MBA642 Subject Name: Project Initiation, Planning and Execution Assessment Title Success and Failure Factors Assessment Type: Length: Infographic 1000 words (+/- 10% allowable range) Weighting: 30% Total Marks: Submission: 100

MBA642 Project Initiation, Planning and Execution

Workshop Week 2 Project Team Building

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• Understand the steps involved in project team building

• Know the characteristics of effective project teams and why teams fail

• Know the stages in group development • Understand how cross-functional cooperation in

teams is achieved. • Understand the nature of conflict and evaluate

response methods.

Workshop Objectives

Steps in Project Team Building

Team Building (definition) – “the formal and informal team-level interventions that focus on improving social relations and clarifying roles as well as solving task and interpersonal problems that affect team functioning”

Source: Klein C et al. (2009) Does team building work? Small Group Res. 40:2, 181-222

Steps in Project Team Building

• Effective project teams don’t simply happen by accident. A great deal of careful work and planning are necessary to staff and then develop project teams before they can function successfully.

• Individuals have a diverse array of skills, attitudes and behaviours.

• Best approach is a structured process, with staffing aligned with the project manager’s judgement of what is best for the project.

Building the Project Team

In the literature, there is a consensus that there are four distinct approaches to project team building, which can also be combined:-

• Goal-setting • Developing interpersonal relations • Clarifying roles • Employing problem-solving techniques

Source: Aga DA, Noorderhaven N, Vallejo B (2016) Transformational leadership and project success: The mediating role of team building. International Journal of Project Management 34, 806-818

Building the Project Team

Source: Aga DA, Noorderhaven N, Vallejo B (2016) Transformational leadership and project success: The mediating role of team building. International Journal of Project Management 34, 806-818

Workshop Activity – Building a Team

• Suppose you are given the task of building a team for a particular sport, such as cricket or soccer.

• Think of the things that you would need to consider when building your team.

• Write down a list of things to consider and compare your list with the person next to you.

• Are there similarities in your list? Differences? • Are there differences with building a project

team? What are they?

Tasks in Project Team Building

• Identify necessary skill sets. • Identify people who match those skills. • Communicate with potential team

members. • Negotiate with functional supervisors of

prospective team members. • Assemble the team.

High Performing Project Teams

Source: Ammeter AP, Dukerich JM (2002) Leadership, Team Building and Team Member Characteristics in High Performance Project Teams. Engineering Management Journal, 14:4, 3-10

Source: Ammeter AP, Dukerich JM (2002) Leadership, Team Building and Team Member Characteristics in High Performance Project Teams. Engineering Management Journal, 14:4, 3-10

High Performing Project Teams

Source: Ammeter AP, Dukerich JM (2002) Leadership, Team Building and Team Member Characteristics in High Performance Project Teams. Engineering Management Journal, 14:4, 3-10

High Performing Project Teams Two take home messages from this study:-

• Project teams may achieve superior results if the critical role of the project leader is given due consideration.

• It is important to develop a favourable project image.*

* Feeling that one is part of a prestigious project team as perceived by others may influence how much effort one is willing to expend, as well as how cooperatively members work together.

Why do Some Teams Fail? • Poorly developed or unclear goals • Badly defined project team roles and

interdependencies • Lack of project team motivation • Deficient communication • Poor leadership • Turnover among project team members Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p199

Workshop Activity Effect of Staff Turnover

In July 2015, the main government agency on defence matters in South Australia, Defence SA, appointed a new chief executive at what was said at the time to be a critical time for the shipbuilding industry in Australia. Some two years later, he left the role to accept another job offer “too good to refuse”. The previous incumbent held this position for less than a year.

What are the potential implications to “the team” of this resignation? What about the project? Discuss these issues.

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1 Martin Basedow, 3/08/2017

Project Teams How to Guard Against Unnecessary Failure

• Matta and Ashkenas (2003) have argued that by using a “rapid-results” approach, the likelihood of project failure is significantly diminished.

• How? Use of a series of mini-projects, each staffed with a team responsible for a version of the hoped-for overall results in miniature, and each designed to produce its result quickly.

Source: Matta NM, Ashkenas RN (2003) Why Good Projects Fail Anyway. Harvard Business Review, September, 1-9

Project Teams How to Guard Against Unnecessary Failure

• Three main features of the rapid-results initiatives: – Results orientated: intentionally commissioned to

produce a measurable result, rather than recommendations, analyses or partial solutions.

– Vertical: encompass a slice of several horizontal activities, implemented in tandem in a very short time frame.

– Fast: rapid-results projects typically last no longer than 100 days.

Source: Matta NM, Ashkenas RN (2003) Why Good Projects Fail Anyway. Harvard Business Review, September, 1-9

Workshop Activity

• Form into groups of 3 or 4. Consider the rapid- results approach. Can you think of some of the practical challenges of adopting this method? Are there downsides? Share your thoughts with the class.

Project Team Development Model of Punctuated Equilibrium

Adapted from Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p199

Workshop Activity

• It has been suggested that with Punctuated Equilibrium, initial impressions are often lasting with early behaviours and norms quickly being established as the controlling force behind team behaviours. In small groups (3 or 4), discuss whether you believe this to be so. Be prepared to speak from your own experience when working in teams, and share these thoughts with the class.

How to Achieve Cross-Functional Cooperation?

• Superordinate goals • Rules and procedures • Physical proximity • Accessibility

How are Effective Teams Developed?

Project Team Cross-Functional Cooperation

Source: Pinto MB, Pinto JK, Prescott JE (1993) Antecedents and consequences of project team cross-functional cooperation. Management Science 39;1281-97

Workshop Activity

• Form into small groups (3 or 4), and consider the strategy of rewarding good behaviour when building high performing teams. Do you consider remuneration enough, or should there be other incentives? Share your thoughts with the rest of the class.

Conflict Management “Conflict - an active disagreement between people with opposing opinions or principles” Definition – Source: Cambridge English Dictionary, Accessed 14th August 2017 at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/conflict

•Not a state, but a process •May change over time

Three Types:

•Goal orientated •Administrative •Interpersonal

Conflict in Project Teams

Source: Porter TW, Lilly BS (1996) The International Journal of Conflict Management Vol. 7, No. 4 (October), pp. 361-376

• Characteristics of the group interaction such as cohesion, task commitment, and task process have previously been linked to conflict and team performance.

• Study by Porter and Lilly (1996) - usefulness of considering team interaction characteristics in understanding the effectiveness of task-performing project teams.

• Results show that trust and task commitment are important variables to consider because they influence other important interaction characteristics (conflict, task processes), that do influence performance.

• Findings demonstrate the impact of conflict on team performance.

Conflict in Project Teams

Source: Porter TW, Lilly BS (1996) The International Journal of Conflict Management Vol. 7, No. 4 (October), pp. 361-376

• Where the team's task requires only moderate creativity, conflict tends to reduce team performance.

• For complex, optimising tasks requiring limited creativity, the benefits of conflict do not overcome the cost of distraction from the focal task.

• Conversely, the adverse effects of conflict are partially mitigated when the team's task processes are effectively managed.

Conflict Management

Traditional view – conflict as negative. It should be avoided and resolved promptly.

Behavioural view – conflict as natural part of organisational behaviour. The approach is to manage it effectively rather than attempt to eliminate it.

Interactionist view – conflict should be encouraged. This introduces an element of tension that can bring about innovation and creativity. Find “optimal” level.

Resolving Conflict

• Mediate the conflict • Arbitrate the conflict • Control the conflict • Accept the conflict • Eliminate the conflict

Summary • Match the best people suited to the project, and be

prepared to manage conflict if it arises. • Understand the characteristics of effective project

teams and why teams fail. • Understand group dynamics and manage them

appropriately. • Try to achieve cross-functional cooperation in

teams. • Understand the nature of conflict and how to deal

with it.