Chapter 6: Team Building & Team Interactions (pt. 1) ISE 443 / ETM 543 Fall 2013

A number of activities are carried out by the team /543– 6

“Strong and well-considered communication is at the heart of building a productive team.” Exhibit 6.1: Essentials of an Effective Communicator 1. Listen. 2. Adopt a management by walking around (MBWA) way of being. 3. Assure participation by all team members. 4. Synthesize and integrate. 5. Meet with all key project personnel every week. 6. Insist on information “flow-down.” 7. Hold short “information” meetings. 8. Communicate with boss and other project support people. 9. Talk to customer at least once a week. 10. Maintain a positive and supportive attitude. 11. Offer training for poor communicators. 12. Assure that communications is part of personnel evaluation /543– 6

Your turn... INDIVIDUALLY, grade yourself as a communicator  Assign a numeric grade (A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0) to each of the essentials on the previous slide.  Sum the results to get a composite score. Do the same for another member of the group  Again, this is an INDIVIDUAL effort  It may be useful to agree within the group which member will be evaluating whom. When you are finished with your individual rating, REMAIN QUIET  Turn your paper over and put down your pen/pencil to indicate that you are done /543– 6

Once the class is finished... One at a time, each team member will share his/her evaluation, as follows:  Start by sharing your self-evaluation, as follows: “I gave myself an overall score of ___” “I believe my strengths as a communicator are ___” (choose 2 or 3 of your highest scoring points) “I believe my challenges as a communicator are ___” (choose 2 or 3 of your lowest scoring points)  THEN, move to your evaluation of your team mate, as follows: “I gave you an overall score of ____” “Based on my experience on this team, the strengths you have demonstrated as a communicator are ___” “Based on my experience on this team, the challenges you have demonstrated as a communicator are ___” Keep in mind  keep your comments constructive  your impressions may be based on very limited interaction 5 443/543– 6

“Team building and being part of a team are critical issues in project & systems engineering management.” 1. Develop and maintain a personal plan for team building and operation. 2. Hold both periodic and special team meetings. 3. Clarify missions, goals, and roles. 4. Run the team in a participative, possibly consensual, manner. 5. Involve the team in situation analysis and problem solving. 6. Give credit to active, positive team members and contributions. 7. Assure team efficiency and productivity. 8. Obtain feedback from team members. 9. Integrate, coordinate, facilitate, and assure information flow. 10. Maintain effective communication /543– 6

Your turn... INDIVIDUALLY, evaluate how your team has been functioning  Which of the activities listed on the previous slide have you participated in?  How helpful was it? When you are finished with your individual evaluation, REMAIN QUIET  Turn your paper over and put down your pen/pencil to indicate that you are done. When the class is finished, the entire team will discuss your evaluation /543– 6

Let’s talk for a moment about “team busters” “a person, nominally a member of the project team, who works hard, either consciously or otherwise, in destroying the team that the PM and CSE are trying to build.” Usually exhibits one or more of the following behaviors...  Questions the authority of the PM and CSE at every turn.  Challenges the management and technical approach of the PM and CSE.  Does not follow the agreed-on decisions.  Consistently “goes over the head” of his or her boss.  Tries to monopolize meeting agendas.  Attempts to embarrass or challenge the boss in front of others /543– 6

If a manager is a “team buster”... In addition to the previously listed behaviors, a “team busting” manager will exhibit the following behaviors  If you are not part of his or her team, by definition you are doing a poor and misguided job.  Forces his or her people to clear all actions, and even conversations, strictly through the “chain of command.”  Tries to create a “we” and “they” mentality, whereby everyone who reports to the team buster is a “we” and everyone else is in the “they” group /543– 6

Team busters represent a real threat to the project (and the organization) Often have a valuable skill or skill set (e.g., expertise in an area crucial to the project or organization) The threat to the team outweighs the benefit of the expertise Specific steps are required to handle the team buster  1 st “strike” - Private conversation explaining that the behavior will not be tolerated  2 nd “strike” - Communicate with upper management and a second private conversation indicating that the next step is removal from the project or even (with support of management) from the organization  3 rd “strike” – Removal from the project... with support from management and HR /543– 6

Conflict is to be expected (even welcomed?) in a project The seven most common areas of conflict have changed in ranking over the years  “Schedules” and “Priorities” have remained consistently in the top conflicts and conflict management should be considered part of the job /543– 6 Conflict Area Rank in 1976 Rank in 1986 Schedules11 Costs62 Priorities23 Staffing34 Technical opinions45 Personality76 Procedures57

A person’s conflict resolution style is an indicator of how he/she will respond Competing (forcing)  power is used to resolve the conflict  a short-term solution, seldom long-term resolution Compromising (sharing)  negotiate a position acceptable to all parties  not always best for the project Avoiding (withdrawal)  refuse to acknowledge the conflict Accommodating (smoothing)  temporarily suppress the problem until it can be fully addressed Collaborating (problem solving)  allow all parties to express viewpoints, determine why, seek long- term resolution /543– 6

Your turn... INDIVIDUALLY, identify your “preferred” conflict resolution style  Do you believe this to be an effective way to address conflicts?  Is there a style that would be more effective? Do the same for another member of the group When you are finished with your individual rating, REMAIN QUIET When the class is finished, the entire team will discuss your evaluation /543– 6