Project team building

A team needs everybody’s help but a group seeks its benefit only. Team is a group of people united for common objectives. They come together for group objectives. Individual effort is added to achieve the goal. They can produce synergy effect. It means (2+3= 5) i.e. total effort (5) is greater than arithmetic sum (2+2=4) of individual effort.

Each project involves more than one person. They work together to achieve project objectives. Team building is an ongoing process in projects. Team has following features which explains its importance.

• It is a group of two or more than two person working for collective performance.
• Each team sets specific team objectives.
• It produces the positive synergy.
• Team member are interactive and independent on each other.
• There is individual and mutual accountability.
• Teams facilitates workforce diversity, increase performance, promote creativity.
• Teams are result oriented, focus, common goal.

Types of project team: Problem solving, self management team, cross functional team, virtual team.

Factors to be considered for team building:

1. Clear direction
2. Clear targets
3. Project culture
4. Control
5. Communication
6. Personal growth
7. Leadership
8. Conflict management
9. Team stability

Characteristics of project team:

1. Common goal
2. Result oriented
3. Inter dependence
4. Complimentary and multiple skills
5. Individual and mutual accountability

Seven C’s of team building:

1. Conceiving: Believable team, trust with each other
2. Concurring: To agree in opinion
3. Committing: a team of commitment
4. Communicating: Ideas and information must be shared
5. Coordinating: Integration of efforts, unity in action
6. Counselling: To give advice to people professionally on social issues
7. Controlling: Performance should be compared with standard

Standard of project team building:

1. Forming stage: In this stage each member knows each other like introduction phase predetermined goal is the objective of the stage.
2. Storming stage: The members of team should be informed about conditions, situations, speed of work, hiring, hospitality, etc. of it.
3. Norming stage: Norms and traditions resolve conflicts while running an organization, certain values, norms and traditions are determined. It helps to handle the conflicts (establish norms, values and culture).
4. Performing stage: To complete a project as directed by objectives, to achieve goals, to determine levels (standards), to solve problems to satisfy norms, etc. like under this stage of team building.
5. Adjourning: After achieving the objectives of the project the team is adjourned. The team is disbanded after the project is completed.

Measures or techniques for making team more effective 

 

1. Setting clear guidelines:

• Identification of drivers of the team
• Clearly defined objectives goals and vision
• Clearly defined goals, roles and responsibility and authority relationship
• Maximum number of team members
• Project team issues.
• Team leader i.e. project manager 

2. Focus/ Motivation of team performance:

• There must be free and frequent flow of information among team members. Manager has to train the team members, to establish a cordial inter- personal relationship, to motivate employees to make committed toward work, to evaluate the performance.

3. Revisit work design:

• Work design must be continuously revisited to maintain and increase team effectiveness for this team should have autonomy. It provide freedom, varieties in skills and techniques, task identity and task significance. 

4. Manage the conflict within team:

A functional conflict is necessary for a team but it should be managed creatively for the benefit of the team like

• By making committed goal
• By making open communication and effective listening
• By providing effective leadership
• By creating well wishes among team members.

Barriers to project team development

While building a team, the interest, values, norms, etc. of the persons’ engaged in it and the surroundings of the project influence it.


A. Unclear project objective:

Roles, responsibility and authority must be clear among the partners if not team can not be an effective team.

B. Divergence in out looks, priorities and interest:

When team members have different vision, and individual interest rather than team effort. It creates barriers.


C. Team leadership structure:

Leadership of the team must be clear and should be accepted by all other team members. There must be a clear chain of command and reporting system.

D. Poor selection of team members:

It results poor motivation, lack of commitment and weak performance.

E. Lack of commitment and lack of team members.

The reason for weak commitment are: feeling job insecurity, interpersonal conflicts, unclear reward and punishment policy, lack of motivation, communication problem.


F. Lack of top management support:

It becomes difficult for the team members to work if there us no support and cooperation from the top management. It has following reasons:

• Lack of dialogue
• Lack of commitment
• Lack of attention