Barriers to project team development from POME by Gautam Koppala
Barriers to project team development
The understanding of barriers to project team building can help in developing an environment conducive to effective teamwork. The following barriers to team building were identified and analyzed in a field study by Thamhain and Wilemon. They are typical for many project environments.
Differing outlooks, priorities, and interests. A major barrier exists when team members have professional objectives and interests that are different from the project objectives. These problems are compounded when the team relies on support organizations that have different interests and priorities.
Role conflicts. Team development efforts are thwarted when role conflicts exist among the team members, such as ambiguity over who does what within the project team and in external support groups.
Project objectives/outcomes not clear. Unclear project objectives frequently lead to conflict, ambiguities, and power struggles. It becomes difficult, if not impossible, to define roles and responsibilities clearly.
Dynamic project environments. Many projects operate in a continual state of change. For example, senior management may keep changing the project scope, objectives, and resource base. In other situations, regulatory changes or client demands can drastically affect the internal operations of a project team.
Competition over team leadership. Project leaders frequently indicated that this barrier most likely occurs in the early phases of a project or if the project runs into severe problems. Obviously, such cases of leadership challenge can result in barriers to team building. Frequently, these challenges are covert challenges to the project leader’s ability.
Lack of team definition and structure. Many senior managers complain that teamwork is severely impaired because it lacks clearly defined task responsibilities and reporting structures. We find this situation is most prevalent in dynamic, organizationally unstructured work environments such as computer systems and R&D projects. A common pattern is that a support department is charged with a task but no one leader is clearly delegated the responsibility. As a consequence, some personnel are working on the project but are not entirely clear on the extent of their responsibilities. In other cases, problems result when a project is supported by several departments without interdisciplinary coordination.
Team personnel selection. This barrier develops when personnel feel unfairly treated or threatened during the staffing of a project. In some cases, project personnel are assigned to a team by functional managers, and the project manager has little or no input into the selection process. This can impede team development efforts, especially when the project leader is given available personnel versus the best, hand-picked team members. The assignment of “available personnel” can result in several problems (e.g., low motivation levels, discontent, and uncommitted team members). We’ve found, as a rule, that the more power the project leader has over the selection of his team members, and the more negotiated agreement there is over the assigned task, the more likely it is that team-building efforts will be fruitful.
Credibility of project leader. Team-building efforts are hampered when the project leader suffers from poor credibility within the team or from other managers. In such cases, team members are often reluctant to make a commitment to the project or the leader. Credibility problems may come from poor managerial skills, poor technical judgments, or lack of experience relevant to the project.
Lack of team member commitment. Lack of commitment can have several sources. For example, the team members having professional interests elsewhere, the feeling of insecurity that is associated with projects, the unclear nature of the rewards that may be forthcoming upon successful completion, and intense interpersonal conflicts within the team can all lead to lack of commitment.
Lack of team member commitment may result from suspicious attitudes existing between the project leader and a functional support manager, or between two team members from two warring functional departments. Finally, low commitment levels are likely to occur when a “star” on a team “demands” too much effort from other team members or too much attention from the team leader. One team leader put it this way: “A lot of teams have their prima donnas and you learn to live and function with them. They can be critical to overall success. But some stars can be so demanding on everyone that they’ll kill the team’s motivation.”
Communication problems. Not surprisingly, poor communication is a major enemy to effective team development. Poor communication exists on four major levels: problems of communication among team members, between the project leader and the team members, between the project team and top management, and between the project leaders and the client. Often the problem is caused by team members simply not keeping others informed on key project developments. Yet the “whys” of poor communication patterns are far more difficult to determine. The problem can result from low motivation levels, poor morale, or carelessness. It was also discovered that poor communication patterns between the team and support groups result in severe team-building problems, as does poor communication with the client. Poor communication practices often lead to unclear objectives and poor project control, coordination, and work flow.
Lack of senior management support. Project leaders often indicate that senior management support and commitment is unclear and subject to waxing and waning over the project life cycle. This behavior can result in an uneasy feeling among team members and lead to low levels of enthusiasm and project commitment. Two other common problems are that senior management often does not help set the right environment for the project team at the outset, nor do they give the team timely feedback on their performance and activities during the life of the project.
Project managers who are successfully performing their role not only recognize these barriers but also know when in the project life cycle they are most likely to occur. Moreover, these managers take preventive actions and usually foster a work environment that is conducive to effective teamwork. The effective team builder is usually a social architect who understands the interaction of organizational and behavior variables and can foster a climate of active participation and minimal conflict. This requires carefully developed skills in leadership, administration, organization, and technical expertise on the project. However, besides the delicately balanced management skills, the project manager’s sensitivity to the basic issues underlying each barrier can help to increase success in developing an effective project team. Specific suggestions for team building
POME Case- Study
Utilizing Temporary and Part-Time Workers — Case Problem: ‘‘The Second-Class Citizen”
Overview
Five years ago, Lola, a successful marketing manager, resigned her position to raise her new baby daughter. After four-and-a-half years of caring for her child full time, Lola decided to return to work doing temporary marketing assignments for a national temp firm. For the past six months, she has worked at three different companies and found the work exciting and challenging.
Two months ago, Lola’s husband, Elwood, an experienced accountant with a major corporation, lost his job in a corporate downsizing. As a result of his job loss, Lola and Elwood decided it would be best if Elwood could also take on temp assignments for the next few years. This way, both could spend time with their daughter and share family responsibilities.
And so, Elwood signed on with a local temporary agency, specializing in accounting and bookkeeping. Unfortunately, after just four weeks on his first assignment, Elwood reveals to Lola: ‘‘That’s it! I’ve had it as a temp and as a second-class citizen! I’m getting out of the temporary business and going back to a full-time accounting position.”
‘‘Elwood, what’s going on that would get you this upset and make you want to give up on our plans in such a short time?” Lola inquires.
‘‘Here, Lola, read for yourself,” replies Elwood, pulling a notebook out of his briefcase. ‘‘I’ve created a daily work journal and have circled in red various entries that will explain my feelings.”
Sept. 18: It’s been a week since I’ve started working here; and Linda, the assistant controller, still hasn’t formally introduced me to any of the managers or staff in the department. They don’t even know my name and call me Elbert . . . Elvis . . . Eggbert . . . What’s your name or Hey you!
Sept. 20: I keep getting dumped on by everyone. The piles on my desk are getting too high. I try to tell them I’m supposed to be working on the ‘‘management and consolidation reporting project,” but they don’t listen and don’t seem to care.
Sept. 24: It’s been two weeks, and I’m still wearing my visitor’s badge. When will I get the proper security clearance? I can’t go anywhere alone without proper clearance—not to the cafeteria . . . not even to the rest room. Linda says getting clearance takes a while. But how long? And every time I ask to be escorted somewhere, people get irritated with me, telling me that I’m inconveniencing them.
Sept. 27: The staff just celebrated an employee’s birthday in the large conference room, and I wasn’t invited. The only one in the department . . . what a downer!
Sept. 28: I’ve received very little feedback on my work from Linda since starting. I leave her e-mails, voice messages, and memos. She’s just never around and doesn’t respond to my calls.
Oct. 2: I haven’t attended any of the staff meetings. I’ve been informed that they’re only for full-time employees. But I know I’m missing a lot of important information that might help me out on my project.
Oct. 5: I eat lunch alone each day in the company cafeteria. The accounting staff has never asked me to join them.
Oct. 8: I met three other temporary workers at lunch today. I couldn’t believe it . . . they had similar war stories. And they work in other departments and for other agencies.
Oct. 12: Today, I noticed a problem with the company’s order fulfillment process that the system improvement team is working on. When I informed one of the accountants on that team of my discovery, he told me that I was just a temp and they knew what they were doing.
Lola stopped reading and looked up.
‘‘Elwood, I am so sorry,” she said, ‘‘I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me about these things?”
‘‘You have your responsibilities, and I figured things would improve,” Elwood responded.
‘‘Why didn’t you contact the temp firm you’re working for?” Lola asked.
Elwood explained that he had, but that the assignment manager was abrupt and told him to ‘‘do whatever the client wants.” And when he called a second time to ask for help, the same person threatened him by saying, ‘‘Look, if you can’t do what our client wants, we might have to reconsider you for future assignments!”
‘‘Elwood, enough is enough!” said Lola, angrily. ‘‘You don’t need that assignment any longer. And you certainly don’t need to be treated like some second-class citizen by that miserable agency. Let’s work together to find you the right firm with the right attitude. Maybe my firm would be a good place to start looking.”
Case Analysis
A huge and growing force in American business is the supplementary workforce. It is composed of millions of highly skilled and flexible individuals classified as independent contractors, part-time and temporary employees, temporary agency workers, consultants, and freelancers. These supplementary professionals provide a strategic and competitive advantage to corporations who must respond rapidly to the shifting demands of a fast-paced global marketplace. Today’s successful staffing formula combines a solid, loyal, professional core of full-time employees with a highly flexible and skilled supplementary workforce.
In Elwood’s case, it is clear that his current assignment is with a company whose managers do not understand the strategic value of flexible staffing. In addition, the managers appear to be totally inept at managing supplementary workers and creating a harmonious and productive environment in which both full-time professionals and supplementary workers can work effectively together.
In this poorly managed situation, everyone loses. The accounting department loses a skilled and caring worker. The assistant controller loses by not having a critical project completed on time. And, of course, Elwood loses.
Solution
To effectively manage supplementary workers, consider the following action tools:
Provide supplementary workers with an orientation to the business. Make them feel a part of the company by giving them a brief tour of the facilities and introducing them to various managers and employees. Also, explain your company’s mission, history, markets, products, services, and practices.
Make your temporary workers feel a part of your department by introducing them to your full-time staff and by briefing your staff on the nature of their temporary assignments. Then, give your new workers a brief department tour, reviewing departmental projects, key contacts in other areas, and key numbers, including phone, fax, and e-mail. Also review the equipment and other resources available to them.
Assign your supplementary workers to full-time employees who will be accountable for delegating work to them, seeing that their assignments are completed properly, and introducing them to the work group. Remember to recognize those staff members who help with this important contribution.
Give sincere and immediate praise when you observe supplementary workers extending themselves. When superior levels of achievement are exhibited, put your praise in writing, giving commendations to the workers involved as well as to the managers of their firms, if they are employed by temporary staffing or consulting firms.
Include temporary workers in department and team meetings. They are part of your group and need project updates, scheduling information, and other business information relevant to the group’s work.
Protect temporary workers from being ‘‘dumped on” by anyone in the department. Unless you clarify to your full-time staff the assignments of your temporary workers, these new people may feel obliged to accept dumped work and will quickly become overwhelmed.
If you plan to staff short-term, peak season or special project needs through temporary staffing firms, check with managers in your company and in other companies in your community to gather names of reputable firms and business references.
When calling a firm, initially screen for courtesy and professionalism. Find out the firm’s length of time in business and ask for references and customer surveys. Also, ask about the firm’s recruiting, testing, training, compensation and benefits arrangements for their temporary employees. Firms often offer attractive and comprehensive training and benefits programs to help attract and retain the best temporary workers.
Meet with the manager of the firm and carefully review your specific staffing requirements. Make certain their people possess the skills you seek and would be available on the dates you request. In addition, invite the firm’s manager to your facility to acquaint this individual with your organization’s needs, processes, standards, and culture.
Gautam Koppala,
POME Author
Bush Stadium from the top http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavesofconv… Old Court House from the top http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavesofconv… A look at the city http://www.flickr.com/photos/wavesofconv… Here’s what the inside looks like at the top (not much room but it is worth the sites) http://www.flickr.com/photos/kkanouse/20……