Project Team Dynamics

Enhancing Performance, Improving Results

Lisa DiTullio

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781567263206
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Get to the Heart of Building Productive Project Teams!
Companies that embrace the power of collaboration realize that the best way to solve complex problems is to build cohesive teams made up of members with different skills and expertise. Getting teams to work productively is at the heart of project management. Developing the structure for teams to work dynamically at a high level of efficiency and effectiveness is at the heart of this book.
The author clearly outlines methods for creating and implementing a structure to deal with the inevitable difficulties that any team may encounter. With examples drawn from contemporary project management, she demonstrates the effectiveness of this straightforward approach and highlights the risks of not building a strong team culture.
The author offers simple and proven techniques for:
• Launching a team
• Defining and clarifying the goals of the team
• Implementing and reinforcing appropriate team behaviors
To help ensure the delivery of on-time project objectives, the author also gives practical advice aimed at ensuring productive team meetings, encouraging information sharing, and moving the team toward solutions in the face of challenges and conflict.

PART I

LAUNCHING THE TEAM

Project teams can become more efficient and effective by following four steps upon project assignment: define, clarify, implement, and establish. The chapters in part I focus on these four key steps:

Chapter 1. Defining the Team. As the project kicks off, project team members are identified and recruited. Skill set, subject matter expertise, functional knowledge, and specialized experience must guide the resource selection process. A candidate’s ability to perform in a team setting should also be assessed.

Chapter 2. Clarifying Team Goals. As the group determines the project scope, sets the budget, plans the deliverables, and establishes the schedule, it is the perfect time to state team goals and define roles and responsibilities for each member of the group, as well as for the unit as a whole.

Chapter 3. Implementing Supporting Behaviors. It’s important to identify the specific actions and behavioral characteristics that will best support team goals and establish a team environment. Establish operating practices that allow everyone to be equally committed to a common purpose, set of goals, and working approach. In other words, everyone must agree to the team behaviors; they should not be set and imposed by the team leader.

Chapter 4. Establishing Accountability. Discuss and decide how you and your team will be held accountable for meeting team expectations. Ideally, accountability is both individual and shared; effectiveness is measured by the group’s collective outcomes and performance.

Many project teams naturally navigate the first two steps because most project managers have learned these practices during project management training. Many teams, however, skim or skip steps three and four, most often because of time constraints. Many project managers and team members find themselves hurled into the eye of the storm the minute a new project is assigned; with looming deadlines and high stakeholder expectations, less time is available for establishing team behaviors or setting team member accountability. Unfortunately, project managers often regret omitting these important steps.

CHAPTER 1
Defining the Team

You put together the best team that you can with the players you’ve got, and replace those who aren’t good enough.

—Robert Crandall

Studies suggest teams that perform well have a clear purpose, maintain open communication, and appreciate style diversity. Effective teams also rely on consensus decisions and have the ability to engage in civilized disagreements. On the other hand, team failure can result from a lack of trust among team members, vague assignments, and overbearing authority in a competitive, authoritarian environment.

The Blue Angels, established in 1946, are the epitome of a high-performing team. The mission of the Blue Angels is to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts by acting as positive role models and goodwill ambassadors for these military branches. They accomplish this through air performances; skilled pilots wow crowds with awe-inspiring air shows.

A Blue Angels’ flight demonstration exhibits choreographed aerobatic maneuvers that use high-speed, low-altitude performance. Shows usually consist of a four-plane Diamond Formation, in concert with fast-paced, high-performance maneuvers of solo pilots. The show climaxes with the pinnacle of precision flying, performing maneuvers locked in as a unit in the renowned six-jet Delta Formation.

Safety is paramount for every demonstration. Each pilot must complete 120 training flights during winter training to perform a public demonstration. The teamwork required for high-speed, low-altitude flying in tight Blue Angel formation takes hundreds of hours to develop. All maneuvers are both mentally and physically demanding, and they reflect the challenges met daily by fleet Navy and Marine Corps aviators.

Each pilot is responsible for good health and safety; if the Flight Leader/Commanding Officer is grounded for medical reasons, the demonstration is canceled. This is one team that does not rely on backups or stand-ins. The teamwork required for formation flying takes many hours to develop, and a substitute pilot would not have enough time in the formation to perform safely.

Teamwork is vital for the Blue Angels. Without team collaboration, clearly defined roles, and constant communication, tragic missteps can occur. The Blue Angels conduct a Lessons Learned exercise at the end of every performance. They dissect their performance in exhaustive detail for an inordinate amount of time, always seeking opportunities for improvement. Blue Angel pilots capitalize on synergy, strive for perfection, and accept responsibility; they are a team prepared to win.

Although project teams in business today might not face the dire consequences the Blue Angels face when mistakes are made, there is good reason to aspire toward Blue Angel-like team performance. Such performance begins with defining the team.

GETTING STARTED

Congratulations! You’ve just received your new project assignment! As project manager, you are propelled into the project. You need human resources to help scope, plan, and execute the project on schedule and within budget. You need a variety of skills and expertise to support the project’s complicated needs—and you need them quickly.

Sound familiar? Many project managers immediately find themselves thinking about who they need versus what they need when identifying project resources. In other words, many project managers select team members based on previous working relationships. Team members who hold required subject matter expertise and who performed well on previous projects are likely requested for future assignments; poor performers are seldom invited back.

This model works well when organizations have excess resources and support team culture. True team culture exists when members both demonstrate their best talents and function synergistically to achieve common goals. Unfortunately, many organizations lack both the bandwidth in resource availability and the true team mindset. As a result, project team leaders often find themselves fighting for the same small pool of ideal team members. There are never enough star players to fulfill all project team requirements, forcing project team managers to staff with “B” players.

Identifying what is needed on the team rather than who you want on the team is a great way to approach functional managers when requesting resources. When you are able to describe the skills, expertise, and assets of what you need on the team, you are effectively informing managers how to develop other staff members who might not quite have what it takes to make the team today. This has long-term value for both you as the requesting manager and the functional manager. Having large pools of highly qualified staff maintains the delicate balance between supporting project needs and meeting operational requirements without depleting the “A” players.

Be willing to accept rookie players. New members bring fresh perspective to solving project challenges, there’s nothing like a fresh set of eyes to solve an old problem.

Aside from selecting team members who hold the “right” level of skill and expertise needed to support the project requirements, it is just as important to identify team members who are able to work well with others and exhibit consistent levels of cooperation. These “social intelligence” skills include the ability to persuade, negotiate, compromise, and make others feel important.

Team members come in all shapes and sizes, with varying levels of training, expertise, experience, education, and background. Some team members come with extensive industry and/or subject matter expertise, whereas others do not; many fall between the two extremes. The challenge you face as a project manager is to know what you want in a team member before you search for one. Be thoughtful and precise in assessing the level of skill you need (to support the size, type, and magnitude of your project), and overlay those requirements with emotional, social, and interpersonal intelligence requirements.

In fact, be careful not to overemphasize technical requirements when evaluating candidates. Limiting your search to people who have strong technical capabilities but lack professional decorum and interpersonal skills is not likely to produce optimum project results. Project members who have subject matter expertise but lack collaboration, tolerance, and understanding are not likely to fit well on the team; instead, they are more likely to alienate their teammates. Project team members who can get the job done but will leave a trail of destruction in their path are less-than-ideal candidates for any team.

Projects cannot afford team turnover. The challenge is this: How do you select the “right” team players?

SELECTING TEAM MEMBERS

Screening project team members requires project managers to see beyond accomplishments and credentials. The traditional screening questions still apply when assessing project team members. They typically include:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What are the roles and responsibilities of your current position?
• What size projects have you supported in the past?
• What is the average length of the projects you have been involved in?
• Have you participated in project teams on a full-time or a part-time basis?

Because many organizations today do not have enough resources to adequately support project teamwork and ongoing operations, many team members (as well as project managers) are asked to support project work during their “free time.” They might also be expected to participate on multiple projects at once. With so much juggling going on, it is easy to bypass a thorough team selection process in order to launch the team quickly. It is easy to ask only the screening questions, which might not get you all the information you need.

Beware. Not taking adequate time to evaluate potential team members in advance of placing them on the team might cause regret later—for you as the team leader, for the individual team members, and for the team as a whole. To see past a candidate’s resume or technical expertise, take the time to evaluate the person thoroughly. Using behavior-based methods to screen team candidates has become increasingly popular—and necessary.

The premise behind behavioral interviewing is that the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in similar situations. The key is delving deeply enough during the interview process to accurately assess past behavior. Behavioral interviewing requires that the interviewer ask questions in a way that reveals a candidate’s true character. The interviewer must probe to reach a depth of detail that forces the candidate to share past team experiences and behaviors. Interviewers must ask pointed questions to elicit detailed responses that reveal whether the candidate possesses the ideal team characteristics.

Suppose, for example, you ask, “How would you handle XYZ situation?” The responder has minimal accountability. However, suppose you ask, “What were you thinking at that point?” or “Lead me through your reasoning for how you handled that situation.” This tactic is apt to provide far more insight about the candidate and his or her ability to handle tough situations. Continuous probing of a specific situation puts the pressure on. It also enables you, as the interviewer, to observe the candidate’s ability to hold up under a barrag...