project #2 help

Team Work and Project Management

Name

Tutor

Course

Date of submission

MEMO

To: (name)

From: (Name)

Date:

Re: The budget situation

As you all know, we have been working on a project of revamping the employee compensation issues. However, the project has developed some issues and the project is 6 weeks off track. Our budget has also been depleted more quickly than expected and this suggests for an immediate action.

I would like to encourage you to put more effort into the project and the success of this project will be a great achievement of the team. Let us consider the best strategies to bring back the project on track. I will be expecting to hear from you about what you think should be done to improve on the projects processes.

Overall, I believe we are the best team to carry out this project and I believe through team work we shall resolve these problems and bring the project back on track.

Cc: (name)

Cc: (name)

Cc: (name)

Cc: (name)

Two ways of improving an underperforming team member

The role of a team leader is to encourage the team members towards achieving success. Failing to meet expectations is common. The existence of underperformers is a common thing and the team leaders should help an underperforming team member improve.

The first way of improving an underperformer is being honest. One should avoid trying to protect the underperformer in your team. Be honest with him/her and make them know their current situation and help them look for a solution. This may involve having a one on one chat privately away from the team working environment (Miles, 2002). Present it as a concern and not disapproval or displeasure. The issue is of both parties whereby you have an issue with productivity and the team member has an issue with his performance. One should therefore be positive when being honest with the underperformer. Raise a concern of the origin of the issue and go over your evidence while talking to the underperformer.

The second way to improve the performance of the underperforming employee is by agreeing on specific and measurable performance improvements (Miles, 2002). You may use this way by supporting the factors that may contribute towards the aim points. These factors include training, resources, priority setting, process improvements and HR assistance (Druskat, 2012). Agree with the team member that the expectations are fair and that they are reasonable. Monitor the improvement plan progress and acknowledge any progress. Encourage the team member by providing advice and feedback. If the employee finds out that you believe he can improve, there is a more likely outcome of him improving.

A plan of action to would get the project back on track

Work overtime

The first action to take is to work overtime. The team members might hate it but working more hours means getting more work done. The project is 6 weeks off track and therefore creation of more time is essential. This would also be a good plan of action to compensate on time lost by the team member who is always late with deadlines. This will enable everything to be done on schedule and a high possibility to bring the project back on track (Frame, 2003).

Swap and reallocate resources

Another plan of action would be to swap resources. The cause of the problem is the team member who is consistently late with the deadlines. This team member may be not as productive as he might have appeared during selection into the team. Or maybe it’s the area of his operation which he is not productive. I may swap the member with another member from the group or release the member and bring in another new member. The activities that are critical should also be assigned more productive resources so as to bring the project on track again (Druskat, 2012).

Check time-constrained activities

Another possible plan of action would be to check on the time-constrained activities. This would be helpful in validating the time frame of certain activities. Time constrained activities may be the cause of the depletion of the budget whereby they take too much time hindering other processes of the business. Resolving such issues would bring back the project on track.

Improve processes

Improving of the processes can bring back the project on track. This would involve asking team members for feedback about the processes of that the project is engaged to and the way they think they can be improved. The solution should be within the internal control of my team to streamline the processes. Processes that are no providing value to the project should be scaled back and give more attention to processes that are able to bring the project back to track (Cusworth, 2013). Delays caused by other external processes without the control of the team members can also be negotiated over to allow the completion of critical project activities.

Motivate Team Members

The team needs motivation. The project has been out of track for 6 weeks and this discourages the team members. Motivational may include taking time to thank them for hard work, occasional rewarding and small pep talks.

References

Druskat, V. U., & Wheeler, J. V. (2012). How to lead a self-managing team. Image.

Miles, S. J., & Mangold, G. (2002). The impact of team leader performance on team member satisfaction: the subordinate’s perspective. Team Performance Management, 8(5/6), 113-121.

Frame, J. D. (2003). Managing projects in organizations: how to make the best use of time, techniques, and people. John Wiley & Sons.

Cusworth, J. W., & Franks, T. R. (2013). Managing projects in developing countries. Routledge.