BUS 528 - Chapter 10 Ideas

Chapter 10 Building a High-Performance Project Team – Ideas
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1. Team building is every project leader’s responsibility
It is the project manager responsibility to optimize the team members’ performance. Team building is every bit as essential as project definition and planning.
The project team does need to meet and talk periodically, but individuals are able to accomplish their own responsibilities independently of other team members. Consider these two variables:
a. Individuals must cooperate in order to complete their tasks
b. The team has a whole product or service to produce rather than individual components

2. The challenge of building project teams
Every project team faces two central challenges, two obstacles to becoming a high-performing team:
a. Project teams form to solve complex problems, and they must solve those problems together
b. Project teams are temporary and so they must learn to work together

3. A framework for building high-performance teams

A positive team environment, collaborative problem solving capability, and leadership; these are the three primary components of a high performance team.

4. Building a positive team environment
We want the people on our teams to hold themselves mutually accountable to a common goal. The team members want to trust each other and to be treated with respect. They also want to accomplish something, to know their energy and talents are producing results. Ground rules, listening skills, meeting management, and the actions that build team identity all work together to create a positive team environment.

5. Collaborative problem solving
A mature high-performance team combines the four components: Using a structured approach to problem solving provides focus and a common language. The ability to switch among decision modes leverages the strength of group decisions while maintaining momentum. Conflict management skills enable individuals to bring contrasting perspective to build better ideals and maintain team relationships. The culture and habits of continuous learning promote the creativity necessary to discover the best solutions.