Project Teams and Team Leadership

Quick reference

• 00:04 Hi this is Ray Sheen, let's talk now about the structure of project teams and
• 00:09 team leadership.
• 00:11 You may be wondering, what does this have to do with the PMP exam?
• 00:15 But one of the most common techniques cited in the processes,
• 00:19 is the interpersonal and team skills best practice.
• 00:22 Which means that all of this is testable.
• 00:25 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK guide,
• 00:28 has several definitions for project teams and team members.
• 00:32 A PMBOK guide defines a project team, as a set of individuals, who support
• 00:36 the project manager performing the work of the project to achieve its objectives.
• 00:41 It goes on to define the project management team, as the members of
• 00:44 the project team, who are directly involved in project management activities.
• 00:49 So the project management team is not an independent group.
• 00:52 It is a subset of the project team.
• 00:54 Many people refer to it as the core team.
• 00:57 The PMBOK Guide defines a virtual team, as a group of people with a shared goal,
• 01:02 who fulfill their role with little or no time spent meeting face to face.
• 01:06 The virtual project team is becoming quite common.
• 01:09 This changes the dynamics associated with both management and leadership.
• 01:13 More about that in a minute.
• 01:15 One final definition is the project team directory.
• 01:18 This is a documented list of project team members, their project roles, and
• 01:22 communication information.
• 01:24 Again, on a small project, this document is probably not needed.
• 01:28 But on a large project, it is an important element in communication planning and
• 01:31 execution.
• 01:33 Let's now look at some key considerations when composing a project team.
• 01:38 There're many ways to organize your project team.
• 01:40 Factors to consider are the structure within your company, the authority and
• 01:44 responsibility that the company is willing to give to the project manager, and
• 01:48 the scope and complexity of the project.
• 01:50 I've seen many different team structures.
• 01:52 We'll look at a few of them on the next slide.
• 01:55 The role involvement of project staff, will also take on different forms.
• 01:59 The staff maybe full time dedicated to a project for the life of the project, or
• 02:03 they maybe dedicated, but only for a short time or one phase.
• 02:07 They maybe part time for the life of the project, or they
• 02:10 may only be on a project for a few hours or days to perform one task or activity.
• 02:15 And a project team may have some people in each of those categories.
• 02:19 The last comment about the composition of the team, is that in today's environment,
• 02:23 they're as likely to be virtual as they are collocated.
• 02:27 So let's look at how project teams are structured.
• 02:30 There are attributes like project manager's role and authority along with
• 02:34 the resource availability, and the control of the budget.
• 02:38 This table shows different types of project team structures.
• 02:41 It then looks at how those structures are normally deployed throughout
• 02:44 the organization.
• 02:46 Let's consider each one.
• 02:47 The first is the organic or simple project.
• 02:50 This is just people working together to get something done.
• 02:52 So since this is often an ad hoc team, there's little of any authority for
• 02:56 project managers.
• 02:58 The owner or operator maintains the authority.
• 03:01 Next is the functional team, a very common approach.
• 03:04 In this case, functional managers stay in control.
• 03:06 The project manager has little authority.
• 03:09 The functions control everything.
• 03:11 The multi-divisional approach is just a functional project
• 03:14 with people in multiple locations doing similar work.
• 03:18 So let's switch to the matrix team structure.
• 03:21 The PMBOK categorizes matrix structures as either strong, weak, or balanced.
• 03:25 This refers to the authority of the project manager,
• 03:28 not the effectiveness of the team.
• 03:30 In a strong matrix, the project leader has moderate to high authority, and
• 03:34 full time project management staff.
• 03:36 Team members may still be in job functions, but
• 03:39 they are being managed on a day to day basis by the project manager,
• 03:42 while on a weak matrix, the project manager has very little authority.
• 03:46 They are typically a coordinator, not a manager.
• 03:49 Leadership behavior is much more critical to a weak matrix,
• 03:52 since there is very little positional authority.
• 03:55 A balanced matrix is halfway between a strong and weak matrix.
• 03:59 It's not any better or worse than either one.
• 04:01 Just the recognition that there is a continuum.
• 04:04 Now, beyond the strong matrix, there is the project tie structure.
• 04:08 In this case, everyone on the project reports to the project manager.
• 04:12 The manager has high authority and total control.
• 04:15 The virtual team instructor shown here in the PMBOK table, is similar to a weak or
• 04:19 balance matrix from a leadership standpoint.
• 04:22 From a team member perspective, team members work in communication nodes.
• 04:27 Hybrid approach is just that, a hybrid of those above it, and
• 04:30 is therefore a mixture of all the categories.
• 04:33 Finally, the PMO structure does mix some of the other types,
• 04:36 although it typically looks a lot like a projectized or strong matrix structure.
• 04:41 Let's wrap this up by looking at the difference between leadership and
• 04:43 management, as it applies to the project manager role.
• 04:47 This table compares the types of behaviors and
• 04:49 focus of attention on the part of the project manager.
• 04:53 Some of these are considered to be management actions, and
• 04:55 some are considered to be leadership actions.
• 04:58 As we go down through the table, we see a contrast between the manager side and
• 05:02 the leadership side.
• 05:04 Management uses positional power, and leadership uses relational power.
• 05:08 Managers maintain and administer, while leaders develop and innovate.
• 05:12 Managers focus on systems and structures, and
• 05:15 leaders focus on relationships and people.
• 05:18 Managers rely on control, leaders inspire trust.
• 05:22 Managers focus on the near term, leaders focus on the long term vision.
• 05:26 Managers ask how and when, while leaders ask what and why?
• 05:30 Managers focus on the bottom line, leaders focus on the horizon.
• 05:35 Managers work to support the status quo, leaders challenge the status quo.
• 05:39 Managers do things right, leaders strive to do the right things.
• 05:44 Managers focus on operational issues and problem solving,
• 05:47 while leaders focus on vision alignment, motivation, and inspiration.
• 05:52 Let's be clear, we're not saying one side of the table is good, and
• 05:56 the other is bad.
• 05:57 Project managers need to be doing both sides.
• 06:00 It's just a mix of these two sides of the table,
• 06:03 will change from time to time based on some project circumstances and conditions.
• 06:06 When managed well, and the roles and
• 06:11 responsibilities are clear, any of these team structures will work.
• 06:15 When managed poorly, with confused roles and responsibilities and
• 06:18 poor interpersonal relationships, all of these will be a disaster.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.