MANAGING PROJECT TEAMS

MGMT 6084 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

MODULE
ELEVEN

Prof. Mohamed Soliman

The following content was prepared by Prof Robert Brookes and reproduced Project Management by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

from Larson, Gray (2018) Project Management: The Managerial Process.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

You are here!

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO TODAY?

 Explore some ideas involving people management.

 How do we create a high performance project team?
 The development process of project teams.
 How to address potential issues in project team development.

Source: projecttimes.com
 LEADING MILLENIALS

https://youtu.be/d_HHnEROy_w
DISCUSSION

Discussion driving questions

 Is the amount of time spent at work the same as productivity?
 What keeps employees engaged in their work? Is engagement the same thing as
motivation?
 What is the best way to motivate knowledge workers?
 How would you manage a mixed team (Millenials + Gen Y + Gen X etc).

Questions provided to students

 What is Hamza recommending? Do you agree? Is this somewhere you would want to
work? Is it more difficult to manage this way? What are the other potential
drawbacks?
HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS

Simply
1. 1 +1 = 3 (?)
2. 1+ 1 = 0.5 (?)
HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS

Characteristics of High-performing Teams

1. Share a sense of common purpose
2. Make effective use of individual talents and expertise
3. Have balanced and shared roles
4. Maintain a problem solving focus
5. Accept differences of opinion and expression
6. Encourage risk taking and creativity
7. Set high personal performance standards
8. Identify with the team
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM

 Ten or fewer team members  Members report solely to

the project manager
 Voluntary team membership
 All relevant functional areas
 Continuous service on the are represented on the team
team
 The project involves a
 Full-time assignment to the compelling objective
team
 Members are in close
 An organization culture of communication with each
cooperation and trust other
CREATING A HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM
PROJECT TEAM MEETINGS

Managing
Subsequent Establishing
Meetings Ground Rules

Establishing Team
Norms Conducting Planning
Project Decisions

Relationship
Meetings
Decisions Tracking
Decisions
Managing Change
Decisions
 ESTABLISHING GROUND RULES

 Confidentiality is maintained; no information is shared outside the

team unless all agree to it.
 It is acceptable to be in trouble, but it is not acceptable to surprise
others. Tell others immediately when deadlines or milestones will
not be reached.
 There is zero tolerance for bulling a way through a problem or an
issue.
 Agree to disagree, but when a decision has been made, regardless of
personal feelings, move forward.
 Respect outsiders, and do not flaunt one’s position on the project
team.
 Hard work does not get in the way of having fun.
ESTABLISHING A TEAM IDENTITY

Effective Use
of Meetings

Co-location of
team members

Creation of project
team name

Get the team to do

something together

Team rituals
EXERCISE

 How would you relate your own project teams to this framework?
 Write for a few minute and then voluntarily share your insights.

 Some ideas:
 How effective have your team meetings been?
 Do you have a sense of team identity?
 What stage is your team at: Forming, Norming, Storming, or Performing?
 Has your team been evolving over time?
PROJECT VISION
DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Problem Identification

Generating Alternatives

Reaching a Decision

Follow-up
MANAGING CONFLICT
Encouraging Functional Conflict
 Encourage dissent by asking tough questions
 Bring in people with different points of view
 Designate someone to be a devil’s advocate
 Ask the team to consider an unthinkable alternative

Managing Dysfunctional Conflict

 Mediate the conflict
 Arbitrate the conflict
 Control the conflict
 Accept the conflict
 Eliminate the conflict
SOURCES OF CONFLICT
PROJECT TEAM PITFALLS

Bureaucratic
Groupthink
Bypass Syndrome

Team Spirit Becomes

Going Native
Team Infatuation
SUMMARY

 We learned about current issues in people management.

 You learned the foundational elements of how to build and manage a project
team.
 You know about potential problems to look out for in project team
development and how to address them.
THINGS TO DO BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT
CLASS…

 Continue working on the major project.

 READ Chapter 12: Outsourcing, Project Management 7E – Larson and Gray.