CHAPTER FOUR: Managing People

Project Team Management

Team management includes the processes required to make the most effective use of the people
involved with the project. The project team includes the project manager and the project staff who
have been assigned with the responsibility to work on the project.

Managing a project team is quite different than managing other types of staff, the project team has
a start and an end, in terms of duties assigned to the project. Team members come to the project
with different skills and experiences, and in many cases, it is the first time that they are working
together. Due to the high level of uncertainty, roles and responsibilities, changes occur more
frequently, and the team needs to be flexible enough to adapt to new challenges. Due to time
constraints, there is more stress working on a project caused by the inherent uncertainty of working
in new areas or with new groups of stakeholders, or in solutions that no one has ever explored
before.

As the project starts, the team is unclear about their roles and the strategic direction of the projects,
some new hires need to adapt to a new organization and its ways of doing things, in addition to
understanding its mission, vision, and values. All of these circumstances increase the level of
frustration typical at the start of any new project. Lack of availability of key personnel may
increase the workload on the rest of the team members who are being asked to do more than what
was originally planned.

Team management is not only limited to hiring and reassigning staff after the end of the project, it
involves careful planning to ensure that the project has the right people at the right time doing the
right things.

Despite the recent information and technology revolution in project management, people are still
at the center of project management and they determine the success or failure of a project. The
project team is involved in the definition of the project goals, which are instrumental in planning,
organizing, directing, coordinating, and monitoring all project activities. The team is able to meet
the project goals and objectives by the skillful use of interpersonal and organizational skills such
as communication, delegation, decision-making, and negotiation. In the challenging environment

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of development projects, people can be viewed either as problems and constraints or as solutions
and opportunities.

Team Management Process

The major processes involved in team management are:

➢ Plan: Team identification, the process of identifying the skills and competencies required
for carrying out the project activities and assign roles and responsibilities.
➢ Do: Team building, organizing the team and building their capacity to perform on the
project, provide coaching and mentoring.
➢ Check: Evaluate team and individual performance, monitor skills, and motivation.
➢ Adapt: Improve team performance, build skills and set new targets

1. Team Identification

The first step in the team-management process is to identify the skills necessary to perform each
project activity. Identification of team members goes beyond the technical skills and includes other
factors, such as the ability to integrate, cooperate and lead. This process generates an
organizational chart for the project roles, responsibilities, and assignments, often shown in a matrix

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format called The Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM), which includes a management-
staffing plan that will help acquire the human resources defined and required by the project.

Skills Identification

The activity-definition document, part of the WBS, provides the information about the skills
needed for the project. The project manager develops a list of the required skills utilizing a Skills
Requirement Table that will capture all relevant information to help identify the best people for
the project. A review of the WBS helps identify the skills required for each activity, in some cases,
entire groups of activities are identified for a specific skill. The project should have a list of special
skills needed. The next step is to enhance the skills list with the qualifications, experience in years,
and technical competencies as the basic criteria to properly identify the skills needed by the project.

Organizational Chart

Once the skills have been identified, the project manager develops the first Project Organization
Chart portraying the structure that the project will use to manage the project team. This chart helps
identify the reporting relationship amongst the project team members.

Depending on the size of the project, the chart includes different levels of reporting relationships,
some are direct relationships between superior and subordinate, others are shared internally, and
others externally.

Team Assignment Schedule

Once the project has identified the roles in the Organizational Chart, the next step is to determine
how these resources will be utilized in the project. The Team Assignment Schedule (TAS)
facilitates the identification of "who does when" by providing the project activities information
showing when each activity is scheduled to occur and who is responsible for it.

Team Recruitment

The project manager must work with other units in the organization during the team-recruitment
process in order to either secure the team resources from within or from outside the organization
through the recruitment process. Project managers need to have good negotiation and influence
skills to get the internal human resources assigned to the project.

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Recruitment is a lengthy and expensive process involving agreement on the role and salary,
advertising, screening resumes, interviewing candidates, and selecting. Even when the
organization uses the best interviewing and testing methods, it’s quite possible that candidates
cover up shortcomings that only become obvious after they have been in the role for several
months. The project manager or HR hiring specialist should confirm all references provided by
the candidate.

Team Induction

The starting point for a project team member should be no different than the starting point for a
new employee. Most organizations have induction programs for new employees, including an
introduction to the organization’s operations, values, and mission. A project should be no different,
recognizing that the way in which the new team member is integrated into the project will have a
significant impact on how they see themselves in relation to the team. If they are put on a desk and
asked to begin their work, they may not feel committed to the team. New members need to be
introduced to all the team, they need a full briefing on the project, and even to spend some time
and work with various people to understand the purpose of the project, only then will the new
member feel committed and do a good job.

New employee induction is not just a time to fill out personnel records, show the new employees
the organization's facilities, and introduce them to a few coworkers. The induction process should
neither be too overwhelming or boring, new team members should not be left on their own to
figure out how things work on the project. A poorly planned induction process can result in a
confused new employee who takes a long time to be productive or becomes frustrated and quickly
leaves the organization.

2. Team Building

A project team does not happen by accident, it is not enough to recruit people and assign them to
a project. A team needs to be developed from the first day. Failure to do that may result in a team
that acts more like a group of people than a team. In a group, people may be involved but
uncommitted to achieving excellence in the project.

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Obtaining commitment is a major problem for most projects, especially when team members have
dual reporting lines in a matrix organization, it is also a problem when team members do not
identify with the project objectives, or feel that they are not part of the team or that there is a lack
of trust amongst the members.

Building a project team is essentially a process of change where the skills of the team and the goals
of the project are merged, transforming the group into an effective team that's total outputs are
greater than the individual contributions. Building a team is a process that needs to occur in all
types of projects, and its complexity will vary depending on the size and nature of the project, this
is one of the principal responsibilities of the project manager.

These are simple and practical steps to start building a project team:

Build Enthusiasm: Create a set of simple tasks that provide a challenge and set achievable goals
encouraging the team to work together. Make sure that responsibility is delegated to the team and
not to the individuals. The aspects of increased efficiency, productivity and collaboration need to
be highlighted as input to establish the criteria for success. Achieving a simple goal can provide
the team with enthusiasm and a better understanding of what is expected of them as a team.

Establish Clear Conduct Rules: Teams need rules of conduct to help them achieve their purpose
and performance goals, these rules should be established as early as possible to let the team get
used to them and allow some time for clarifications. Some rules include attendance, conduct during
meetings, confidentiality with personal information, and respect to the team and each individual.

Keep Open Communication Channels: The project manager needs to maintain a practice to keep
open channels of communication with the team and amongst the team, there is nothing that lowers
the trust of a team more than the absence of open communication channels. The team should feel
that all information regarding and affecting the team is open for the team to discuss.

Reward and Recognize Teamwork: Take advantage of the power of positive feedback,
recognition, and reward. Be alert to opportunities to reward the new team behavior. These actions
send a good signal to the team as to what is recognized as teamwork.

Team Development

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Team development is the training, development, and support that the project or the organization
provides to team members to focus their work on the project objectives and ensure that the team
has the competencies to be successful in the project. Team development focuses on increasing
individual capabilities in order to expand and enhance the project’s capacity to achieve its goals.

Training the team should never be seen as an expense or avoided by the claim that in the countries
where projects operate, providing training opportunities to project teams is a sure way to lose
qualified staff, and that once trained they will start looking for better-paying jobs elsewhere. The
risk should not be measured by the number of staff members leaving the project, but by the risk of
keeping untrained staff in the project. Effective teamwork is essential, but it is important to
recognize that a new team does not perform exceptionally from the very start. Developing a team
takes time, and usually follows some easily recognizable stages, as the team changes from being a
loose group of strangers to becoming a team with a common goal. Building effective teams is a
process of going through four stages of development:

o Forming
o Storming
o Norming
o Performing

Forming: is the first stage of team development filled with a mix of anxiety, high expectations,
and ambiguity as the new members do not yet have a clear definition of what work exactly the
team will be assigned with. In this stage, there is high dependence on the project manager for
guidance and direction. The individual roles and responsibilities are unclear and the level of trust
is low, building awareness and providing orientation are dominant themes in this stage as members
focus their efforts on defining goals and developing procedures to perform their tasks. The project
manager must be prepared to answer questions about the team's purpose, objectives, and internal
and external relationships. This stage may last until the team has had a chance to learn more about
the project and have a clear understanding of their roles. At this stage, there may be discussions
about how the team will work, and how the working relationships will be established. This can be
frustrating for some team members who may simply want to complete tasks and activities.

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Storming: occurs after the initial meetings and introductions to the project. The team moves into
a storming or reaction phase when the project manager’s authority or ideas may be challenged as
roles are clarified. The approach by which the project will do its work begins to be defined and
some team members may feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they need to do or in
disagreement with the approach being used. Some team members may start reacting to their roles
and may express frustration and resistance in assuming ownership of their corresponding tasks.
This is a critical stage where many teams fail if the tensions or disagreements are not resolved, the
project runs the risk of evolving into a team that is not cohesive, which creates bitterness and
resentment. The project manager should not assume that these types of tensions will go away, in
this stage, conflict is inevitable and should be embraced in a productive manner and handled
appropriately.

Norming: is the third stage when the team members know each other better, they may be
socializing together, and be able to ask each other for help and constructive criticism. The team is
developing a strong commitment to the team’s goal, and they start to see their contribution towards
it. In this stage, the project hierarchy is clearer, team members start assuming their roles and
responsibilities, and most critical conflicts have been resolved. The team begins to see the project
manager with respect and authority as their leader, while others start to show leadership in their
specific areas. There is often a prolonged overlap between storming and norming stages. As new
tasks come up, the team may lapse back into typical storming stage behavior, go through the
process, and come back to the norming stage. The team starts to show a new behavior based on
empathy, concern, and team cohesion. There is a strong sense of shared responsibility and mutual
cooperation amongst the project team. During this stage, the team begins to get organized and
follows the established procedures, project issues are confronted and resolved, and team skills are
developed.

Performing: the last stage of team development is characterized by a shared vision of the project
goal and a common understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all team members. The team
has a high level of mutual trust and provides care and support for each other, which increases the
overall performance of the team. The project manager is able to start delegating a great amount of
work and can concentrate on developing team members. The team assumes accountability for their

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duties, provides ideas to improve their work, supports each other, and achieves an overall higher
level of performance.

Most project teams are able to go through all four stages of team development, the time taken to
move from one stage to the next varies from team to team and is heavily influenced by the
experience and maturity level of the team members, the skills of the project manager, and general
conditions of the project environment. There is always the possibility that the development process
may fail, that the team members lose confidence in the process or leave the project team. In any of
these situations, the most difficult part is for the project manager who has to lead a team that is not
at its optimal development level and may need to go back to the initial stages of team development.

3. Team Performance

Performance evaluations provide the project manager with an opportunity to assess how the project
team, and its individual members, has contributed to the project goals, evaluations are essential to
developing a high-performance team. Since most of the project’s work consists of collaborative
arrangements, successful team performance is critical to achieving project objectives and goals,
therefore, appraisal of team performance should be integrated into team-based activities.

The evaluations focus on the individual contributions but do not evaluate the performance of the
team, however, what projects need the most is a method to evaluate the performance of a team and
not just the individual.

Team Performance Evaluation Plan

Performance evaluations are essential for the effective management and project team evaluation.
Evaluations help develop teams, improve performance, and feed into the project planning process.
Formal team performance evaluations should be conducted regularly to enable management and
monitoring of standards, concurring expectations and objectives, and the delegation of
responsibilities and tasks. Team performance evaluations also establish training needs and are an
important component of staff motivation, attitude, and behavior development, all of which fosters
positive communications and relationships in the team. There are four steps for creating a Team
Performance Evaluation Plan:

1. Identify performance expectations.

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2. Develop a standard evaluation form.
3. Develop feedback guidelines
4. Set an evaluation schedule.

Managing Conflict

Conflict is a basic element of human behavior and it is inevitable in projects that involve
interactions between people and groups. Conflict increases in the degree that the level of diversity
and interactions to complete project activities also increases. Conflict is most noticeable at the
beginning of the project when people who often barely know each other are asked to work together
under pressure. Different levels of conflict always occur as people try to work together, try to make
decisions, give and accept delegation and attempt to meet project goals.

The goal of conflict management is to channel conflicts so that the result is positive rather than
negative. The project manager and the project team should seek to resolve conflict as soon as
possible. The project manager should follow a process that will identify, analyze and evaluate the
conflict before taking action. Some practical guidelines for managing conflicts effectively in a
project include preparing for conflict, facing conflict, and resolving conflict. The ability of the
project manager to manage conflict is an important skill, how conflict is managed can significantly
impact the success of the project.

There are three types of conflicts:

Project managers can use different conflict resolution modes and apply them according to specific
situations or circumstances. They must also recognize that it is sometimes good to stimulate
conflict in order to encourage self-evaluation, creativity, and innovation. Conflict in some
circumstances can be good as long as it offers the opportunity to consider new ideas, better
alternatives, and different approaches.

Below are conflict resolution models that can aid a project manager:

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 o Forcing: This approach is appropriate when quick decisions are required or when non-
negotiable issues such as budget cuts or staff changes are essential in a project. Forcing
usually resolves the conflict quickly, but it leaves hard feelings amongst the people
involved to accept the decision, this approach should be used only as a last resort.
o Avoiding: refers to the refusal to deal with the conflict, or ignoring conflict as much as
possible. This approach can be useful sometimes when there is a need for additional time
to gain better understanding of the conflict,
o Accommodating: involves avoiding disagreement while emphasizing areas of mutual
accord. used as a method to slow down the situation and keep it from getting worse and
build on the areas of agreement.
o Compromising: is a method to find a balance by offering something in return. It involves
using negotiations and searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to
both parties involved in the conflict. With this approach, neither party wins but both get
some degree of satisfaction out of the situation.
4. Team Improvement

The results of the team evaluation will provide information on the areas in need of improvement,
either as a team or as an individual. The project manager can develop a plan to focus on the areas
of improvement and the people involved. One approach is to use a matrix where the team members
are listed along with the critical improvement areas that the project needs from them.

The Skills Matrix is a useful tool to identify the level of expertise of all team members and to
identify whether the skills required by the project are balanced enough. This tool can also be used
to identify skills in short supply and skills that are missing or absent from the team. Team
improvement includes the following activities:

❖ Improving Effectiveness

❖ Team Training

❖ Motivation Theories

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