University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 ENGM92 managing disparate, multi-site and multi country teams Unit 3

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 International Project Management and Practice Introduction –People are important –Team unity is important –Disparate teams are not easy to manage

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Issues Collaboration Parallelism Changing requirements Conflicts with normal work Semi-autonomous work

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Identify Areas of Project Risk Starting the project –getting local support Project reporting –getting efficient and reliable reporting Managing Issues –timely and complete resolution

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Defining the Team for success! Various types of team members: –Critical team members Key to project success –Locally focused team members Generally local support workers –Cameo members Provide significant input for limited time –Should be no distinction between contractors and employees

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Attributes of Team Members Not just technical and business skills Experience of similar projects Experience of international projects Ability to work with diverse teams Ability to solves problems – maybe independently Sensitivity to issues and problems Multilingual capability

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Identify and Select Team Members Your expectations Their expectations of the project and the benefits to them Local time conflicts and other local problems Re-allocation of team members current work

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Build a Team Mentality Start with a meeting of all Critical Members –establish roles and responsibilities –could use video link if budget is tight Develop team approach –unity of purpose –Involve all the team –Be aware of body language and non-verbal communication

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Replace Team Members On projects of any length team members can and will leave –prepare for this Review current work Talk with departing member Move to assign other team members

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Manage Team Members Data is the key Face to face meetings are best –beware of reports by –telephone is better if face to face not possible Listen Be sensitive to cultural differences

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Manage the international team You cannot manage everything Team is often to widespread globally Be selective Delegate

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Proactive resource allocation Identify critical resources Don’t let a local office reassign your resource –without discussing with you first Check resource allocation regularly a progress meetings

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Update the Plan Planning is a key tool –just as in all projects All team members should be able to view the plan –modern technology makes this easy Communicate changes

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Track project work Data is so important Record the tracking –this helps monitoring and control Make unannounced visits –You may find that progress is not as good as you have been told

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Review milestones Project milestones Goals Key result areas Key progress indicators

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Determine the state of the project What is the projects real status and condition for example: –what is the status of the oldest issue why is it still unresolved –are team members working to the latest plan –are team members working in isolation or as a team

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Other Issues Employ a project score card Carry out change management when required Deal with scope creep Alter project direction – if required Measure Project Results

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 3 Conclusions Manage Team Members Manage the Team