Structuring Project Teams and Building Cohesiveness Presentation by Gwen A. Little CEP 812 - 2/3/99

Characteristics of Project Teams Definition: a team is a collection of individuals who work together to attain a goal. Project team members often borrowed - brief exposure to project effort work on piece of project - when done move on to other projects may not recognize they are part of a team -

Characteristics cont’d. Therefore incapable of developing team spirit - project commitment

Team Efficiency vs. Inefficiency Team Efficiency is defined as team performance that is actually achieved. Ex: Team accomplishing a small portion of what it could - efficiency low Team achieving as much as possible efficiency is high

What causes team inefficiency? Matrix Based Frictions projects dependent on temporarily borrowed staff lack of staff continuity project manager’s lack of direct control over project staff and material resources

Inefficiency cont’d. Poor communication - large amount of time spent sending and receiving messages Information atherosclerosis - communication channels so clogged that important information has difficulty making it through Garbled messages - messages passed along from one person to another get changed

Team Structure ISOMORPHIC TEAM STRUCTURE Iso= equal or same Morph= form or shape Two things share the same structural appearance Advantages organization simple - accountability clear parallel implementation of tasks

Structure Cont’d. SPECIALTY TEAM STRUCTURE Team members asked to apply their special expertise across a wide array of tasks high levels of responsibility lack corresponding levels of authority Deficiencies - figure 3.3 p. 94 accountability diffuse unequal distribution of work work alone work may not be well integrated

Structure Cont’d. Advantages EGOLESS TEAM STRUCTURE high degree of self management expertise applied where appropriate EGOLESS TEAM STRUCTURE should be difficult to determine who produced what portion of the product no obvious leader decisions achieved through consensus

Structure Cont’d. Project tasks reflect input of all team members Encourages high levels of interactivity and communication among project members Criticisms doesn’t work because people have egos those with talent want to make their contribution stand out

Structure cont’d. How can this work? SURGICAL TEAM STRUCTURE Lack of leadership - team starts to drift How can this work? Team size must be small Must work together continuously SURGICAL TEAM STRUCTURE All attention focuses on a single individual and his or her abilities

Structure cont’d. Disadvantage requires superlatively capable individual to play role of the surgeon Surgical team approach most effective on design projects that entail large amounts of writing

Creating Team Identity Make the team tangible effective use of meetings team members see they are not working alone colocation of team members members work together in a common space War rooms - contain the most significant project documentation create a team name

Building a Reward System Letters of commendation Public recognition for good work Job assignments Flexible work time New equipment goes to best workers Recommendation for cash awards and bonuses

Personal Touch Be supportive (physical, psychological) Be clear Learn something about team members Celebrate special occasions Be accessible enlist an open door policy