Managing People and Organising Teams

1. Managing People and Organising Teams • Resource Assignment Models • Resources assigned only after initial planning is complete (teams of people) • Teams may be built up slowly from the beginning of a project • A core team may be assigned at the start of the planning cycle • Should team building be carried out in parallel with planning, or subsequent to it’s completion ?

2. Managing People and Organising Teams • Resource Assignment Models • Members of the team should be involved in producing task duration and labour estimates • This implies some part-time involvement for potential team members from an early stage • Technical experts may need to be consulted • If these experts are employees of the company they are very likely to become members of the team

3. Managing People and Organising Teams • Aspects of Team Dynamics • The stages of the process by which a team is formed

4. Managing People and Organising Teams • Aspects of Team Dynamics • The stages of the process by which a team is formed • The individuals required on a team to make the maximum useful contribution

5. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Needs • Project resource plan + • Results of the feasibility study will identify - The broad areas of skills required The numbers of staff required How long they will be required for The periods when they will be required

6. Managing People and Organising Teams • Organisational Needs • The Project Manager may be required to include trainees • There may be staff who are nearing the end of other projects, or under-utilised staff might have to be included at the insistence of senior management • Project managers may wish to include people with special skills, or who are known good workers

7. Managing People and Organising Teams • Influencing Factors • What are the individual opportunities offered? • E.g. • The chance for technical staff to acquire new skills • The chance to act as team leaders

8. Managing People and Organising Teams • Staff Availability • Staff are never completely available to a project due to - • The influence of holidays • Sickness • Appraisals and other organisational needs • Software maintenance • Assisting other teams during closedown • Technical consultancy on feasibility studies

9. Managing People and Organising Teams • The Five Team Stages (Cotterell and Hughes following Tuckman and Jensen) • 1 The “Forming” Process • Members of the team get to know each other and establish ground rules

10. Managing People and Organising Teams • The Five Team Stages (Cotterell and Hughes following Tuckman and Jensen) • 2 The “Storming” Process • Conflicts arise as team members try to obtain leadership • Development of mutually acceptable methods of working may provoke “storming” • High levels of conflict during the storming process often lead to reduced conflict later in the project

11. Managing People and Organising Teams • The Five Team Stages (Cotterell and Hughes following Tuckman and Jensen) • 3 The “Norming” Process • Conflicts are largely settled • A team or group identity is established rather than a collection of individuals • People become “members of the team”

12. Managing People and Organising Teams • The Five Team Stages (Cotterell and Hughes following Tuckman and Jensen) • 4 The “Performing” Process • The focus is shifted to undertaking the specified tasks

13. Managing People and Organising Teams • The Five Team Stages (Cotterell and Hughes following Tuckman and Jensen) • The project manager should try to move through the first three stages as soon as possible • If the “storming phase is artificially truncated more conflicts are likely later in the project

14. Managing People and Organising Teams • The Five Team Stages (Cotterell and Hughes following Tuckman and Jensen) • 5 The “Adjourning” phase • The team disbands and the project comes to a close

15. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The “Chair” • Good at running meetings rather than being a brilliant leader

16. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The “Plant” • Good at “growing” ideas and potential solutions to problems

17. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The “Monitor/Evaluator” • Good at evaluating ideas and potential solutions

18. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The “Shaper” • Directs the team’s attention to important issues

19. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The “Team Worker” • Good at creating a pleasant working environment • (Sometimes known as the “Social Secretary”)

20. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The “Resource Investigator” • Good at finding resources

21. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The “Completer or Finisher” • Good at finishing tasks started by others

22. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The “Company Worker” • Is a good team player and willing worker

23. Managing People and Organising Teams • Project Team Contributors • The Chair • The Plant • The Monitor/Evaluator • The Shaper • The Team Worker • The Resource Investigator • The Completer • The Company Worker

24. Managing People and Organising Teams • Motivating Staff • Early involvement with the estimation process builds a belief that the estimates are realistic • Belief that the goals are unachievable forms a tendency towards even slower progress • Staff should be given appreciation for their efforts

25. Managing People and Organising Teams • “Failures to achieve project targets should always be investigated” • The cause may lie in - • Lack of realism in the project plan • Causes outside the project managers control

26. Managing People and Organising Teams • Conflict Resolution • A good project manager will - • Commit themselves to finding resolutions which have some advantage for all concerned • Take everyone’s views and opinions into account • Take the requirements of the project and the organisation into account • Allow the parties with the least to gain to “save face” as much as possible

27. Managing People and Organising Teams • Four Principles of Fair Negotiation (Meredith and Mantle following Fisher and Ury) • 1 Separate the people from the problem • 2 Focus on interests not on positions • 3 Before trying to reach agreement invent options for mutual gain • 4 It is important that there is an insistence on using objective criteria