Team and Project Management

Conventional Teams

The concept of a team itself presents it’s own inherent challenges since you are expecting a group of people, who may or may not know/worked with each other, to perform together and cooperate in order to produce something or to achieve an end goal. People are not carbon copy machines, and therefore are very different ethically, emotionally, in terms of energy level, and in virtually ever other aspect imaginable. A conventional team, that is a team physically present together most of the time they are working, requires a set of guidelines for team harmony, productivity, and growth. Virtual teams, or teams who’s members are not physically present for the majority of the time they are working together, require the same guidelines, but modified for the different working conditions.

While some teams stay banded for long periods of time, others exist only for brief periods, making it exceedingly difficult for members to establish trust in their team mates, thus ultimately leading them to a high level of productivity. In his book entitled Building a high-performance project team,Verzah ((2005). Building a high-performance project team. The fast forward MBA in project management. New York: Wiley.)(Source) tells us that a team consists of “a group of people working interdependently to produce an outcome for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”. Chapter 10 of his books seems very much ortiented towards team leaders, and serves as a guide for them to be able to effectively manage, improve, and nurture their team. This chapter seems very well put together and thought out, with many step by step frameworks, diagrams, and analogies to help you better understand the material. He really stresses the importance of how a leader should create the type of environment the team feels comfortable working in, and furthering the professional relationships between members. I have worked in leaderless teams before and had successful results, but, I do agree with him in that having a person dedicated to advancing the team does help to motivate the members and build trust. I thought his idea of having a celebration after a project is completed as a final step was a very important concept, and I believe that having an informal gathering before a major project is started can be just as important. I remember when I was working for a design company in New Haven as part of a team, our leader took us all out for mini golf before we started a 3 month long project, and a very nice dinner after it was completed. The initial meeting helped me to bond with the other members, and the dinner afterwards kind of solidified the team and made us really reflect on what we accomplished.

Some good points that Verzuh made which I feel are worth mentioning are that a leader sets the motivation and energy level for the team. If a team leader is not energetic or does not seem to be fully motivated, the team will reflect that in their own attitudes. Also, really involving the team and getting their opinions on as many aspects of a project as is reasonable, helps to pull the team into the project and really give them a sense of ownership. Also, meeting with the client and having them get involved in meetings really gives the team a good sense of professionalism. In my experience, I have found that team leaders who can be friendly and down to earth with you, but not too laid back, really help to motivate the team. If you let a team leader like this own, you feel as though you have not only let down your leader, but also a peer.

Virtual Teams

Virtual teams are inherently at a disadvantage since they are not physically present in the same place when they work together, and are therefor not able to communicate, interact, and experience each others presences in a non-mediated fashion. This makes it harder to build trust as a team and develop a sense of who your other team mates actually are. The team also lacks a sense of identity, which Lipnack and Stamps (Working smart: a web book for virtual teams (pp. 189-222). In Virtual teams: reaching across space, time, and organizations with technology. New York: Wiley.)(Source) mention in their web book Virtual teams: reaching across space, time, and organizations with technology, for which the authors suggest coming up with a team name or identity. They also stress the importance of being goal oriented, deciding what the purpose of your project is, and building a team around that, rather than trying to do what you can with a given team.

Constant communication is key when working with a virtual team and one should take advantage of every available medium in order to better relay thoughts and ideas. The authors suggested having a roster with the team members names and responsibilities on it, but also several contacts, so that team members could get in touch with each other with relative ease. Also, as certain factors change such as resources, number of team members, or finances, the project should be altered dynamically along with the goals and tasks of the team. Virtual teams shoul be heavily task oriented in that each member is solely responsible for the completion of a specific tasks and goals to avoid confusion, which is more prevalent in virtual teams.

Overall, Verzuh’s reading on convention teams seem to focus mainly on “growing” a team, getting them to the point where you want them, and then maintaining them at that level and how to deal with any compromises to the integrity of the team that might arise. On the other hand, Lipnack and Stamps book seemed to focus mainly on keeping a virtual team alive, through the use of good communication, a greater focus on individual purpose and responsibilities, and information accessibility.

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