SIM 335 Managing Projects Autumn

People in Projects

Learning Outcomes:

• Explain how the role of managing project teams differs from the role of the functional or line manager.

• Discuss the factors in the business environment that lead to the successful selection and management of project teams.

• Recognise and respond to the needs of project stakeholders

People in Projects

• Effective Teams

• Ineffective Teams

• Multi-disciplinary Teams

• Tuckman (1965), Belbin (1996)

• Project Leadership Styles

• The Project Manager’s Role

• Technical Experts vs. Generalists Summary

People in Projects

• A group or team has certain attributes that a random crowd does not possess:

• The members have a sense of identity: there are boundaries to the group which define it.

• Members are loyal to the group: they conform to the norms of behaviour and attitude that bind the group together.

• Purpose and leadership: most groups have a purpose and a set of objectives.

The Purpose of Project Teams

• The project will almost certainly require skills that no one individual would possess.

• Teams can brainstorm to generate ideas

• Once a team has made a decision the team will/should commit to it.

• Teams act as motivators

• Members can help and support one another.

Project Team Structure

Project Manager: 

• Transport person
• Designer
• Expeditor
• Planner
• Procurement
• Engineer
• Accountant
• Secretary

Why teams succeed?

• A good spread of mental skills

• A good spread of personalities to give balance

• Project team leader is effective and accepted by other members of the team

• Teams are effective in generating ideas and solutions to problems.

• Processes support objective

• Regular communication