The Project Team of Project Management

 The Project Team of Project Management

Projects require various resources; people are most valuable resource and has the greatest influence on the project’s outcome.
The selection of team occurs early in the life cycle of a project.
A team personality is complete with spoken and unspoken rules and constantly shifting relationships. As new members join the team and existing ones depart, the character of the team changes. It may also change as the project moves through the phases of its life cycle.

Characteristics of effective team members

- Technology skills 
   Programmers, system analysis, network specialists, etc.
- Interpersonal skills 
   ability to communicate with other team members and other stakeholders
- Strong goal orientation
   Not confined to 9-to-5 view of work. Commitment to final result.
- High self-esteem
   Members must be self-confident, able to acknowledge their own errors and point out problems caused by errors of others.

Team Selection and Acquisition
The size or scope of the project will determine the size of the team.
Project managers must work with other people in the organization to assign particular people to projects or to acquire additional human resources needed to staff the project.
Project managers with strong influencing and negotiating skills are often good at getting internal people to work on their projects.
Organizations must ensure that people are assigned to the projects that best fit their skills and meet the needs of the organization.

Team Building
A legendary sports manager once said
“It’s easy to get the players. Gettin’em play together, that’s the hard part”
Team building - developing a group of individuals to accomplish the project’s objectives - is an ongoing process.
Team building helps to create an atmosphere of openness and trust. Members feel a sense of unity and a strong commitment to accomplishing the project objective.

Team Development
To ensure that people work together as a team to achieve project goals.
A few of the important tools and techniques for team development include:
- Training: specific courses to improve individual and team development (eg training in dealing with difficult people, training in interpersonal skills)
- Team Building Activities: using physical challenges and psychological preference indicator tools (eg extrovert/introvert, sensation/intuition, thinking/feeling, judgment/perception)
Reward and Recognition Systems: Project managers can recognize and reward people who willingly work overtime to meet an aggressive schedule or go out of their way to help a teammate.

Stages in Team Development
Forming
Members find out what they will be doing, the style of acceptable leadership, and possible interpersonal and task relationships.
Characterized by courtesy, confusion, caution, and commonality

Storming
Members begin resisting the influence of the group. There is conflict over competing approaches to reaching the group’s goals.
(Like teenage years, usually tough for everyone, but you have to go through it.)
Characterized by tension, criticism, and confrontation

Norming
Resistance is overcome as the group: establishes its rules and standards, develops intragroup cohesiveness, and delineates task standards and expectations.
Characterized by cooperation, collaboration, cohesion, and commitment

Performing
The group is highly committed and ready to focus attention on task accomplishment. Issues of interpersonal relations, member status, and division of tasks is settled.
Characterized by challenge, creativity, consciousness, and consideration of members

Adjourning
The group has fulfilled its purpose.
Characterized by compromise, communication, consensus, and closure