Team Leadership and Management Techniques |
Tier 1: Small Projects
Within one department |
Tier 2: Cross-functional
Affects multiple departments |
Tier 3: Strategic
Organization-wide programs or client projects |
Selecting Project Team Members
In the selection process we're not only trying to get the best people but we're also gathering information about their work so we can craft the right size assignment for them. |
The project manager is usually familiar with the personal quality and performance standards of the potential team members. But we need to ask for the people we want in the beginning, when the boss is focused on the project. |
When we have to borrow our team members from other departments or organizations, it is more difficult to ensure that we get productive team members. If possible, the project manager should interview potential team members to make an assessment of their quality and work standards. |
On large programs and projects for clients, the project manager may have little option in terms of selecting personnel for the project team. If personal interviewing is possible, we use it to gather information about the team members to make the assignment design easier. |
Designing Appropriate Assignments
We design the assignments so they fit the capabilities of each team member. Operating within the technical requirements of the assignment, we want to give people who are skilled problem solvers larger assignments so they find the work challenging. We give people who are less capable shorter assignments so we can easily track progress. |
The duration of assignment is an area where the project manager usually has a great deal of flexibility. For less capable or trainee-level team members, we want assignments that are 1 to 3 days long. For the average team member, five-day assignment are usually appropriate. For experienced "pros", we try to craft assignments that are two weeks or longer to give them independence and a challenge. |
With people borrowed from other departments, it is often acceptable to talk with their boss about the right size assignment and the level of challenge they should be given. |
On larger programs, the project manager needs to engage the people who are accountable for major deliverables in designing the assignments. This avoids micro management for very capable people but does not leave "rookies" with assignments that are too large. |
Work Packages
They make clear the deliverables that the team member should produce and document their availability when approved by the team member's boss. |
This level of documentation is often skipped on small projects with three or four team members drawn from within a department. |
For larger projects we want to document a work package for each assignment. They are useful in improving the clarity of the assignment and in documenting what the borrowed person is expected to produce. The work package also provides a standard format and information base for making estimates on each task and identifying the risks. |
Estimating Task Work and Duration
The best practice is to estimate work so we can assess progress during the assignment |
Regardless of the size of the project, team members should be engaged in the process of estimating the work their assignment should take based on their availability. We use the work package as the basis for the estimating effort and we never estimate just the duration. We always want to estimate the amount of work because that provides more accurate tracking of progress. During the estimating process, the team member should be engaged in the discussion of the potential risks of the assignment. This is an aid to the project manager in mitigating those risks. |
Status Reporting
Status report information should be gathered weekly so the project manager can identify problems early |
Casual status reporting and e-mails or "stickies" on the project manager's desk are appropriate but the data must be available weekly. |
In addition to status information, we ask team members to make an estimate to complete, telling us how many hours of work they estimate remains to finish the task. |
We want a formal status reporting system that is usually automated and provides not only estimates to complete but also allows team members to see the progress being made on other assignments in the project. |
| Giving Feedback |
On all projects, feedback to team members is very important but it has to be delivered in a way that encourages team members to tell the project manager about problems. It is extremely ineffective for project managers to frighten team members who report bad news. That project manager is doomed to finding out about problems when it's too late. |
