Project Team Leadership and Communication Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Project Coordinators and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-218

Before you join: Participants should have practical exposure to projects, such as contributing to a project team, coordinating work packages, reporting progress or leading meetings.

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

Projects often fail to meet commitments not because the team lacks technical expertise, but because roles are unclear, decisions stall, risks are not raised early, and stakeholders receive inconsistent information. Project leaders must coordinate people who may report to different managers, work across locations, hold competing priorities and disagree about scope, resources or delivery methods. This requires disciplined communication, practical influence and the ability to establish productive team behaviours from project initiation through closeout.

This course develops the leadership and communication skills required to lead project teams with clarity and authority. Participants learn to define team purpose and accountabilities, set working agreements, plan stakeholder communications, run decision-focused meetings and influence sponsors and functional managers. The course also addresses delegation, motivation, performance conversations, conflict resolution, difficult feedback, change communication and leadership of distributed or cross-functional teams. Participants apply recognised methods including RACI, Tuckman's team development model, the Thomas-Kilmann conflict modes and the SBI feedback model.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic project cases, facilitated group work, communication simulations and structured reflection. Participants work with project scenarios involving delayed dependencies, competing stakeholder demands, remote-team misunderstandings and scope changes. They leave with a practical project team leadership toolkit, including a communication matrix, stakeholder influence plan, team working agreement, conflict response plan and 30-day leadership action plan. The five-day programme runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing approximately 6.5 contact hours daily. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course is suited to project managers, workstream leads and technical specialists who lead project contributors without relying solely on formal line authority.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a project team charter using purpose, roles, decision rights and working agreements
  • Diagnose team development needs using Tuckman's forming, storming, norming and performing model
  • Design a stakeholder communication matrix with messages, channels, owners and reporting cadence
  • Facilitate meetings that produce documented decisions, actions and escalation requirements
  • Influence sponsors and stakeholders using interest-based negotiation and evidence-based framing
  • Resolve project conflict using Thomas-Kilmann modes, active listening and structured feedback
  • Delegate work packages with clear authority, acceptance criteria and performance expectations
  • Create a 30-day project team leadership action plan for a live project challenge

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Lead project contributors confidently without relying on formal line authority
  • Handle difficult stakeholder conversations with clearer structure and evidence
  • Run shorter meetings that produce decisions, owners and due dates
  • Address team conflict before it damages delivery relationships
  • Build a practical leadership plan for an active project assignment

For your organisation

  • Clearer project accountabilities and fewer delays caused by ambiguous ownership
  • More reliable stakeholder reporting and faster escalation of delivery risks
  • Improved coordination between project teams, sponsors, functions and suppliers
  • Earlier resolution of interpersonal conflict and cross-functional tensions
  • Stronger action follow-through through disciplined meeting and communication practices

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can establish clear team purpose, accountabilities, working agreements and escalation boundaries.

  • Project charter objectives translated into team outcomes, constraints and priorities
  • Role clarity established through RACI decisions, accountabilities and escalation boundaries
  • Stakeholder mapping using power-interest grids and engagement expectations
  • Working agreements covering response times, meeting conduct and decision rights
  • Team purpose statements linking deliverables, benefits and customer needs
  • Project manager authority assessed against sponsor, functional manager and vendor roles
  • Early warning indicators identified for ambiguity, dependency conflict and scope drift

Participants can adapt their leadership approach to team maturity, motivation and delivery risk.

  • Tuckman's forming, storming, norming and performing stages diagnosed from team behaviour
  • Situational leadership responses matched to competence, commitment and task risk
  • Leadership style adjusted between directing, coaching, supporting and delegating
  • Psychological safety built through inquiry, fallibility and respectful challenge
  • Trust deposits strengthened through reliability, transparency and competence signals
  • Motivation linked to autonomy, mastery, purpose and meaningful project contribution
  • Remote leadership routines designed for visibility, inclusion and workload awareness

Participants can create communication arrangements that give stakeholders timely, actionable project information.

  • Communication requirements elicited from stakeholders, governance forums and delivery dependencies
  • Communication matrix specifies audience, message, owner, channel and cadence
  • Channel selection balances urgency, sensitivity, record keeping and audience access
  • Message architecture separates decision, rationale, action, deadline and owner
  • Status reports distinguish progress, forecast, issues, risks and decisions required
  • Escalation paths define thresholds, recipients, response times and decision authority
  • Information radiators present milestones, blockers, dependencies and committed actions

Participants can lead efficient meetings that convert discussion into decisions and accountable actions.

  • Meeting purpose classified as inform, consult, decide, solve or coordinate
  • Agenda design allocates decision time, preparation requirements and facilitation roles
  • Facilitation techniques draw out quieter contributors and test apparent consensus
  • Decision logs record options, criteria, approver, rationale and follow-up actions
  • Parking-lot management protects agenda commitments while preserving unresolved issues
  • Virtual meeting protocols manage cameras, chat, whiteboards and speaking order
  • Action registers assign owners, due dates, dependencies and completion evidence

Participants can secure stakeholder support through structured influence, negotiation and sponsor communication.

  • Stakeholder interests analysed using power, legitimacy, urgency and project impact
  • Influence strategy matched to stakeholder position, concerns and decision authority
  • Interest-based negotiation separates positions, interests, options and objective criteria
  • Framing project messages around benefits, trade-offs, risk and evidence
  • Sponsor briefings request specific decisions, resources or cross-functional intervention
  • Resistance diagnosed through loss concerns, credibility gaps and competing priorities
  • Commitment tested using clear asks, named owners and observable next steps

Participants can identify conflict sources and conduct constructive conversations that restore delivery focus.

  • Task, process and relationship conflict distinguished before selecting an intervention
  • Thomas-Kilmann modes selected according to stakes, time and relationship needs
  • Active listening uses paraphrasing, summarising, labelling and open questions
  • Nonviolent Communication structures observations, feelings, needs and actionable requests
  • SBI feedback separates situation, behaviour and impact without personal judgement
  • Difficult conversations prepared with facts, assumptions, questions and desired agreements
  • Conflict escalation managed through mediation, documented agreements and sponsor referral

Participants can delegate project work clearly and address performance issues with fairness and discipline.

  • Work packages clarified through acceptance criteria, handoffs and definition of done
  • Delegation levels selected using authority, capability, risk and support required
  • Performance conversations address commitments, evidence, barriers and corrective actions
  • Recognition reinforces specific behaviours, contribution quality and shared standards
  • Capacity discussions distinguish workload, availability, capability and competing priorities
  • Coaching questions help team members generate options and commitments
  • Underperformance response documents expectations, support actions, review dates and consequences

Participants can communicate project risks, changes and bad news early enough for effective decisions.

  • RAID logs connect risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies to owners
  • Change requests assessed for scope, schedule, cost, quality and resource effects
  • Impact analysis identifies affected roles, interfaces, procedures and communications
  • Risk conversations state probability, impact, triggers, mitigations and contingency actions
  • Dependency management establishes handoff dates, acceptance criteria and escalation points
  • Bad-news reporting communicates facts, implications, options and recommended decisions
  • Change resistance addressed through stakeholder-specific messages, involvement and reinforcement

Participants can create inclusive communication routines for geographically dispersed and diverse project teams.

  • Communication preferences identified without stereotyping individual or national differences
  • High-context and low-context messages adapted for clarity and inclusion
  • Time-zone handoffs document status, decisions, blockers and next-owner actions
  • Inclusive facilitation counters dominance, interruption and language-confidence barriers
  • Distributed team norms define availability, response windows and asynchronous updates
  • Cross-functional tensions resolved by returning to shared outcomes and interfaces
  • Vendor and partner communications align obligations, acceptance criteria and governance

Participants can translate course methods into a focused leadership and communication plan for their project.

  • Leadership diagnostic compares current behaviours against project team needs
  • Personal communication plan schedules stakeholder conversations, messages and follow-ups
  • First-30-day actions prioritise agreements, risks, relationships and meeting improvements
  • RACI and communication matrix updated from a live project scenario
  • Conflict response plan identifies triggers, preferred approaches and escalation routes
  • Peer feedback converts observed leadership behaviours into targeted development commitments
  • Progress measures track decision turnaround, action closure and stakeholder confidence

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

What you take back to work

  1. Project team charter template
  2. RACI responsibility matrix
  3. Stakeholder communication matrix
  4. Decision and action log
  5. Conflict response plan
  6. 30-day leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need stronger methods for directing teams, stakeholders and delivery conversations
  • Project Coordinators — prepare to lead workstreams and manage project communication routines
  • Programme Managers — coordinate multiple project leads, dependencies and sponsor expectations
  • Workstream Leads — align specialist contributors who may not report directly to them
  • Technical Team Leaders — translate technical delivery issues into decisions and stakeholder messages
  • PMO Professionals — improve governance communications, action tracking and project leadership support

Skills and tools covered

Project team leadershipStakeholder communicationMeeting facilitationConflict resolutionPerformance coachingInfluence without authority

Tools and standards

RACI matrix, Tuckman's team development model, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, SBI feedback model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by project-based case work, group exercises, communication simulations and facilitated discussion. Participants practise structuring status messages, leading meetings, handling conflict, delegating work and briefing senior stakeholders. Cases reflect common delivery pressures, including late dependencies, contested priorities, remote coordination and change requests. Individual application planning helps participants adapt the methods to a current project, team or stakeholder challenge. Trainers adjust examples and discussion emphasis to the participants' sectors and project environments.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical exposure to projects, such as contributing to a project team, coordinating work packages, reporting progress or leading meetings. They should understand common project terms including scope, milestones, risks, issues, stakeholders and dependencies. Some experience of working with colleagues from other functions is helpful. This course does not require a project management qualification, formal people-management responsibility, prior leadership training or knowledge of a specific project methodology. Participants will gain most value by bringing a current or recent project situation to consider during the course.

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

Participants should have experience of working on projects or coordinating project-related work. A formal project management qualification or line-management role is not required.

Bring details of a current or recent project, particularly its stakeholders, team structure, communication problems or delivery risks. You will use this situation when preparing your application plan.

The course is designed for project managers, workstream leads, project coordinators, PMO staff and technical specialists leading project contributors. It is particularly useful for people managing through influence rather than direct authority.

This course concentrates on the people side of project delivery: team leadership, communication, stakeholder influence, meetings, conflict and accountability. It uses project management tools where needed but does not teach a full methodology such as PRINCE2 or PMI standards.

Participants can use the templates immediately to clarify roles, reset team agreements, improve status reporting and prepare difficult conversations. The final module produces a 30-day plan linked to a live project challenge.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides approximately 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group exercises, simulations, 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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