The Hindu Business Line : A teacher called <I>Lagaan </I>

The film Lagaan is about many things — leadership, negotiation, team building, courage and, above all, project management by a first-time project leader.

A still from the film, Lagaan.

The film Lagaan is about many things — leadership, negotiation, team building and courage to name a few. But it's above all about project management by a first-time project leader.

A project is something with a definite beginning and a definite end, with a clear objective to achieve with a limited number of resources. In the film, the project is to beat the English cricket team in three months, using whatever resources (including human) that are locally available.

The project leader (PL), Aamir Khan, has a lot riding on this. His reputation, the survival of the region (or company), future growth and prosperity are all dependent on this crucial short-term project. The project comes to them when the villagers go to protest a doubled tax rate imposed on them. They're given a choice: either pay the tax or agree to a cricket match. If they win the match, they don't pay tax for three whole years. If they lose, they pay a triple tax instead of the current double tax.

The challenge is posed directly to Aamir. The rest of the villagers want him to refuse the challenge. But he accepts. It's a major crisis. They have trouble paying twice the tax, how on earth will they pay three times the tax? But Aamir, like most good leaders, recognises that a crisis is an opportunity. Whenever a crisis pops up, it's an opportunity for someone or everyone to shine and benefit.

In a project, when crises occur, often the junior-most team members benefit first. When a project is running smoothly, these junior members are normally kept on the sidelines and given minor tasks. But when a crisis erupts they suddenly become invaluable and are roped in directly to help out with the crisis. The crisis is an opportunity for them. If they do well — and most people do rise to challenges, they will no longer be considered as `junior' or `weak'. They become full-fledged, respected members of the team.

For the PL, successfully handling a crisis increases not only his confidence and his knowledge base, but also his status among team members and senior management. He's seen as a capable leader ready for larger projects.

When Aamir begins his project, he does a detailed requirements gathering. He checks out the specifications, the dependencies and inter-dependencies, and how the parts make up the whole. He does this by observing the English practising at their cricket, and also ropes in an attractive English lady to help him out. This is what all effective PLs do. Carefully gather requirements — with or without attractive English ladies.

In the beginning of a project, there's a lot of uncertainty and it's only compounded if improper specifications are gathered leading to work proceeding on the wrong track. The rework necessary can easily throw a project way out of schedule. For instance in Lagaan, initially the bowlers do not bowl over arm but instead chuck the ball. The English lady shows them how to bowl properly. Imagine if they'd gone to the match after practising chucking for three months and found out there that they were required to bowl over arm after all? Gathering requirements early in the project in as much detail as possible is vital to its success.

Project Leads play different roles depending on the situation. Some roles that Aamir played as a PL in Lagaan are: information provider, ideas and opinions shaper, tapper and developer of potential, provider of emotional, physical and social support.

Information provider: As information provider, Aamir ensures he shares with the team all his ideas, skills, and feelings. He also ropes in an expert (the English lady) to help out with knowledge transfer. Information leads to motivation. People feel good at being kept in the loop.

Ideas and opinion shaper: Aamir faces resistance when he wants to include a social outcast in the team. But he sticks to his guns as the man is a natural spinner. He insists that the project is of paramount importance. He paints the larger picture and then speaks to individuals in the group addressing their inner views, drives and fears. This is a wonderful example of how successful PLs handle resistance. They paint the larger picture and then address individuals in the group and appeal to them directly. Don't give up when faced with resistance. Shape opinions to move the project forward.

Developer of potential: A PL's role is also to identify and develop talent. Developing talent is done by structuring tasks around the individual's talent and finding roles and situations where the talent can be used to great effect. For Aamir, a chicken farmer used to chasing and catching chickens is a natural fielder. A polio-stricken man with erratic control over his arm is a natural spinner. A woodcutter with hardened hands is a natural to field and stop hard hits. PLs constantly identify talent in their people and find areas where they can use it effectively.

Support provider — emotional, physical and social: As a PL, Aamir knows that emotions are contagious. He therefore constantly exhibits optimism and enthusiasm. When things go wrong, people are naturally low and demotivated. The PL's role in providing emotional support either individually or to the group as a whole becomes paramount. Throughout the project implementation stage (the actual match), Aamir is everywhere - consoling someone who does poorly, motivating someone who is facing a block, soothing another who is heckled.

Physical support is again an important part of project leadership. While a PL is not expected to do actual work like writing code, if he can sit in at critical junctures and provide the help required by doing the physical part of the work, his effectiveness can only grow. Physical support is like an extra hand given at the steering wheel. The hand is not kept there. Support is given at a crucial juncture and then withdrawn.

In Lagaan, a traitor is found out in the team and the rest are baying for his blood. But Aamir recognises that this man can be a valuable contributor and gives him another chance. He provides the man with social support till the rest of the team accepts him. Some members, especially after a failure can be shut out of the team. The effective PL provides him the support necessary to sustain him till the others accept him again.

To conclude, Lagaan is a wonderful example of project management in action. Aamir, the PL, does a wonderful job of building the team, motivating it and guiding it to success, all the while managing the project too. A long time ago in India ... we had PLs too.

The author is a Chennai-based HR consultant. He can be reached at porusmun@hotmail.com

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