How to develop a project team

Introduction

Have you ever had to do group work for a class in school or work on a group community service project? Hopefully you enjoyed your experiences with group work. But most of us have had times where group projects have not run as smoothly as you would like. Sometimes it is due to the lack of commitment from other team members. It could possibly be from a lack of poor management and communication. In project management, resource management is extremely important. Arguably, the most important part is building a great project team. In order for a project to be successful, you have to have a well put together team. In this blog post, I will discuss with you how to develop a project team.

Keys to Developing a Team

To understand the development of a project team, you first need to know what it is. A project team is “a cross-functional group of individuals that are working towards a common goal” (PM). The team includes the project manager, stakeholders, team members, team leaders, etc. As a project manager you should have recruited skilled people to work on the project and to be able to work together.

Goals and objectives:

project goals and objectives should be clearly defined for the team and stakeholders. 

Communication:

One of the worst things to happen in teamwork is the lack of communication and understanding. You need to make a clear and effective communication plan for the team. Have set collaboration times, project meetings, status reports, etc. to keep everyone on track and limit confusion. Communication is especially important in large teams with multiple departments as you want to keep working towards the same goals.

What is Team Development?

When you have your team put together, your main goal is team development. Team development allows for the team to better work together, to be efficient, and to improve the performance of the project. Because this is important, there are five stages of team development called the Tukman Model.

1. Forming: 

when team members are making their first introductions.

2. Storming: 

when there are multiple opinions on how to operate the team. This is often when the most conflict occurs.

3. Norming: 

when team members have agreed upon a working method and are able to communicate and collaborate with trust in the team.

4. Performing:

when the team’s focal point is on reaching the team’s goals. At this point, members have formed relationships and more complex tasks are able to be managed.

5. Adjourning: 

when the team has reached their break-up because they have successfully completed their tasks and goals.

Team Building

Team development would not be complete without team building. There are many team building activities out there for you to try including physical activities and mental activities. These exercises help to develop communication skills, bonding, creative thinking, trust, listening skills, and problem-solving skills. To help decide on the type of activity you would like to perform, consider individual learning styles, physical limitations, and former training. If you are performing an activity remotely, consider mental activities where team members get to know themselves, each other, and how to work as a group. If your team members are meeting in person, you can perform both physical and mental exercises. Physical activities can include sending the team to locations with rock-climbing, hiking, and rope courses. There are other physical exercises in the office like reorganize, circle catch, the guessing game, etc. A common type of mental activity is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This exercise helps to determine personality preferences, which can be beneficial for putting teams together and for members to understand one another.

Conclusion

As you can see, developing a team is more than picking the right person for a job. You also must consider how those individuals will work together. The team should be able to effectively collaborate and be cross-functional. You should perform team building exercises, whether mental, physical, or both, to aid in team development. Remember to establish roles and responsibilities, goals and objectives, and expectations for the project and the team. A team is not successful unless there is an effective communication plan in place. This is especially important as it deters any confusion and keeps everyone in line with the goals of the project.

Resources

Information Technology Project Management Textbook, e9, Schwalbe, Kathy.

"Assembling a Project Team: Roles, Responsibilities & Best Practices"

www.projectmanager.com/blog/assemble-a-project-team 

"Team Building in Project Managment"

www.pmi.org/learning/library/team-building-development-project-management-5707 

"30 Fun Team Building Activities for Work"

www.projectmanager.com/training/team-building-activities