matrix team charter template
  4. RACI and RAPID decision-rights worksheet
  5. Difficult conversation preparation checklist
  6. Thirty-day leadership application plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — lead delivery through cross-functional teams and competing priorities
  • Programme Managers — coordinate projects requiring aligned sponsors, workstreams and functional leaders
  • Workstream Leads — need influence skills without direct authority over contributors
  • Technical Project Leads — translate specialist expertise into team direction and stakeholder confidence
  • PMO Managers — strengthen consistent leadership practices across project communities
  • Newly Appointed Managers — move from individual delivery responsibility to leading others

Skills and tools covered

Matrix team leadershipStakeholder influenceDecision facilitationConflict resolutionPerformance coachingChange leadership

Tools and standards

RACI matrix, RAPID decision model, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, ADKAR model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce leadership models, followed by case analysis, group exercises, simulations and structured reflection. Participants practise sponsor conversations, stakeholder negotiations, team interventions and decision meetings based on realistic project situations. Facilitated discussion compares approaches used in different sectors and matrix structures. Individual application planning connects each method to a current project, team or stakeholder challenge. Trainers provide feedback on communication choices, influence strategies and practical next steps.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to, coordinating or managing projects, workstreams or cross-functional initiatives. They should understand basic project terms such as scope, milestones, risks, stakeholders and project governance. Experience of working with functional managers, sponsors, suppliers or team members outside their direct reporting line is useful. No formal project management qualification is required, and participants do not need prior people-management responsibility. The course does not require advanced knowledge of scheduling software, financial appraisal or agile delivery methods.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic project delivery concepts and have experience participating in, coordinating or managing project work. A formal project management qualification or direct line-management responsibility is not required.

Bring details of a current or recent project where stakeholder alignment, team coordination, decision making or conflict has been difficult. You will use this situation to develop practical leadership actions and reusable templates.

The course is designed for project managers, programme managers, workstream leads and technical specialists leading cross-functional delivery. It also suits newly appointed managers who must coordinate work through people outside their reporting line.

Project management methodology courses focus primarily on planning, controls, scope, schedule, cost and risk processes. This course focuses on the leadership behaviours needed to gain commitment, manage relationships, resolve conflict and secure decisions.

Participants leave with tools for stakeholder mapping, decision rights, team agreements, coaching conversations and change communication. These can be applied to live project meetings, sponsor updates and cross-functional delivery issues.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case work, simulations, group discussion, feedback and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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