Managing Project Reward Systems

reward systems

Project managers are responsible for managing the reward systems that encourage team performance and extra effort. One advantage they have is that often project work is inherently satisfying, whether it is manifested in an inspiring vision or simple sense of accomplishment. Projects provide participants with a change in scenery, a chance to learn new skills,…

How to create a Project Shared Vision

Shared Vision

Unlike project scope statements, which include specific cost, completion dates, and performance requirements, a project shared vision involves the less tangible aspects of project performance. It refers to an image a project team holds in common about how the project will look upon completion, how they will work together, and/or how customers will accept the…

How to Establish a Team Identity

Team Identity

One of the challenges project managers often face in building a team is the lack of full-time involvement of team members. Specialists work on different phases of the project and spend the majority of their time and energy elsewhere. They are often members of multiple teams, each competing for their time and allegiance. And so,…

Conducting Your First Project Team Meeting

Team Meeting

Research on team development confirms what we have heard from project managers: The first project team meeting is critical to the early functioning of the project team. According to one veteran project manager: The first team meeting sets the tone for how the team will work together. If it is disorganized, or becomes bogged down…

Building High Performance Teams: Recruiting Team Members

high performance teams

Project managers play a key role in developing high performance teams. They recruit members, conduct meetings, establish a team identity, create a common sense of purpose or a shared vision, manage a reward system that encourages teamwork, orchestrate decision making, resolve conflicts that emerge within the team, and rejuvenate the team when energy wanes. Project…

Factors Affecting Team Development

factors affecting team development

Experience and research indicate that the following conditions will aid team development and also help start the process of building a high-performance project team:    There are 10 or fewer members per team.    Members volunteer to serve on the project team.    Members serve on the project from beginning to end.    Members are…

Project Team Synergy: How to Deliver High Performance

project team synergy

There is positive and negative project team synergy. The magic and power of project teams is captured in the term “synergy,” which is derived from the Greek word sunergos: “working together.” The difference in productivity between an average project team synergy and a turned-on, high-performing project team is not 10 percent, 20 percent, or 30…

The Punctuated Equilibrium Model of Group Development

group development

Starting from Gersick’s research,  stating that groups don’t develop in a universal sequence of stages as suggested by the five-phase model. Her research, which is based on the systems concept of punctuated equilibrium group development, found that the timing of when groups form and actually change the way they work is highly consistent. The Punctuated…

High Performance Project Team: Pitfalls

project team

A high-performance project team can produce dramatic results. However, like any good think, there is a dark side to a project team that a manager needs to be aware of. I referred to this phenomenon as projectitis in this article. Now I would like to examine in more detail some of the pathologies that a high-performance…