Project Management Lecture Project Teams

Overview What happens in teams team lifecycle Team Roles Belbin Motivation Maslow/Herzberg

Team Lifecycle

Forming Initial enthusiasm, reliance on authority to provide a degree of certainty, establishment and finding out what is expected Storming Conflicts arise as team members learn more about each other and the work to be performed Team members become disillusioned and results are fairly unproductive

Team Lifecycle Norming Teams start to put the negative social aspects to one side and now there is more certainty over what has to be done work starts to progress Performing This is the peak of performance where teams work synergistically

Team Lifecycle Mourning This is where the team begins to break up Motivation for the task has all but dried up and members of the team are being drafted into new teams for further projects

Team Lifecycle Each stage of the lifecycle will benefit from a different set of management/interpersonal/individual skills Teams can be analysed to find out which skills are available

Belbin Roles Do the Belbin questionnaire!

Belbin Roles CW – Company Worker/Implementer CH – Chair/Co-ordinator SH – Shaper/Team Leader PL – Plant/Innovator RI – Resource Investigator ME – Monitor/Evaluator TW – Team Worker CF – Completer/Finisher

CW/Implementer Characteristics conservative, dutiful, predictable Strengths Organising ability, practical common sense, hard working, self-disciplined Weaknesses Inflexible, slow to respond to new possibilities

Chair/Co-ordinator Characteristics Calm, self-confident, controlled Strengths A capacity for treating and welcoming all potential contributors on their merits and without prejudice A strong sense of objectives Weaknesses Not especially intellectual or creative

Shaper/Team Leader Characteristics Highly strung, outgoing, dynamic Strengths Drive and readiness to challenge ineffectiveness and complacency Weaknesses Prone to provocation, irritation and impatience

Plant/Innovator Characteristics Individualistic, serious minded, unorthodox Strengths Genius, imagination, intellect, knowledge Weaknesses Inclined to disregard practical details “up in the clouds” Poor communicator

Resource Investigator Characteristics Extrovert, enthusiastic, curious, communicative Strengths Makes good use of contacts, explores new ideas, responsive to challenges. Weaknesses Liable to lose interest after initial fascination has passed.

Monitor/Evaluator Characteristics Sober, unemotional, prudent Strengths Judgement, Discretion, hard-headedness Weaknesses Lacks inspiration or the ability to motivate others

Team Worker Characteristics Socially oriented, rather mild, sensitive Strengths An ability to respond to people and situations, and to promote a team spirit Weaknesses Indecisive at moments of crisis

Completer/Finisher Characteristics Painstaking, orderly conscientious, anxious Strengths A capacity for follow-through, perfectionism Weaknesses A tendency to worry about small things A reluctance to “let go”

Specialist Not part of Belbin’s original classification Strengths Single minded, self starting, dedicated, provides knowledge and skills in rare supply Weaknesses Contributes only on a narrow front, dwells on technicalities, ignores the ‘big picture’

Belbin Roles Best applied to existing teams in order to help members analyse their role and behaviour

Motivation Poor motivation often leads to: Increased absenteeism Increase in the effect of sickness Lower commitment to tasks Project timescale slippage Reduction in Product Quality

Motivation - Taylor Taylor looked at how to find the most productive way of doing manual tasks He believed that money was the exclusive source of motivation Hughes and Cotterell Perhaps it is if there is no other means of job satisfaction

Motivation - McGregor Theory X: The average human has an innate dislike of work Therefore they need coercion, direction or control People tend to avoid responsibility Theory Y: Work is natural There are other ways of motivating workers Humans can learn to accept and seek responsibility Humans have a capacity for imagination and creativity

Motivation - Maslow Hierarchy of needs Physiological needs – air, food, water Safety needs – protection, security Social needs – group interaction Ego needs – the desire for esteem Self fulfilment needs – realisation of the self image

Motivation - Herzberg Motivation Achievement Recognition Work Responsibility Advancement Hygiene Company Policy and Administration Supervision technical interpersonal relationships Salary Working conditions

Motivation - Herzberg When you are satisfied at work, what is it that is making you happy? When you are dissatisfied at work, what is it that is making you unhappy?

Conclusions Teams are usually artificial entities – you don’t get to choose who you work with Understanding team dynamics, roles and motivation factors will help you work better with team members

Review of PM material Project Planning Gantt Charts WBS/PBS Activity Networks Resource Analysis Risk Management Risk Analysis Decision Making Budgeting and Cost Control Cost Benefit Analysis Payback Period NPV Quality and Team Management

References Hughes and Cotterell “Software Project Management” Cadle and Yeates “Project Management for Information Systems” Belbin “Management Teams” A useful link s/index.asp s/index.asp