Building a High Performance Project Team Essay

In club to deliver a high-quality propose 1 that successfully balances scope, time, and cost in which the needs and expectations of the users be met, the put up police squad essential not only be effective and die well together, and besides the insure autobus must(prenominal) make water the ability to lead and manage the group up tour focusing on flock issues. This is often a difficult throw off since numerous support mangers argon usually expected to lead groups without formal authority. Controlling a project blends the invention and science of project counselling building a strong, committed squad at the uniform time you be reservation progress against the plan (Verzuh, 2012).This substance that project attractions should seek to discover and solve problems while they argon still small and at the same time monitor progress while putting in place measures to arrest the squads continued focus on the polishs and expectations of the project. Thus, it is circumstantial for project managers to image that project success does not hinge only on the science of project focussing, but also on the ability to build a committed, cooperative, and cohesive group. A project manger who exhibits practical catch of how to evaluate and sustain an effective police squad process, along with the ability to identify and quickly resolve primaevalstone resource issues throughout the project life cycle, is more likely to r separately a synergistic potentiality of the team. Consequently, drawing from contemporary projects, this brief study focuses on hard-hitting human attributes the effects on lead as the key to the aforementioned controlling activities that ensure that a project evolves in an orderly manner, or else than turning out of control.2Recruiting encounter Team MembersEvery project manager plays a pivotal reference in building a high carrying into action team. While the draw must consciously indue in building a strong, cohe sive team cap fitted of working together, the process of selecting and recruiting project team members vary across organizations. Two important factors affecting recruitment are the immenseness of the project and the management structure being used to complete the project (Larson & Gray, 2011). However, it is the project managers responsibility to optimize the teams performance regardless of whether he/she gets to choose the teammembers or not. Hence project managers must develop strategies that help build a high performance team right from the endurance stage. 2.1 flip Team DynamicsNegative interpersonal team dynamics is not only unproductive, but flowerpot make a project managers job a daily grind of defeat and resentment (Verzuh, 2012). When selecting and recruiting team members, project managers naturally look for psyches with the necessary experience and knowledge/technical skills hypercritical for project completion (Larson & Gray, 2011). However, when identifying projec t resources project managers more often than not find themselves thinking somewhat who they need rather than what they need. Thus, more emphasis is placed on pervious working relationships. Aside from selecting team members who hold the right level of skill and expertise needed to support the project requirements, it is just as important to identify team members who are able to work well with others and exhibit consistent levels of cooperation. These well-disposed intelligence skills include theability to persuade, negotiate, compromise, and make others feel important (DiTullio, 2010) Consequently, the key to creating a high performance project team lies in sense and embodying the language-action relationship. This is critically important to building relationships, trust, gaining junction and commitment to garden truck breakthrough results (Strategic Momentum, 2006). 3Defining Criteria For get off Team MembersTo fully discuss this topic, we must start with a innocent exposit ion of a team. Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith define a team in their crush-selling book The Wisdom of Teams (Harper rail line Essentials 1994), as a small number of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a green purpose, a set of performance goals and an approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). In other words, as Sarah Cook (2009) suggests, the indications of a high performance team therefore are * A cl proto(prenominal) define and a common share purpose* Mutual trust and respect* Clarity around individual posts and responsibilities* High levels of communication* Willingness to work towards the greater good of the team * A leader who both supports and challenges the team* A climate of cooperation* An ability to voice differences and appreciate trothHowever, project teams have another characteristic They allow for be temporary, formed specifically for the purpose of achieving the goal, after which they will di sband (Verzuh, 2012). Thus, to get the people on the team to be mutually accountable to a common goal, trust each other, and be treated with respect while putting in the effort to accomplish a task, the project manager must be able to put the pieces together by establishing strong ground rules and team identity operator that is reinforced on commitment to a shared goal. In this respect, the criteria is for the project manager to engage his team in simple exercises and hold multiple discussions with the team about the obvious benefits of teamwork by encouraging best practices and innovation for the benefit of stakeholders. 4Developing Trust Among Project Team MembersAs noted earlier, projects are temporary endeavors that bulge out and end, and so do project teams. Managing project teams is even more complicated given the trend towards cross-functional, organizational, and sometimes national boundaries. This unique characteristic only increases the likelihood that the composition of a peeled project team will comprise of more individuals with little or no previous working relationships. With this in mind, as (Verzuh, 2012) rightly suggests, developing trust, respect, effective communication patterns, and the ability to maintain a positive relationships despite disagreements takes time. or so importantly, it takes a conscious effort by the project team leader. at one time the project leader netherstands that high performance teams rarely proceed naturally, a strategy must be put in place to help transform the trend team members think and act in order to acquire and maintain the highest level of commitment to the plan.According to (Strategic Momentum, 2006) conversational dynamics is critical in building relationships and trust. By conversational dynamics they mean the conversational mode used when the project team works together. Project leaders must encourage collaborative conversations among team members since they help build trusting relationships, and are able to effectively deal with real issues, thus accelerated results. Collaborative conversations are open and authentic and they inventory mutual respect and commitment. Project leaders can rely on authentic conversations to deal with interpersonal relationships and trust issues. In the event of breakdowns, the focus is on restoring relationships and trust to insure on going alignment and commitment. It is apparent therefore that high performance teams have a culture that embraces trust, continuous review and illuminance of goals, robust communication and holding each other accountable (Wagner, 2006). 4.1Communicating Effectively with Project Team MembersOnce an atmosphere of trust has been established, the project managers biggest challenge is communication and clarity. Communication has long been graded very high among factors attributing to project success. In this respect, Tom Wagner suggests that the project team leader must ensure the group stays firmly rooted in reali ty, sets clear goals and priorities, and follows through on all tasks (Wagner, 2006). This means that the entire project team shares the responsibility of all the project goals, and receives relevant and concise information at the right time. This also ensure that team member do not engage in at odds(p) agendas that arise when team members pursue incompatible objectives. Consequently, when communicating within the project team (Verzuh, 2012), outlines four major communication needs ** Responsibility each team member needs to know exactly what divulge of the project he/she is responsibly for. * Coordination as team members carry out their work, they rely on each other. Coordination information enables them to work together efficiently. * Status meeting the goal requires tracking progress along the way to identify problems and take corrective action. The team members must be kept up to speed on the status of the project. * Authorization Team members need to know about all thedecisi ons made by customers, sponsors, and management that relate to the project and its business purlieu. Team members need to know these decisions to keep all project decisions synchronized. 5Leading the Project Team MembersIn spite of advances in the project management profession, research studies have shown that many projects fail, underlining the importance of the project managers role as manager. Specifically, the managers leadership role is of great importance in motivating people and creating an effective working environment in order for the project team to meet greater challenges in todays global economy (Anantatmula, 2010). In other words, there are four specific elements that help create an effective team-working environment. The leader must establish ground rules that explicitly define expected personal behavior in reference to team values he/she must build a team identity based on shared commitment and objectives thekey here is goal and project scope clarity and a solid und erstanding of team members strength and diversity a good leader must be able to check his team to apply the proper problem solving techniques which involves exchange of ideas and thus the ability to listen to divers(prenominal) perspectives and last but not the least, the leader must be able to manage meetings effectively. By conducting team meetings that are actively steered toward the project goals, the team can share pertinent information, coordinate activities, uncover new problems and make informed decisions that produce synergistic outcomes. Ultimately, adding value to the teams effort should be the goal and role of the project team leader. Defining a clear vision can do this and goal, assist a working environment, set clear expectations and responsibilities, and provide the team enough autonomy where they can work and do their jobs with full commitment and confidence (Wikibooks, 2010) 6Managing Challenging and Dynamic Issues and contradictIt is not an easy task to get a t eam to jell but the productivity and joy that come with high performance teams are so significant for a project team leader to assume it can occur naturally. According to (Verzuh, 2012), every project team faces ii central challenges, two obstacles to becoming a highperformance team. * Project teams are formed to solve complex problems, and they must solve those problems together. * Project teams are temporary and so the must learn to work together.Thus, it is the responsibility of the project leader to understand these two challenges and harness the problem solving power of a rather diverse team. In other words, it will take a conscious effort on the part of the project manager to transform the team from a loose collection of talent and expertise to a cohesive unit. For the team to produce premium decisions needed to solve complex problems creativity is required. This means that disagreements are bound to occur and hence conflict- reply skills suffer essential to make the best d ecisions possible without jeopardizing interpersonal relationships. Deborah Kezsbom, in her article entitled (Managing the ChaosConflict among project teams (American Association of Coast Engineers 1989), perfectly concluded, conflict is an inevitable and necessary part of the project environment. abandoned the proper atmosphere, attitudes, and training, conflict can broaden perspectives and stimulate innovative and cohesive interactions. Project managers who realize that preventing conflict is as important as solving them, are likely to be effective. The author went on to urge on the following for improving project leader effectiveness and minimizing conflict * Communicating key decisions in a timely fashion to project related personnel. * Adapting leadership style to the status of the project and the needs of the project team. * Recognizing the primary determinants of conflict, when they are likely to occur over the project life cycle, and the effectiveness of handling approache s. * Experimenting with alternate(a) conflict handling modes. ** Proving work challenge to motivate team members.* Developing and maintaining technical expertise.* Planning early and effectively in the project life cycle. * Demonstrating concern for project team members.7The London 2012 Olympics Construction ProjectThe construction of the London 2012 Olympic park was widely praised for itssuccessful delivery. With 9.3 billion budget, the Olympic project was one of the most high profile projects one could ever imagine. The project finished on time and under budget much to the delight of its sponsors who according to Sir John Armitt, the man in charge of the team that built the park, knew what it valued, balancing cost and quality, and made that clear to its suppliers. But it was the ability of the project leaders to blend the art and science of project management that prompted some soul-searching about lessons that can be applied to hereafter developments. The value placed on relat ionships between individuals and organizations working the project was a crucial ingredient in the projects successful delivery. According to a study conducted during the project which focused on the underpinning role of 13 distinct human characteristics including respect, trust, clarity, motivation, collaboration, openness and fairness and how these concepts have a practical influence on effective leadership, proletarian involvement, safety culture, communication, risk management, monitoring and assurance.The lead researcher Helen Bolt said The most important thing we discovered in this research was the value of the relationships between individuals and organizations. Of all the characteristics of the relationships in evidence during the project, the most critical were respect and clarity -they underpin everything, are not costly or difficult to achieve, and can have a significant impact on safety culture and standards. 8ConclusionAs outlined throughout this paper, project team members are faced with the challenge to work interdependently to achieve defined goals. These goals can be simple or complex depending on the nature and scope of the project. Nonetheless, every project presents peculiar challenges for the team and its leader who essentially make a series of decisions in accomplishing these goals. As the magnitude of interdependencies increases so does the need for the team members to trust one another and rely on refined skills to work collaboratively. Since project teams are temporary, they must learn to work together to reach its synergistic potential. A high performance team does not evolve overnight, it take time and effort by the leader who facilitates the team, establishes a positive working environment and leads the team in learning problem solving as well as conflict resolution skills. It is no secrete that leadership is the foundation of a high performance team.Whilethere are many ageless traits a leader must possess to be effective, ther e are however, many important components of pencil lead a high performance team that lack a true definition. One of the components of great importance is the ability to be adaptable in your leadership style, and let your leadership adapt and evolve as the team progresses through its developmental stages. Project team leaders must also exhibit the same accountability they demand from the team members and display the energy, attitude and commitment to propel the team forward. Ultimately, communication is the key to all the aforementioned activities. Project leaders spend a great deal of their time communicating. In fact, every project management technique is a form of communication and hence it is crucial to herald in a timely and effective fashoin among all stakeholders.ReferencesAnantatmula, V. (2010). Project Manager leadership role in improving project performance. Engineering Management Journal , 22 (1), 13-22. DiTullio, L. (2010). Project Team Dynamics enhancing Performance, u p Results. Management concepts. Katzenbach, J., & Smith, D. (1993). The Wisdom of Teams Creating the High-Performance Organization. Boston, MA Havard Business School Press. Kezsbom, D. (1989). Managing the Chaos Conflict among project teams. American Association of Coast Engineers. Transactions of the American Association of Coast Engineers , 9. Kortekaas, V. (2012, August 19). Retrieved on August 09, 2013, from http//www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/57d92e9c-d7df-11e1-9980-00144feabdc0.htmlaxzz2d6NUQRbS Project Management Lessons can be learnedfrom sucessful delivery. Financial Times . Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2011). Project Management the managerial process (5th ed.). New York, NY, USA The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Strategic Momentum. (2006). Retrieved August 06, 2013, from Strategic Momentum.com www.strategic-momentum.com/_downloads/the_critical_steps_to_building_a_high_performance_team Verzuh, E. (2012). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Vol. 4). Hoboken, NJ, USA John Wi ley & Sons, Inc. Wagner, T. (2006). Building high performance project teams. Loiusiana Contractor , 55 (3), 41. Wikibooks. (2010). Managing Groups and Teams.