BUILDING AND MANAGING PROJECT TEAM
SEIFU MAMO(PHD)
1.1 Selecting the Project Manager
The selection process for project managers is not easy. Five
basic questions must be considered:
● What are the internal and external sources?
● How do we select?
● How do we provide career development in project
management?
● How can we develop project management skills?
● How do we evaluate project management performance?
 Project managers are sometimes qualified and experienced project management
specialists who are employed on a permanent basis by an organization.
 Sometimes they are external consultants who are contracted to manage the
project for its duration only.
 For internal projects, they are mostly selected from within the existing workforce.
In all cases they are charged with organizing and managing a project team that
will work together in order to meet the project objectives.
 the project manager is usually selected from the ranks of functional managers or
staff.
 A good functional manager with the skills required for project management is by
far the best option because of the understanding of the industry and the
organization that is brought to the post.
 internally appointed project manager is likely to know the key players and have
established some sort of relationship with them.
 The organization may be reluctant to release a good functional manager because
of difficulty in finding a replacement, particularly where the functional role is
being carried out to a very high standard.
 One thing it cannot and should not attempt to do is have one manager act as both
project manager for a major project and continue in a functional management
role.
 Apart from the fact that both roles are likely to be demanding,
 they may also be conflicting and hence could not be fulfilled effectively at the
same time.

 external consultant.
 There are an increasing number of private practices that are offering
professional project management commissions as part of their portfolio
of professional services.
 The obvious disadvantage is the project manager is not used to the
organization and there will therefore be a learning curve involved.
 It demands some skills that are very different to those of the normal
functional manager. From a project point of view, this makes specialist
project managers advantageous.
The Project Manager
 is the person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is
responsible for achieving the project objectives.
 The role of a project manager is distinct from a functional manager or operations
manager.
 Typically, the functional manager is focused on providing management oversight
for a functional or a business unit, and operations managers are responsible for
ensuring that business operations are efficient.
 Depending on the organizational structure, a project manager may report to a
functional manager.
 In other cases, a project manager may be one of several project managers who
report to a program or portfolio manager.
 The project manager also works closely and in collaboration with other roles, such
as a business analyst, quality assurance manager, and subject matter experts.
 Responsibilities and Competencies of the Project Manager
 In general, project managers have the responsibility to satisfy the following needs:
task needs, team needs, and individual needs.
 As project management is a critical strategic discipline, the project manager becomes
the link between the strategy and the team.
 Projects are essential to the growth and survival of organizations.
 Projects create value in the form of improved business processes, are indispensable in
the development of new products and services, and make it easier for companies to
respond to changes in the environment, competition, and the marketplace.
 The project manager’s role therefore becomes increasingly strategic.
However,
understanding and applying the knowledge, tools, and techniques that are recognized as
good practice are not sufficient for effective project management.
The Project Managers
In addition to any area-specific skills and general management proficiencies
required for the project, effective project management requires that the project
manager possess the following competencies:
 Knowledge—Refers to what the project manager knows about project
management.
 Performance—Refers to what the project manager is able to do or accomplish
while applying his or her project management knowledge.
 Personal—Refers to how the project manager behaves when performing the
project or related activity.
 Personal effectiveness encompasses attitudes, core personality characteristics,
and leadership, which provides the ability to guide the project team while
achieving project objectives and balancing the project constraints.
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS OF A PROJECT MANAGER
 Project managers accomplish work through the project team and other stakeholders.
Effective project managers require a balance of ethical, interpersonal, and conceptual
skills that help them analyze situations and interact appropriately. important
interpersonal skills, such as:
 • Leadership,
 • Team building,
 • Motivation,
 • Communication,
 • Influencing,
 • Decision making,
 • Political and cultural awareness,
 • Negotiation,
 • Trust building,
 • Conflict management, and
 • Coaching
1.2 The Concept of the Project Manager
 A project manager is similar to a chief executive or managing director.
 Indeed, it has become relatively common for large organizations to use project management
assignments as a means of developing future general managers.
 The project manager owns the project and has sole responsibility for its outcome.
 In addition, where small to medium-sized projects are concerned, the project manager is
often responsible for managing several projects concurrently.
 The project manager is usually responsible to a project sponsor.
 In the case of very large projects, or those that will have a significant influence on the future
of the organization, the sponsor will normally be a board member.

 There are skills and attributes that make some people more suitable for the role of project
manager than others,.
 For example, a project manager who is good at managing new-product development
projects within a pharmaceutical company is likely to have a degree of specialist knowledge
and skills that is different from that required to successfully manage construction projects.
1.2 The Concept of the Project Manager

 In traditional organizations, influence and authority tend to flow vertically down from the
top to the bottom of the organization.
 However, any complex project will usually require the support of many levels of management
within organizations and of many departments/functions across the organization.
 For example, a project for developing and introducing a new management reporting and
control system for a complete organization may be sponsored by the controller’s department but
will require extensive co-operation and assistance from all the other functional areas if it is to
succeed.
 It would take too long if all communications, instructions, resolution of problems and so on
had to follow the functional hierarchy and travel from the project manager via the controller to
other functional heads at the same level, from them down their hierarchical chain to the relevant
subordinates, and back again through the same route to the project manager.
 Hence projects tend to be run outside the traditional hierarchy of the organization.
1.2 The Concept of the Project Manager
 The project manager’s role is by its nature a temporary one,
superimposed on the organization. It does not have the power associated
with traditional hierarchical positions.
 Project managers must work across functional and organizational lines
and frequently have few direct subordinates.
 Therefore, perhaps the biggest single issue faced by project managers
arises because they have the authority to make decisions about project
priorities, schedules, budgets, objectives and policies, but often do not
have the official authority to give direct orders to the people who must
carry out the work as a result of these decisions.
Figure 1.1 Sources of influence for the project manager
Ultimately, if the project manager cannot secure the
necessary co-operation within the organization, the assistance
of the project sponsor(s) will be sought.
Projects sometimes require resources from a range of
external organizations that may be locally or globally based.
 Hence, the project manager may be responsible for
managing across functional, departmental, organizational and
geographical boundaries – a good training ground indeed for
future senior managers.
1.3 The Central Position of the Project Manager
 The project manager’s post lies at the center of the principles of project
management
 Given the project manager’s ultimate responsibility for the project’s
outcome, a key ability is to be able to focus on issues in detail while at the
same time keeping a clear view of the project as a whole.
 This ability to focus within the overview ensures that people and
resources are obtained and utilized in an integrated way – including
reorganizing to overcome problems and difficulties that will inevitably
arise from time to time – in order to accomplish the project’s goals and
objectives.
 To do this, the project manager occupies a central position relating to
communications between the various people and organizations involved,
much like a spider at the center of a web.

1.3 The Central Position of the Project Manager
 This central position results in the project manager being responsible for receiving and
issuing more information than anyone else on the project.
 These communications are intended to ensure that all those involved, individuals and
organizations alike, understand what is required of them at all stages of the project as it
unfolds.
 the project manager is the primary decision-maker on the project and the main link with
the organization itself on project matters.
 Where there is no direct authority, the project manager also has responsibility for
influencing decisions relating to the well-being of the project.
 The project manager needs to have both the intellect to devise the project strategy and the
diligence to ensure that actions are taken, both to the required standards and on time.
 The project manager directs the project and its people towards these ends. This requires
the energy and ability to motivate staff to achieve the project goals
1.4 The Role of Project Manager
The primary requirements of the project manager’s role can be
summarized as:
planning the project activities, schedules and budgets;
organizing and selecting the project team;
interfacing with the client, the organization and all other interested
parties;
negotiating with suppliers and clients;
managing the project resources;
monitoring and controlling the project status;
identifying issues and problem areas;
finding solutions to problems; ·
resolving conflicts
1.4 The Role of Project Manager
 . These
roles are intrinsically linked and cannot be regarded in isolation. For example,
planning the project activities depends on the characteristics of the project team. The time
that has to be allowed for a given activity depends on the resources available when staffing
the project team.
 In meeting the above requirements, the project manager will use many different skills,
ranging from entrepreneurship to large-company politics, from diplomacy to single-minded
determination, from technical skills to leadership skills. In essence, the role calls for skilled
and competent generalists who, in the case of large complex projects, must also be very high
achievers with strong communications and interpersonal skills.
 The requirements above have to be carried out within the overall success or failure criteria
established for the project as a whole. These include delivering the project:
 within the agreed time limit;
 within the agreed cost limit;
 to at least the minimum quality standards laid down;
 to the satisfaction of the client;
 in compliance with the strategic plan of the organization; · within the agreed scope.
1.5 Personal, Managerial and Leadership Skills
A project manager needs to apply the full range of traditional management
skills in addition to having a detailed technical knowledge of the project
itself.
Generally, in terms of ‘soft’ management skills and attributes, the project
manager should

Be flexible and adaptable;
 Be able to concentrate on more than one thing at a time;
 demonstrate initiative;
 Be persuasive; be a good communicator;
 Be able to keep multiple objectives in sight and be able to balance them;
 be well organized;
 Be prepared to generalize rather than (always) specialize;
 Be a good planner and implementer;
 Be able to identify problems, find solutions, and make sure that they work;
 Be a good time manager;
 Be good at negotiating and influencing (rather than arguing or giving
orders);
 Be diplomatic.
Technical and Business Skills
 The project manager also has to possess a range of technical and business skills.
 Technical skills are necessary in order to understand the detailed components of the
project.
 For example, a project manager who is in charge of a large and complex project to
install a new production line has to have an extensive knowledge of the mechanics of
the production system. It is not possible fully to appreciate the inputs of the various
designers, suppliers and contractors without this knowledge. In addition,
 in most cases the project manager also needs to have a detailed business and
financial knowledge.
 Increasingly, project managers are responsible for investment appraisal and
financial analysis of projects.

Technical and Business Skills
 Typical ‘harder’ characteristics include
 understanding how to set up a team and run it;
 The ability to develop complex time and cost plans and achieve
them;
 Understanding of contracts, procurement, purchasing and
personnel;
 Active interest in training and development;
 Understanding of the technology that is central to project
success;
 Ability to translate business strategy into project objectives.
1.6 Some Essential Project Manager Requirements
An effective project manager needs to be able to execute a number of
primary functions. These primary functions are applicable to all areas of
management, including project management.
The project manager must have a reasonable command of:
♦ Project Planning
♦ Authorizing
♦ Team Organizing
♦ Controlling
♦ Directing
♦ Team Building
♦ Leadership
♦ Life-Cycle Leadership
Responsibilities of the Project Manager
The project manager’s responsibility is to ensure the customer is
satisfied that the work scope is completed in a quality manner, within
budget, and on time.
 Provides leadership in planning, organizing, and controlling the work effort
 Coordinates the activities of various team members
 Involves the project team to gain their commitment
Planning
 Clearly defines the project objective and reaches agreement with the
customer
 Communicates this objective to the project team
5
Organizing
 Secures the appropriate resources
 Decides which tasks should be done in-house and which by
subcontractors or consultants
 Assigns responsibility and delegates authority
 Creates an environment in which individuals are highly
motivated
Controlling
 Tracks actual progress and compares it with planned progress
 Takes immediate action if progress or costs change
7
Skills of the Project Manager
The project manager is a key ingredient in the
success of a project.
 Strong leadership ability
 Ability to develop people
 Excellent communication skills
 Good interpersonal skills
 Ability to handle stress
 Problem-solving skills
 Time management skills
9
Leadership Ability
Leadership is getting things done through others.
 Inspire the people assigned to the project
 Create vision of the result and benefits of the project
 Participative and consultative leadership style
 Establishes the parameters and guidelines for what
needs to be done
 Is optimistic and positive
 Is highly motivated and sets a positive example
 Has self-confidence and inspires confidence
 Leads by making things happen
10
Leadership Ability (Cont.)
 Involves and empowers the project team
 Empowers individuals to make decisions within their
assigned areas
 Understands what motivates team members and
creates a supportive environment
 Fosters motivation through recognition
 Sets the tone of trust, high expectations, and
enjoyment
 Has high expectations of themselves and of each
person on the project team
11
Ability to Develop People
 Committed to the training and development of people
 Uses the project to add value to each person’s
experience base
 Believes that all individuals are valuable to the
organization
 Stresses the value of self-improvement
13
Ability to Develop People
(Cont.)
 Provides opportunities for learning and
development by encouraging individuals to assume
the initiative, take risks, and make decisions
 Provides assignments that require individuals to
extend their knowledge
 Identifies situations in which less experienced
people can learn from more experienced people
 Has people attend formal training sessions
 May provide coaching
14
Communication Skills
Effective and frequent communication is crucial.
 Communicate regularly with the project team,
subcontractors, customer, and own upper
management
 A high level of communication is especially
important early in the project
 Good oral and written communication skills
 Spend more time listening than talking
15
Communication Skills (Cont.)
 Establish ongoing communication with the customer
 Communication should be timely, honest, and
unambiguous
 Effective communication establishes credibility
and builds trust
 Provide timely feedback to the team and customer
 Create an atmosphere that fosters timely and
open communication
16
Interpersonal Skills
 Good interpersonal skills are essential
 Develop a relationship with each person on the project
team
 Try to learn about the personal interests of each
individual without being intrusive
 Should use open-ended questions and do a lot of
listening
 Empathize with individuals when special
circumstances arise
17
Interpersonal Skills (Cont.)
 Maintain relationships throughout the duration of
the project
 Use good interpersonal skills to try to influence
the thinking and actions of others
 Use good interpersonal skills to deal with
disagreement or divisiveness
18
Ability to Handle Stress
 Cannot panic; remain unruffled
 Able to cope with constantly changing conditions
 Act as a buffer between the project team and the
customer or upper management
 Have a good sense of humor
 Stress is likely to be high when a project is in
jeopardy of not meeting its objective
19
Problem-Solving Skills
 Early identification of a problem or potential
problem is important
 Encourage project team members to identify
problems early and solve them on their own
20
Time Management Skills
 Have self-discipline
 Be able to prioritize
 Show a willingness to delegate
21
Developing the Skills Needed to
Be a Project Manager
 Gain experience — work on as many projects as you
can; each project presents a learning opportunity
 Seek out feedback from others
 Conduct a self-evaluation and learn from your
mistakes
 Interview project managers who have skills that you
want to develop
 Participate in training programs
22
Developing the Skills Needed to
Be a Project Manager (Cont.)
 Join organizations, such as the Project Management
Institute
 Read and subscribe to journals
 Volunteer and contribute to the community or a
specific cause to develop leadership skills
 Learning and development are lifetime activities—
there’s no finish line
23
Delegation
 Involves empowering the team to achieve the
objective and empowering each team member to
accomplish the expected results
 Allow individuals to successfully carry out assigned
tasks
 Give team members the responsibility to accomplish
job objectives and the authority to make decisions
and take actions
 Give team members accountability for
accomplishing results
24
Delegation (Cont.)
 Requires effective communication skills
 Provide a clear understanding of what is expected in
terms of specific results, but do not tell the individuals
how to do the task
 Select the team members who are best qualified to
perform each task and then empowering them to do it
 Have confidence in each member of the team
25
Delegation (Cont.)
Common barriers to effective delegation
 Project manager has a personal interest in the task
 Project manager thinks she can do it better or faster
herself
 Project manager lacks confidence in the capability
of others
 Project manager is afraid he will lose control of the
work and not know what is going on
 Team members fear criticism for mistakes or lack
self-confidence
26
2.1.What Is a Group?
 A collection of two or more interacting individuals with
a stable pattern of relationships between them
who share common goals and
who perceive themselves as being a group.
2.1. What Is a Group?
 First, groups are composed of two or more people in
social interaction. In other words, the members of a
group must have some influence on each other.
 Second, groups must possess a stable structure.
Although groups can change, and often do, there must be
some stable relationships that keep group members
together and functioning as a unit.
 A third characteristic of groups is that members share
common interests or goals.
 For example, members of a company's safety committee
all share a common goal in keeping the workplace free of
danger.
 Fourth, and finally, to be a group, the individuals
involved must perceive themselves as a group.
 Groups are composed of people who recognize each other
as a member of their group and they can distinguish
these individuals from nonmembers.
2.2. TYPES OF GROUPS

 A-FORMAL GROUPS are Groups created by the organization and that
are intentionally designed to direct members toward some
important organizational goal are known as formal groups.
 One type of formal group is referred to as a command group—a
group determined by the connections between individuals who are a
formal part of the organization (i.e., those who can legitimately give
orders to others).
 Command groups are determined by the organization's rules
regarding who reports to whom, and they usually consist of a
supervisor and his or her subordinates.
 A formal organizational group also may be formed around some
specific task. Such a group is referred to as a task group. Unlike
command groups, task groups may be composed of individuals with
some special interest or expertise in a specific area regardless of their
positions in the organizational hierarchy.
 Whether they are permanent committees, known as standing
committees, or temporary ones formed for special purposes (such as
a committee formed to recommend solutions to a parking problem),
known as ad hoc committees or task forces, task groups are
commonly found in organizations.
B- INFORMAL GROUPS.






Informal groups develop naturally among
an organization's personnel without any direction from the management .
One key factor in the formation of informal groups is a common interest
shared by its members.
For example, a group of employees who band together to seek union
representation, or who March together to protest their company's
pollution of the environment, may be called an. INTEREST GROUP
The common goal sought by members of an interest group may unite
workers at many different organizational levels.
The key factor is that membership in an interest group is voluntary
Groups may develop out of a common interest in participating in sports, or
going to the movies, or just getting together to talk. These kinds of
informal groups are known as. FRIENDSHIP GROUPS
Friendship groups extend beyond the workplace because they provide
opportunities for satisfying the social needs of workers that are so
important to their well being.
 Friendships can bind people together, helping them cooperate with each
other, and may have beneficial effects on organizational functioning.
2.3. WHAT IS A TEAM?
 A team can be defined as a group whose members
have complementary skills and are committed to a
common purpose or set of performance goals for
which they hold themselves mutually accountable.
 A team is a group of people coming together to
collaborate. This collaboration is to reach a shared
goal or task for which they hold themselves mutually
accountable.
 A team is a group of people with a high degree of
interdependence geared towards the achievement of a
common goal or completion of a task rather than just
a group for administrative convenience.
 Team members are deeply committed to each other's
personal growth and success.
 A team outperforms a group and outperforms all
reasonable expectations given to its individual
members.
2.3. WHAT IS A TEAM?
 A team can be defined as a small number of people
with complementary skills who are committed to a
common purpose, performance goals, and a common
approach that they hold themselves mutually
accountable.
 The small number normally ranges from 2 to 25
members, with somewhere between 5 and 9 as
normally the most manageable and optimal.
 Complementary skills provide synergy when the team
is diverse and various ideas and multiple skills are
combined.
 Common purpose is the driving force of teams. The
team must develop its own purpose that must be
meaningful and have ownership by all individuals.
 A team needs to periodically revisit its purpose in
order to make it more relevant as the team develops
(often called an agenda).
2.3. WHAT IS A TEAM?
 Performance goals are the acting, moving, and energizing
force of the team. Specific performance goals are
established, tracked, met, and evaluated in an ongoing
process.
 Common approaches are the means in which members
agree on how they will work together.
 Teams should develop their own charter or set of rules that
outline the expected behaviors of its members.
 Members often assume roles, such as the Questioner or
Devil's Advocate, Historian, Time Keeper, and Facilitator, to
keep the team processes moving and on course.
 Mutuall accountability is the aspect of teamwork that is
normally the last to develop. It is the owning and sharing of
the team's outcomes, both successes and failures.
 Shared Mental Models, Team members not only cooperate
in all aspects of their tasks and goals, they share in what are
traditionally thought of as management functions, such as
planning, organizing, setting performance goals, assessing
the team's performance, developing their own strategies to
manage change, and securing their own resources.
2.3.1. THE CONCEPT OF WHAT A PROJECT TEAM IS
 The project team includes the project manager and the
group of individuals who act together in performing the
work of the project to achieve its objectives.
 The project team includes the project manager, project
management staff, and other team members who carry out
the work but who are not necessarily involved with
management of the project.
 This team is comprised of individuals from different groups
with specific subject matter knowledge or with a specific
skill set to carry out the work of the project.
 The structure and characteristics of a project team can vary
widely, but one constant is the project manager’s role as the
leader of the team, regardless of what authority the project
manager may have over its members.
Project teams include roles such as:
 Project management staff. The members of the team who
perform project management activities such as scheduling,
budgeting, reporting and control, communications, risk
management and administrative support.
 This role may be performed or supported by a project
management office (PMO).
 Project staff. The members of the team who carry out the
work of creating the project deliverables.
Project teams include roles such as:
 Supporting experts. Supporting experts perform activities required to
develop or execute the project management plan.
 These can include such roles as contracting, financial management,
logistics, legal, safety, engineering, test, or quality control.
 Depending on the size of the project and level of support required,
supporting experts may be assigned to work full time or may just
participate on the team when their particular skills are required.
 User or Customer Representatives. Members of the organization who
will accept the deliverables or products of the project may be assigned
to act as representatives or liaisons to ensure proper coordination,
advise on requirements, or validate the acceptability of the project’s
results.
Project teams include roles such as:
 Sellers. Sellers, also called vendors, suppliers, or contractors, are external
companies that enter into a contractual agreement to provide components or
services necessary for the project.
 The project team is often assigned the responsibility to oversee the performance
and acceptance of sellers’ deliverables or services. If the sellers bear a large share
of the risk for delivering the project’s results, they may play a significant role on
the project team.
 Business partner members. Members of business partners’ organizations may be
assigned as members of the project team to ensure proper coordination.
 Business partners. Business partners are also external companies, but they have
a special relationship with the enterprise, sometimes attained through a
certification process. Business partners provide specialized expertise or fill a
specified role such as installation, customization, training, or support.
INDIVIDUAL VS TEAM WORK
WHEN TO WORK ALONE?
WHEN TO BUILD TEAMS?
1. For simple tasks.
1. For highly complex tasks or problems
2.When co-operation is sufficient
2. When consensus decisions are essential.
3.When minimum discretion are needed. 3. When there is a high level of choice and
uncertainty
4.When fast decisions are needed.
4. When high commitment is needed.
5.When few competencies are required 5. When a broad range of Competencies are
required.
6.When members interest are inherently 6. Where member objectives can be
conflicting
galvanized
7.Where the organization credits individuals 7. Where the organization rewards for
operational output.
team results for strategy and vision
building
8.When innovative responses are sought
8. When balanced views are sought
2.4.THE KEY CHARACTERISTIS OF A TEAM
 FIRST, teams are organized around work processes rather than
functions.
 SECOND, teams "own" the product, service, or processes on which they
work. By this, we mean that people feel part of something meaningful, and
that they understand how their work fits into the big picture
 THIRD, members of teams are trained in several different areas and
have a variety of different skills.
 FOURTH, teams govern themselves. And, as a result, team leaders may be
thought of as coaches who help members of the team, rather than bosses who
use more authoritarian means of leadership.
 FIFTH, in teams, support staff and responsibilities are built-in. For
example, at some companies, there are no longer any quality inspectors.
Instead, all team members are all trained in matters of inspection and quality
control.
 SIXTH, finally, teams are involved in company-wide decisions. This is in
contrast to the traditional practice of using managers to make all
organizational decisions.
2.5. THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE TEAMS
 Some of the elements needed for a team to be effective are
formal leadership, roles, norms, group status, group size,
composition of the group and the degree of group
cohesiveness.
 FORMAL LEADERSHIP
 Almost every working group has a formal leader. A formal
leader of a team is usually appointed or elected.
 Informal leaders, on the other hand tend to emerge
gradually as a group members interact.

 A formal leader of formal group is typically identified by
titles such as unit or department manager, supervisor, fore
man, project leader or committee chair.
 This leader can play an important part in the group’s/
team’s success. Motivate, communicate ,coach and train
NORMS OF A TEAM
 It refers to the expectations about how each team members will
behave.
 acceptable standards of behavior that are shared by the members.
 Norms tell members what they ought and ought not to do under
certain circumstances.
 When agreed to and accepted by the groups/teams, norm act as a
means of influencing the behavior of group members with a
minimum of external controls.
The most common classes of norms that appear in most work
groups/teams are:
 Performance norms.
 Appearance norms. These include things such as appropriate dress,
loyalty to the workgroup/team or organization and so forth.
 Social arrangement norms.
 Allocation of resource norms..
ROLE
 All work group/team are defined by role that members in the








group/team perform.
Role is a set of expected behavior pattern attributed to someone
occupying a given position in a social unit.
certain attitudes and actual behaviors consistent with a roles
create the role identity.
Based on an interpretation of how we believe we are supposed to
behave, we engage in certain types of behavior one’s view of how
one is supposed to act in a given situation is a role perception.
Role expectations are defined as how others believe you should
act in a given situation.
How you behave is determined to a large extent by the role
defined in the context in which you are acting.
When an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations,
the result is role conflict.
It exists when an individual finds that compliance with one
requirement may make more difficult the compliance with
another.
At the extreme, it would include situation in which two or more
role expectations are mutually contradictory.
STATUS
 Every work group/ team has a status system.
 Status develops in a team/group because a particular individual or group posses or
contribute value to the organization that are highly regarded by members.
 Hence status is a socially defined position or rank given to a member or group by
other.
 Status is a significant motivator and has major behavioral consequences when
individuals perceive a disparity between what they believe their status to be and
what others perceive it to be.
SIZE
 The size of a team or group affects the overall behavior.
 One of the most important findings related to the size of a group is social loafing.
 Social loafing is the tendency for individual to expend less effort when working
collectively than when working individually.
 The research in-group size leads to two additional conclusions.
 Groups with an odd number tend to be preferable to those with an even number
and
 Groups made of five or seven members do a pretty good job of exercising the best
elements of both small and large group.
 Having an odd number of members eliminates the possibility of ties when vote are
taken.
COMPOSITION
 Most team activities require a variety of skills and
knowledge.
 Heterogeneous groups – those composed of dissimilar
individuals – would be more likely to have diverse abilities
and information and should be more effective.
 Essentially, diversity promotes conflict; which stimulate
creativity and leads in turn to improved decision making.
COHESIVENESS
 Refers to the degree to which members are attracted to
each other and are motivated to stay in the group.
 The solidarity of a team is an important indicator of how
much influence the group has over its individual members.
 Team cohesiveness is critical in helping the individual feel
– good about his or her contribution to the effort.
 High cohesive teams or groups often have less tension and
hostility and fewer misunderstandings than less cohesive
group do.
2.6.TYPES OF TEAMS
 There are three major dimensions.
 The first has to do with their major purpose or mission. In this regard,
some teams—known as work teams—are concerned primarily with the
work done by the organization, such as developing and manufacturing new
products, providing services for customers, and so on. Their principal focus
is on using the organization's resources to effectively create its results
(goods or services).
 A second dimension has to do with time. Specifically, some teams are
only temporary, and are established for a specific project with a finite life.
However, other teams are permanent, and stay intact as long as the
organization is operating. For example, teams focusing on providing
effective customer service tend to be permanent parts of many
organizations.
 The third dimension reflects the team's connection to the
organization's overall authority structure—that is, the connection
between various formal job responsibilities. In some organizations, teams
may cross over various functional units and are said to be overlaid/cross
functional team. For example, a quality improvement team.
IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMS
 The Top Management Team. An organization’s top management




team is the team of managers who report to the chief executive officer
(CEO). Top management teams are chosen by the CEO and board of
directors of the organization. This team impacts the entire
organization since it decides the overall goals of the organization.
Self-Managed Work Teams. team members do have the autonomy
to lead and manage themselves and determine how the team will
perform its tasks.
In a self managed work team, separate tasks normally performed by
individual employees and managed by a supervisor fall under the
responsibility of a group of employees empowered to ensure they get
done and get done well.
Research and Development Teams. Organizations often use
research and development (R&D) teams to develop new products,
especially in high-tech industries such as electronics,
pharmaceuticals, and computers. Some R&D teams are crossfunctional.
Virtual Teams. Virtual teams are teams in which a significant
amount of communication and interaction among team members
occurs electronically, using computer hardware and software.
Organizations use virtual teams to help people in different places
and/or time zones work together.
2.7. FACTORS SEPARATING TEAMS FROM GROUPS
 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
 Within a group, individuals establish a set of behaviors called roles. These










roles set expectations governing relationships. Roles often serve as source of
confusion and conflict.
While ,teams have a shared understanding on how to perform their role and
perceive the other team members' roles.
IDENTITY
While teams have an identity, groups do not.
It is almost impossible to establish the sense of cohesion that characterizes a
team without this fundamental step.
A team has a clear understanding about what constitutes the team's mission
and why it is important. They can describe a picture of what the team needs to
achieve, and the norms and values that will guide them.
COHESION
Teams have esprit that shows a sense of bonding and camaraderie. Esprit is
the spirit, soul, and state of mind of the team. It is the overall consciousness
of the team that a person identifies with and feels a part of.
Individuals begin thinking of the concept "we" rather than "me.“ while in a
group the level of cohesion is very low compared to the case of a team.
FACILITATE
Groups have a tendency to get bogged down with trivial issues. Teams use
facilitators to keep the team on the right path.
2.7. FACTORS SEPARATING TEAMS FROM GROUPS
 COMMUNICATION
 While members of a group are centered upon themselves, the team is
committed to open communication. Team members feel they can state
their opinions, thoughts, and feelings without fear. Listening is
considered as important as speaking.
 FLEXIBILITY
 Most groups are extremely rigid. However, Teams maintain a high level
of flexibility, and they perform different task and maintenance
functions as needed. The responsibility for team development and
leadership is shared. The strengths of each member are identified and
used.
 MORALE
 Team members are enthusiastic about the work of the team and each
person feels pride in being a member of the team. Team spirit is high.
To be a successful team, the group must have a strong ability to produce
results and a high degree of satisfaction in working with one another.
 ENCOURAGING GREAT IDEAS
 As people begin to work together, they become a group. That group
may evolve into a team over time.
2.8. THE ADVANTAGES OF TEAM WORK
 The fact of the matter is that many tasks are beyond the
capabilities of one person alone.
 TEAMS are essential human resources of organizations,
and “synergy” is a major benefit that groups can bring to
the work setting.
 TEAMS can make important task contributions to
organizational objectives, and they can influence
individual work attitudes and behaviors.
TEAMS CAN:
 Increase resources for problem solving
 Promote innovation and creativity
 Improve the quality of decision making
 Enhance members’ commitment to tasks
 Offer motivation through collective action
 Control and discipline members.
2.9. THE DISADVANTAGES OF TEAM WORK.
 SOCIAL PRESSURE:
 Social pressure is a major force making for conformity.
 The desire to be a good group member and to be accepted tends to silence
disagreement and favors consensus.
 Majority opinions tend to be accepted regardless of whether or not their objective
quality is logically and scientifically sound. Reaching agreement in a group is often
confused with finding the right answer.
 VALENCE OR SOLUTIONS
 The number of negative and positive responses given to each proposed solution in
group discussions of solutions are summarized then it is possible to give for each
solution a valance index.
 The first solution that receives a positive valance of 0.15 for example tends to be
adopted to the satisfaction of all participant about 85 percent of the time, regardless
of its quality.
 Higher quality solutions introduced after the critical value for one of the solutions
has been reached have little chance of achieving real considerations.
 The critical valance value of 0.15 appears not to be greatly altered by the nature of the
problem or the exact size of the group,
 Rather it seems to designate a turning point between the idea getting process and the
decision making process. (idea evaluation).
 Since a solution’s valance is independent of its objective quality, this group factor
becomes an important liability in group problem solving, even when the value of a
decision depends up on objective criteria (facts and logic).
2.9. THE DISADVANTAGES OF TEAM WORK.
 INDIVIDUAL DOMINATION
 Hoffman and Maier (1967) found that the mere fact of appointing a leader
causes this person to dominate a discussion. Thus regardless of his
problem-solving ability a leader tends to exert a major influence on the
outcome of a discussion.
 CONFLICTING SECONDARY GOAL: WINNING THE ARGUMENT.
 the appearance of several alternatives causes individuals to have
preferences and once this emerges the desire to support a position is
created. Converting those with neutral viewpoints and refuting those with
opposed view points now enter into the problem solving process.

More and more the goal becomes that of winning the decision rather than
finding the best solution.
 CONFLICTING INTEREST VERSUS MUTUAL INTERESTS
 Disagreement in discussion may take many forms, often participants agree
with one another with regard to solutions, but when issues are explored
one finds that these conflicting solutions are designed to solve different
problems.


2.9. THE DISADVANTAGES OF TEAM WORK.
 TIME REQUIREMENTS
 In general, more time is required for a group to reach a decision than for a
single individual to reach one.
 Insofar as some problems require quick decision, individual decisions are





favored.
WHO CHANGES
In reaching consensus or agreement, some members of a group must
change.
Persuasive forces in individual problem solving do not operate in the
same way when they operate in a group situation; hence, the changing of
some one’s mind is not an issue. IN group situations, however, who
changes can be an asset or a liability.
If the person with the most constructive views are induced to change the
end product suffers, where as if persons with the least constructive point
of view changes the end product is upgraded.
The leader can upgrade the quality of a decision because his position
permits him to protect the person with a minority view and increase his
opportunity to influence the majority position.
 The leader also plays a constructive role in so far as he can facilitate
communication and thereby reduce misunderstanding. The leader has an
adverse effect on the end product when he suppresses minority views by
holding a contrary position and when he uses his office to promote his own
views.
2.10. INTERGROUP PROBLEMS IN ORGANIZATIONS
1- how to make them effective in fulfilling both organizational goals and the
needs of their members?
2- how to establish conditions between groups which will enhance the
productivity of each without destroying intergroup relations and
coordination?
 This problem exists because as groups become more committed to their
own goals and norms, they are likely to become competitive with one
another and seek to undermine their rival’s activities, there by becoming
a liability to the organization as a whole.
SOME CONSEQUENCES OF INTER GROUP COMPETITIONS
 The consequence of inter group competitions can be described in terms of
the following categories:
 WHAT HAPPEN WITHIN EACH COMPETING GROUP?
 Each group becomes more closely knit and elicits greater loyalty from its
members; members close ranks and bury some of their internal
differences.
 Group climate changes from informal, casual, playful to work and task
oriented; concern for member’s psychological needs declines while
concern for task accomplishment increases.
 Leadership pattern tend to change from more democratic toward more
autocratic; the group becomes more willing to tolerate autocratic
leadership
2.10. INTERGROUP PROBLEMS IN ORGANIZATIONS
 Each group becomes more highly structured and organized
 Each group demands more loyalty and conformity from its members in order to
be able to present a “solid front”
WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN THE COMPETING GROUPS?
 Each group begins to see the other groups as the enemy, rather than merely a
neutral object.
 Each group begins to experience distortions of perception - it tends to perceive
only the best parts of itself, denying its weaknesses and tends to perceive only
the worst parts of the other group, denying its strengths; each group is likely to
develop a negative stereotype of the other (“They don’t play fair like we do”)
 Hostility towards the other group increases while interaction and
communication with the other group decrease; thus it becomes easier to
maintain negative stereotypes and more difficult to correct perceptual
distortions.
 If the groups are forced into interaction for example, if they are forced to listen to
representative plead their own and the other’s cause in reference to some task
each group is likely to listen to the representative of the other group, except to
find fault with his presentation; in other words, group members tend to listen
only for that which supports their own position and stereotype.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE WINNER?
 Winner retains cohesion and may become even more cohesive.
 Winner tends to release tension, lose its fighting spirit, become complacent, casual
and playful .
 Winner tends toward high intra-group cooperation and concern for members’ needs
and low concern for work and task accomplishment.
 Winner tends to be complacent and to feel that winning has conformed the positive
stereotype of the “enemy” group; there is little basis for reevaluating perception, or
reexamining group operations in order to learn how to improve them.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE LOSER?
 there is a strong tendency for the loser to deny or distort the reality of losing; instead,
the loser will find psychological escapes like “the judges were biased,” “The judges did
not really understand our solution”, the rules of the game were not clearly explained
to us, “If luck had not been against us at the one key point; we would have won,” and
soon.
 If loss is accepted, the losing group tends to splinter, unresolved conflicts come to the
surface, and fights break out, all in the effort to find the cause for the loss.
 Loser is more tense, ready to work harder, desperate to find someone or something to
blame. The leader, itself, the judges who decided against them, the rules of the game,
(the “lean and hungry” state).
 Loser tends toward low intra group cooperation, low concern for members’ needs and
high concern for recouping by working harder.
 Loser tends to learn a lot about itself as a group because positive stereotype of itself
and negative stereotype of the other group are up set by the loss, forcing a revolution
of perception; as a consequence, loser is likely to reorganize and become more
cohesive and effective, once the loss has been accepted realistically.
PREVENTING INTERGROUP CONFLICT
The very concept of division of labor and departmentalization of
functions leads to groups competition for scarce resources and rewards.
It also implies a reduction of communication and interaction between
groups, thus making it possible for perceptual distortions to occur.
Organization planners need to consider the points given below in order
to reduce the intergroup competition and conflict.
Relatively greater emphasis must be given to total organizational
effectiveness and the role of departments in contributing to it;
departments measured and rewarded on the basis of their contribution
to the total effort rather than their individual effectiveness.
High interaction and frequent communication stimulated between
groups to work on problems of intergroup coordination and help;
organizational reward must be given partly on the basis of help which
groups give to each other.
Frequent rotation of members among groups of department to stimulate
high degree of mutual understanding and empathy for one anthers
problems
Avoidance of any win-lose situations groups never put in to the position
of competing for some organizational reward; emphasis always placed
on pooling resources to maximize organizational effectiveness; rewards
shared equally with all the group or department.
STRATEGIES FOR MINIMIZING THE NEGATIVE
CONSEQUENCES RESULTING FROM GROUPS ALREADY IN
COMPETITION INCLUDES:
Identifying a common enemy (for example
another company to be out performed)
Appealing to a common Goal (for example, profits
or customer satisfaction)
Bringing the representative of the group in to
direct contact with one another example - Setting
up face - to - face negotiations
Training members of the competing groups in
group process and inter personal skills. ( for
example, engaging them in exercises to increase
inter personal awareness and promote harmony)

CHAPTER THREE: PROJECT TEAM STAFFING PROFILE
AND OPERATION
 3.1 Project Team Staffing
 3.2 Project Team Profile
 3.3 Uniqueness of Project Teams
 3.4 Project Team Operation
3.1. STAFFING THE PROJECT TEAM
 There are a number of important factors that contribute to a successful





project, but if one had to single out the most important factor, it would
be people. Good people always find a way to make things happen.
The project manager’s ability to influence who is assigned to his or her
project can have a significant impact on the success of the project.
influence can range from very little (e.g., he or she inherits the project
team members and must forge a successful team with the people given
to him/her), to being told he or she can pick the best people for the job
at hand.
Typically, however, the actual amount of influence the project manager
has in selecting his or her project team falls somewhere between these
two extremes.
As a result, the project manager must employ a number of different
strategies to obtain the best people for his or her project, consistent
with the overall objectives of the organization.
In lining up people for the project team, the project manager must be
flexible, persuasive, and assertive.
The successful PM will invest the time necessary to assemble the best
project team that the constraints of the project will allow.
WHOM TO SELECT
The Right Type of Expertise
 The people whom you select for your project team will
depend on the nature of the project.
 You will want to select the right engineering
disciplines, construction trades, and support staffs
that will best help you lead and manage a successful
project.
 Each project, with its own unique requirements, will
determine how many and which types of knowledge
and skills will be required to perform a successful
project.
WHOM TO SELECT
The Right Type of People
 After you have determined what type of expertise is required for your
project, you will want to find good people who possess the right kind
of expertise needed on the project.
 This is where it is critically important that you do as much homework
as possible on potential project team members.
 Assuming you have some say in who will be assigned to your project
(and you almost always will have some input as to who will be on your
project team—it just varies as to how much input you will have), you
want to request the best possible people for your project.
 The best electrical engineer, the best draftsperson, the best electrical
installer, the best heating, ventilating, air conditioning mechanic,
etc.
 Good people solve problems before they become problems; because
they typically do, things right the first time.
Below are some things you can do to identify the best
people for your project team.
 Your own experience. If you have worked with someone previously
and know he or she performs good work, this is the best
recommendation you can have because it is first hand.
 Ask your boss. Your boss, unless he or she is new in the job, will be
able to suggest good people for your project team. In a recent
engineering project managed by Barry for a client, he relied heavily
on his client (to whom he reported) for staffing recommendations,
which turned out very well.
 Recommendation of colleague or friend. Ask people you trust
whom they might recommend for the job.
 A good recommendation from a trusted colleague is very valuable,
especially if that person knows the type of work to be performed
better than you.
Recruit from outside your organization.
 If there is no one within your organization whom you can recruit to
fill an open project team slot, you may need to hire a person from
outside your organization.
 The open position may be one requiring an experienced engineer,
craftsperson, CAD operator, etc., or one, which could be filled by a
new college graduate, trade school graduate, union training program
graduate, or other entry-level person.
 Special care must be taken in the recruiting process to ensure
compliance with federal, state and local regulations governing
recruiting and hiring. Otherwise, you could end up with a lawsuit on
your hands (just what you and your company do not need!).
STAFFING FROM OUTSIDE THE ORGANIZATION
 Recruiting and hiring good people is one of the most challenging tasks of a
manager.
RECRUITING
 Depending on the size of your organization, you will want to work closely
with your human resources department (HRD) to have them help you find
the right people for your project. If you have an HRD, by all means use it; if
not, you will likely do most of the recruiting effort on your own. Either way,
the steps in this section will help you find and hire the right people.
 1. Create a job description for the position you are seeking to fill. List the
duties and responsibilities of the position as well as the skills required to
successfully perform in that position. Make it job-specific and leave out
attributes such as gender, age, race, physical appearance, etc. which have no
relevancy to the actual job and which could lead to a lawsuit.
 2. Identify your sources for the position you are seeking to fill. Your actual
approach will depend on your specific needs, the size of your human
resources department, and other factors unique to your organization.
3.2 Project Team Profile
Project Team Mix
 The project team consists of the group of people contributing to meet
the objectives of the project.
 Some team members – for example specialists whose expertise is only
required for a particular activity over a short time scale – may have
very small parts to play in the project as a whole and probably will not
feel like part of the close body of people involved in more active and
longer lasting roles.
 However, in the case of a project, it is worth thinking of the project
team in the widest possible terms, including:
 contractor’s personnel
 subcontractors
 clients
3.2 Project Team Profile
 any other interested bodies such as inspectors, government,
community groups, and lobby groups.
 It may not seem like it in practice but it is, in the case of the first four
groups at least, in everyone’s best interests to meet the project
objectives in a timely and cost-effective manner.
 This being the case, success is best achieved in a good, open, closeworking relationship.
 Often, client personnel are seconded into the contractor’s team.
Alternatively, and where appropriate, the client may establish an
office next to a contractor on the project site.
 3.3 Uniqueness of Project Teams
 It is well established that every project is unique, and thus it could
follow that every project team must be unique in order to succeed.
 The differences between project teams may be marginal or they may
be enormous.
 A project team can consist of two or three people in the case of very
small projects, or thousands of people in the case of very large
projects.
 Teams may be all from the same office or they may originate from
different companies and work in different geographical locations.
 They may be full of young people, as in many software projects, or
they may be a mixture of young and old, as in many of the more
traditional construction projects.
 They may be male-dominated, female-dominated, or have a good
balance. They may be made up of highly-skilled technical experts, or
they may be commerce-oriented with no technical staff.
 Thus, it is sensible to conclude that there is no set skills profile for an
effective project team.
 The skills employed must fully reflect the nature of the project. There
are, however, three specialist project management positions that
need to be filled:
 project manager
 project planner
 project controller

 They are effectively the managing director, the operations director
and the financial director of the business that is the project.
 And, although knowledge of the technology underpinning the project
is valuable in performing each of these roles – indeed, it is unlikely
that anyone without some knowledge of the industry would be
employed in such positions – the primary function in each position is
a project management one.
3.4 Project Team Operation
 Reviews of the many team working approaches and techniques
that claim to enhance the operation of teams by improving team
performance and assisting in the development of good team
spirit reveal that they share many similar underlying
characteristics. Most team handbooks identify similar objectives
and contain common elements. Some typical common areas
include those set out next:

 Establishing measurable objectives.
3.4 Project Team Operation
 Identify and acknowledge the stakeholders who will determine, on
completion of the project, whether or not it has been successful. They
may be the client, a project sponsor, members of the project
management team or, most likely, some combination of interested
individuals and groups. Stakeholder identification, and reconciliation
with the project and project team, can be achieved through a
stakeholder mapping and management exercise
 Work with the stakeholders to determine and state explicitly what their
dimensions of success are. Use this to establish how good performance
could be measured. There may need to be a complex trade-off between
the conflicting desires of the various stakeholders. It is likely that
multiple measures will be required as no single measure can capture
the many dimensions involved.
3.4 Project Team Operation
 The importance of determining and agreeing criteria for success cannot
be overemphasized. It is important to find out what stakeholders’
expectations of success actually are. In many cases they may not have
articulated these previously and a great deal of effort may be required
to describe, agree and document them. Once this is done, the team can
then focus on meeting the requirements without the fear that, despite
the team’s best efforts, the stakeholders will deem the project a failure
because of expectations of which the project team was not aware.

 Stakeholders management.
 Stakeholders are sometimes referred to as the ‘invisible team’. These
include all stakeholders who are members of the extended project team
outside the immediate project management team. If managed
properly, they will provide a great source of support.
 Protect the image of the team. How the team is perceived from the
outside will have a significant bearing on whether it is considered
successful or not. It is not enough to do a good job; the good job has to
be recognized by people outside the project team. In the case of very
large projects, it is not unusual for advertising or public relations
people to be employed for this purpose.
 Develop a network of useful contacts who may be able to help or advise




the project team as required. Key relationships should be established.
These can help overcome barriers and smooth problems, should they
occur.
Use the network to identify and provide quality project resources when
and where they are required.
Establishing and planning measurable targets.
Plans should be prepared in a manner that is understandable and that
can be used in practice by the members of the project team.
 · In the first instance, the plans should be prepared at different levels (e.g.
overviews for senior managers, detailed plans for operatives) and should
contain as much information as is known and is appropriate for the
particular level of communication.
 · Plan for the unknown. Have contingency arrangements in place to cover
any unexpected events that might occur.
 Set realistic and achievable milestones that will act as celebration points
throughout the project. These have an important effect on motivation as the
project progresses.

 .Planning and establishing processes.
 Establish firm ground rules so that participants understand both their own
roles and as many aspects of the project as possible – for example, how each
individual should respond to people outside the project team in a wide
range of circumstances.
 Plan for creating an environment where team members are energized to air
their opinions, take responsibility, and be creative when confronted by
problems. The attitude or spirit of the team is important in terms of
stimulating thought processes and improving decision making.
 Develop a plan for managing and developing relationships. Done well, this
will keep team morale high, with team members supporting each other,
doing things together, making sure that all the team members feel as
though they belong, and keeping communication lines open. This will not
happen automatically and requires conscious effort by the project manager.
 The rules should be firm, but they should not be unchangeable should
circumstances require it. The project team should operate within a flexible
environment and should be able to change in response to changes in the
environment – including the evolution of the team itself.
 Leadership.
 Strong, credible leadership is required to provide clear direction and
stimulate high performance from its members.
 Continual research is required into ways to improve both the internal and
the external workings of the team, and then action on the findings should
occur.
 Rewarding good performance will motivate members. It is also important
to ensure that poor performance is not ‘tolerated’. This is important in
maintaining motivation.

 Membership and identity.
 Team members need to support the project manager for the team to be
successful. The project manager requires their respect and must have
credibility to carry out the job. The members need to believe in the project
manager’s ability to get the job done.
 Active followership is much more valuable than passive followership, and
the project team should support and reward, debate and challenge
between its members.
 Specialists and others drafted into the team temporarily must be seen in a
positive light and not considered a nuisance.
 Team members should clearly understand their roles and what these
entail.
 Team members should be aware of their individual contribution to the
project but also recognize their value to the team and the need for cooperation with the team.

 Communication systems.
 In order to develop a good working team spirit, formal or informal meetings
are important not only from the classic point of view (i.e. meeting to
exchange information, solve problems and make decisions) but also for
other important purposes such as confirming the group’s identity,
providing opportunities for active involvement, reinforcing rules, and
celebrating success.
 Meetings can be very effective if sufficient advance preparation has taken
place and they are well run.
 Accept and address conflict.
 Establish an effective formal communication system and make use of
informal communications. Project managers tend to work more closely
with their team members and the relative power of the informal
communication network should be exploited.
 Efficient communication with external bodies is particularly important.
The project manager should ensure that adequate communication systems
are in place and are functioning correctly. There may be a requirement to
work through an interface, such as an internal legal services department.
 Meetings should always result in actions, preferably documented with time
scales and individual or group responsibilities.
 Team separation.
 Team members are expected to deliver on time what they agreed to. Being
apart from the other team members does not mean they have reduced their
expectations.
 Members should be encouraged to rely on the ability of fellow team
members to deliver what they agree to. This leaves individual team members
free to manage their own responsibilities without unwarranted distractions.
 Commitment and momentum have to be maintained even when the team is
working in different locations or is unable to meet as regularly as the
members might desire.
 Keeping in regular contact enables clear communication lines.

 Information technology
 Recent advances in information technology have brought significant






changes to managing projects. Email, the Internet, groupware and client–
server technology have enabled project team members to work
autonomously at remote locations at any time of the day or night, Monday
to Sunday. For the project, this means that some project team members may
never need to meet face to face.
There are many advantages to making use of IT advances:
it reduces the need for specific accommodation and facilities. Video link
conference facilities mean that project teams can still meet when ·
geographically separated.
reduced direct interaction can lead to fewer conflicts resulting from
personality clashes.
records can be kept so that accountability and audit become simpler.
team members work under less direct supervision and therefore have
greater freedom of action.
less control bureaucracy is required.
 There are also disadvantages, including the following:
 Supporting individual team members from a remote location can be





expensive, especially if another team member needs to visit them, or
have them visit, should face-to-face contact be necessary.
Loneliness can be a major factor. Project team members are used to
working in teams.
Many of them are motivated by the daily interaction
with their work-mates. There may be fewer opportunities to develop a
good team spirit.
Managers lose control of work.
 If there are significant time differences between team members’





locations, co-ordination may be a problem.
People often say that video-link conferences are ‘not the same’ as direct
face-to-face interaction.
Some people have a natural hostility towards the use of advanced IT.
IT can always go wrong. It can be very frustrating if the land line or
satellite link suddenly goes down mid-conference!
Team building processes and the formation of cohesion are severely
restricted and the team has to develop alternative approaches to these ·
Requirements.
CHAPTER-4-
BUILDING PROJECT TEAMS
TRAINING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this training trainees will be able
to describe and discuss:
 The five stage of team development
 Team dynamics and process
 Leadership styles for team management
 Team norms and cohesiveness
4.1.BENEFITS FROM TEAM WORK
 By understanding the benefits of teamwork we can
better
undertake the tasks associated with team building and
team development.
motivate potential team members, and set up an
environment conducive to teamwork.
 The benefits of teamwork can be placed into one of
four areas:
task related benefits,
human related benefits,
creativity and innovation,
and employee participation.
A-TASK RELATED BENFITS
Task related benefits from teamwork can be put
into two categories: production gains and
decreased costs.
Teamwork helps to improve the quantity and
quality of output.
"Companies turn more and more to teams because
old structures do not adequately respond to
marketplace demands or because they see teams as
a better way of doing business".
 reduced operating costs due to the increased
productivity, and more effective use of resources.
 B. Human Related Benefits from Teamwork
Teamwork may help the individual to cope with
the organizational environment or culture.
 Katzenbach and Smith "a team opportunity exists
anywhere hierarchy or organizational boundaries
inhibit the skills and perspectives needed for
optimal results".
Flattened organizations may benefit from teams,
in that the authority to make decisions is given to
the teams.
C-CREATIVITY AND TEAM WORK
Increased creativity may be a benefit from
teamwork.
Likert wrote in 1961 that "the supportive
atmosphere of the highly effective group
stimulates creativity.
The group does not demand narrow conformity as
do the work groups under authoritarian leaders ...
the group attaches high value to new, creative
approaches and solutions to its problems and to
the problems of the organization of which it is a
part.".
The quality of a team's decision may be better
than if the decision was made by individuals.
D-PARTICIPATION AND INVOLVEMENT
It has been assumed by many modern
organizations that worker participation in
decision-making is important for productivity
and job satisfaction.
Etzioni (1975) presented three degrees of
participation: 1) a coercive system, 2) a utilitarian
system, and 3) a system based on goal consensus.
A team based company should be a system based
on goal consensus between leaders and followers
and on goal consensus based on team goals.
Consensus is very difficult for teams to reach,
leading to risky shift and groupthink.
4.2. ARGUMENTS AGAINST TEAMWORK
Arguments against teamwork are
 A- misdirected work efforts,
B- loss of individual contributions,
C- lack of accountability and control,
D- groupthink and risky shift, and
E- individualism vs. groupism.
4.3. GROUP DEVELOPMENT OVER TIME:
THE FIVE-STAGE MODEL
 All groups change over time as group members come
and go; group tasks and goals change; and group
members gain experience in interacting with each other.
 One well-known model of group development is Bruce
Tuckman’s five-stage model.
 The model go through five stages of growth: Forming,
Storming,Norming, Performing, and finally Adjourning.
 While most matrix or cross-functional teams go through
these stages, depending upon the team's diversity of its
members and purpose, some of the stages may be quite
short or last for a period of time.
STATGE-1- FORMING
 In this stage, team members are introduced.
 They state why they were chosen or volunteered for the team and what they
hope to accomplish within the team.
 Members cautiously explore the boundaries of acceptable group behavior.
 This is a stage of transition from individual to member status, and testing
the leader's guidance both formally and informally.
 FORMING INCLUDES THESE FEELINGS AND BEHAVIORS:
Excitement, anticipation, and optimism
Pride in being chosen for the project
A tentative attachment to the team
Suspicion and anxiety about the task at hand
Defining the tasks and how they will be accomplished
Determining acceptable group behavior
Deciding what information needs to be gathered
Activities include abstract discussions of the concepts and issues; and for
some members, impatience with these discussions.
There is often difficulty in identifying some of the relevant problems as
there is so much going on that members get distracted. The team often
accomplishes little concerning its goals. This is perfectly normal.
STAGE -2- STORMING
 The team's transition from the "As-Is" to the "To-Be" is called the Storming phase.
 All members have their own ideas as to how the process should look, and personal
agendas are often rampant.
 Storming is probably the most difficult stage for the team.
 They begin to realize the tasks that are ahead are different and more difficult than they
previously imagined.
 Impatient about the lack of progress, members argue about just what actions the team
should take.
STORMING INCLUDES THESE FEELINGS AND BEHAVIORS:
 Resisting the tasks
 Resisting quality improvement approaches suggested by other members
 Sharp fluctuations in attitude about the team's chance of success
 Arguing among members, even when they agree on the real issues
 Defensiveness, competition, and choosing sides
 Questioning the wisdom of those who selected the project and appointed the
members of the team
 Establishing unrealistic goals
 Disunity, increased tension, and jealousy
STAGE -3- NORMING
 The Norming phase is when the team reaches a consensus on the "To-Be"
process.
 Everyone wants to share the newly found focus.
 Enthusiasm is high, and the team is often tempted to go beyond the
original scope of the process.
 During this stage, members reconcile competing loyalties and
responsibilities.
 They accept the team, ground rules, roles, and the individuality of fellow
members. Emotional conflict is reduced as previously competitive
relationships become more cooperative.
 NORMING INCLUDES THESE FEELINGS AND BEHAVIORS:
 An ability to express criticism constructively
 Acceptance of membership in the team
 An attempt to achieve harmony by avoiding conflict
 Friendliness, confiding in each other, and sharing of personal problems
 A sense of team cohesion, spirit, and goals
 Establishing and maintaining team ground rules and boundaries
 As team members work out their differences, they have more time and
energy to spend on the project.
STAGE -4- PERFORMING
 By now the team has settled its relationships and expectations.
They can begin performing by diagnosing, problem solving, and
implementing changes.
 Team members have discovered and accepted other's strengths and
weakness. In addition, they have learned what their roles are.
Performing includes these feelings and behaviors:
 Members have insights into personal and group processes
 An understanding of each other's strengths and weakness
 Constructive self-change
 Ability to prevent or work through group problems
 Close attachment to the team
 The team is now an effective, cohesive unit. You can tell when your
team has reached this stage because you start getting a lot of work
done.
STAGE -5- ADJOURNING
The team briefs and shares the improved process
during this phase.
 When the team finally completes that last
briefing, there is always a bittersweet sense of
accomplishment coupled with the reluctance to
say good-bye.
 Many relationships formed within these teams
continue long after the team disbands. and
collaborating together.
4.4. UNDERSTANDING TEAM DYNAMICS/TEAM
STRUCTURE AND TEAM PROCESSES
 4.4.1. TEAM STRUCTURE
 The structure of a group reflects the basis of group identity - and
indeed the very fact that we can speak of a group at all rather than
merely a number of individuals, For structure reflects the established
pattern of behavior that are unique within a particular group.
 THE SIX MAJOR COMPONENTS OF TEAM STRUCTURE ARE THE
FOLLOWING:
1-OBJECTIVES:- groups needs to agree on clear objectives and be
committed to their achievement.
2-TEAM SIZE:- Group members should not be too few or too much,
ideal size must be determined.
3-TEAM NORM:- The group’s shared expectation of its member’s
behavior (desirable)
4-TEAM COHESIVENESS:- The attractiveness and closeness group
members have for themselves and the group. Factors affecting
cohesiveness are
4.4. UNDERSTANDING TEAM DYNAMICS/TEAM
STRUCTURE AND TEAM PROCESSES
5-STATUS WITHIN A TEAM: As group member interacts, they develop respect for one another on
numerous dimensions. The more respect, prestige, and power a member has
the higher will be the person status within the group. Perceived ranking of a
member relative to the other.
6. TEAM ROLES:
 Roles are shared expectation of how group member will fulfill the
requirement of their position.
 TASK (Functional) role:-Things group members do and say that
directly aid in the accomplishment of objectives. This role relies on
members skills and experiences.
 Team (maintenance) role :Things group members do and say to
develop and sustain its group-dynamics. This role bases members
personality, interpersonal and communication ability.
 Self - interest role:-Things group members do and say in order to
meet their own needs at the expense of the group. To be effective, a
group must have members who play task roles and maintenance
roles, while minimizing self-interest roles.
4.4.2. GROUP PROCESSES/GROUP DYNAMICS






Group process is the manner in which group action is constructed on a
continuing basis.
process emphasize changes in the flow of activities; indeed group process
indicate how structure becomes established and how over-time they may
changethe subjective perception of group members and their-active involvement
in group life.
All groups are unique, their dynamics change over a period of timeGroup development stags can be analyzed as a five-stage model which
involves the following points.
STAGE 1- ORIENTATION STAGE
Low development level
High commitment and low competence
When people first form a group they tend to come to the group with a
moderate to high commitment to the group. However because they have
not worked together, they don’t have the competence to achieve the task.
When first interacting members tend to have anxiety over how they will fit
in, what will be required of them what the group will be like, purpose of the
group and so forth.
If roles and group objectives are never clearly stated and understood by its
members, it is difficult to develop as a group.
STAGE 2- DISSATISFACTION
 Moderate development level
 Lower commitment and some competence.
 As members work together for some time they tend to
become dissatisfied with the group.
 Members start to question: why am I a member? Is the
group going to accomplish anything? Why don’t other
group members do what is expected?
 Groups
stuck in this stage of development are
characterized by demoralization, low motivation and low
productivity. They never progress to being satisfied with
the group and learning to perform as a team as long as
they are in stage 2.
4.5.2. GROUP PROCESSES/GROUP DYNAMICS
 STAGE 3- RESOLUTION
 High development level
 Variable commitment and high competence
 With time, members often resolve the difference between initial
expectation and realities in relation to the objectives, tasks, skills
and so forth. As members develop competence they often become
more satisfied with the group.
 Relation develop that satisfy group members’ affiliation needs. They
learn to work together as they develop a group structure with
acceptable norm and cohesiveness.
 The group must develop a positive group structure to move to the
next stage of group development.
4.5.2. GROUP PROCESSES/GROUP DYNAMICS
STAGE 4- PRODUCTION
 Outstanding development level
 High commitment and competence
 commitment and competence don’t fluctuate much. High level of
satisfaction of affiliation needs. The group maintain a positive group
structure. Members are productive and open to each other.
STAGE 5- TERMINATION
 It does occur for a task group.
 Members experience feeling about leaving the group.
 In group that have progressed through all the four stages of
development, members usually feel sad that the group is ending.
 In groups that did not progress through. The four stags, members
experience relief.
4.4.3. TEAM BEHAVIOR AND LEADERSHIP STYLE
Team Behavior
Successful team leadership depends on the ability to develop both
team building and task management behavior.
SOME KEY TEAM BEHAVIORS
Proposing and initiating - proposing ideas and courses of action
which are
Building and summarizing relevant to the task- Developing other
people’s proposals
Gate keeping- Opening - Positively attempting to involve others
closing- attempting to control or cut off others.
Diagnosing - Analyzing what is wrong or the cause of a particular
situation.
encouraging - Being friendly, supportive and responsive to other people
by verbal and non-verbal means.
4.4.3. TEAM BEHAVIOR AND LEADERSHIP STYLE
Giving and seeking- Offering and seeking appropriate
information
Conflict resolution- Being prepared to acknowledge and
deal with conflict.
Evaluating- Weighing up the merits of proposal and out
comes.
Giving feed back- Giving appropriate feed back on people’s
contributions.
Dealing with feeling- Recognizing and acknowledging
people’s feeling
looking after physical needs- Meeting such needs as
adequate amenities, space, refreshment etc---Decision making- Contributing to decisions on a particular
proposal or course of action.
DYSFUNCTIONAL BEHAVIORS:
 These activities typically hinder the development of a group, its maintenance,
and its ability to accomplish goals.
In general, blocking functions are
dysfunctional for group progression on any scale.
 AGGRESSOR 






Deflating others’ status,- attacking the group or its value;
joking in a barbed or semi-concealed way.
BLOCKER - Disagreeing and opposing beyond reason; resisting stubbornly
the groups wish for personally oriented reasons; using hidden agenda to
thwart the movement of a group.
DOMINATOR- Asserting authority of superiority to manipulate group or certain
of its members; controlling by means of flattery or
other form of patronizing
behavior.
SHOWOFF - Making scene over one’s lack of involvement; abandoning the group
while remaining physically with it, seeking recognition in ways not relevant to
group task.
AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOUR- Pursuing special interest not related to task;
Staying off subject to avoid commitment; preventing group from facing up to
controversy.
4.5. TEAM MANAGEMENT - LEADERSHIP STYLES
 Approaches to team management may vary,
 from telling to delegating,
 using more or less authority and allowing team members
to have more or less freedom to participate in team
decisions.
The appropriate leadership style in team
management depends on the following factors:
 The leader own natural style as a management
 The nature of the team
 The leader own level of power-level of authority given to
the team leader
 The structure of the task or project; the less structured
the task the more a participative leadership style may be
appropriate.
 Supervisory style for team management following the
team development stage over its life.

GROUP DEVELOPMENT LEVEL
SUPERVISORY STYLES
1-LOW DEVELOPMENT
AUTOCRATIC STYLE
 High commitment and low competence
High task and low
maintenance
Provide direction so that the group has clear
objective and members know their roles.
 members come to the group committed but they can not perform with
competence
Make the decision for the group
 2-MODERATE DEVELOPMENT
CONSULTATIVE STYLE
Low commitment and some competence High task and high maintenance
continue members have become
to direct the group
so it develops task ability.
 dissatisfied with the group. They have
Provide maintenance to regain
commitment
 started to develop competence but are
 frustrated with result.
 3-HIGH DEVELOPMENT
 Variable commitments and high
provide little
as the group structure take place include
members’ in put in decisions.
PARTICIPATIVE STYLE
Low task and high maintenance
 competence. Commitments changes over
an effective
direction. Focus on developing
 time while production remains relatively
group participate
group structure. Have the
 constant
in decision making.
 4-OUTSTANDING DEVELOPMENT
LAISSEZ - FAIR STYLE
High commitment and high competence Low task and low maintenance members
 commitment remains constantly high
provide their own task and
maintenance
 so does production
roles and the supervisor is a group
member.
Allow the group to make its own
decisions.
4.6. INFLUENCING TEAM NORMS AND COHESIVENESS
FOR INCREASED TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
 The norms and cohesiveness of any group, formal or in formal,
interrelate with one another to affect the behavior of group
members.
 Managers should therefore be skilled at influencing norms and
cohesion in ways that support high level of task performance and
member satisfaction.
 Group effectiveness will be enhanced as a result.
 BUILDING POSITIVE NORMS: The appropriate focus for norm-building efforts varies with each
of the four stages of group development.
 Because group norms are largely determined by the collective
will of group members, it is difficult for a manger simply to
dictate which norms a given work group will adopt.
 Instead a manager must use knowledge of group dynamics to
help and encourage group members to adopts norms supportive
of organizational objectives.

Among the things a manager can do are the
following.
Act as a positive role model
reinforce the desired behaviors via rewards
Control results by performance reviews and
regular feed back.
Train and orient new members to adopt
desired behaviors.
Hold regular meetings to discuss group
progress, and ways of improving task
performance and member satisfaction
Use group decision-making methods to reach
agreement on appropriate behavior
GROUP COHESIVENESS:Conformity to norms is largely determined by a group’s
cohesiveness,
the degree to which members are attracted to and motivated to
remain part of the group.
Persons in a highly cohesive group value their membership and
strive to maintain positive relationship with other group members.
They tend to conform to group norms as a result.
Group cohesiveness is affected by a variety of personal and
situation variables.
Cohesion tends to be high in groups whose members share similar
attitudes, socioeconomic backgrounds, needs and other individual
attributes.
When members respect and hold one another’s competencies in
high esteem, cohesiveness is also likely to be high.
Situational factors that enhance group cohesion include
agreement on group goals, small size of membership, tasks
requiring a high degree of interdependence, physical isolation
from other groups, performance success, and performance failure
or crisis.
COHESION, SATISFACTION, AND PERFORMANCE
 Cohesive groups are good for their members.
 Members of highly cohesive groups are concerned about their group’s






activity and achievement.
They tend to be more energetic in working on group activities, to be less
likely to be absent, to feel happy about performance success and to be
displeased about failures.
cohesive groups generally have stable memberships and faster feelings of
loyalty, security and high self-esteem among members. Thus they satisfy a
full range of individual needs.
A basic rule of group dynamics is that the more cohesive the group, the
greater the conformity of members to group norms.
When the performance norm of a group is positive, high cohesion and
resulting conformity to norms has a very beneficial effect.
When the performance norm is negative in a cohesive group, however,
high conformity can have undesirable results.
The worst situation for a manager is a highly cohesive work group with
negative performance norms. Here productivity will probably suffer as
members restrict individual work efforts to levels consistent with the
group’s negative performance norm.
INFLUENCING COHESION: There are times a manger may want to build
cohesiveness in work groups for example, when trying
to increase conformity to a positive performance norm
 There may also be times when the objective is break
down cohesiveness, such as when group members
exhibit high conformity to a negative performance
norm..
In order to increase cohesion a manager can:
Induce agreement on group goals
Increase membership homogeneity
Increase interactions among members
Decrease group size
Introduce competition with other groups
Reward group rather than individuals results.
Provide physical isolation from other group.
2. IN ORDER TO DECREASE COHESION A MANAGER
CAN:
Foster disagreement on group goals
Increase membership heterogeneity
Restrict interaction among members
Increase group size
Reward individual result rather than group
Remove physical isolation
Introduce a dominating member
Disband the group
4.6.GROUPTHINK:Members of highly cohesive groups may publicly agree with
actual or suggested solution or course of actions, while privately
having serious personal reservations
Strong feeling of loyalty can result in an inability of group
members to critically evaluate one anther’s ideas and
suggestions.
Desire to retain cohesion, hold the group together, and avoid
disagreement can lead to an over emphasis on agreement and
biased decision making.
* Symptoms indicating that “Group think” may be
occurring:
Illusion of group invulnerability. Members of the group feel it is
basically beyond criticism or attack.
Rationalizing unpleasant and disconfirming data-refusal to
accept contradictory data or to consider alternative thoroughly.
GROUPTHINK:Belief in inherent group morality. Members of the
group feel it is ‘right’ and above any reproach by
outsiders.
Stereotyping competitors as weak, evil, and stupid.
Refusal to look realistically at other groups.
Applying direct pressure to deviants to conform to
group wishes. Refusal to tolerate a member who
suggests the group may be wrong.
Self-censorship by members. refusal by members to
communicate personal concerns to the group as a
whole.
Illusionsofunanimity.Acceptingconsensus
prematurely without testing its completeness.
Mind guarding.
4.7.DETERMINANTS OF TEAMS' EFFECTIVENESS
The key components making up effective teams can be subsumed into
four general categories.
work design.
the team’s composition.
resources and other contextual influences that make teams
effective.
the process variables that reflect the things that go on in the team
and that influence group effectiveness.
Team effectiveness means typically that objective measure of the
team’s productivity, manager’s ratings of the team’s performance,
and aggregate measures of member satisfaction.
4.7.1. WORK DESIGN
 Effective teams need to work together and take collective
responsibility to complete significant tasks.
THE WORK DESIGN CATEGORY INCLUDES VARIABLES SUCH AS:
freedom and autonomy,
the opportunity to utilize different skills and talents,
the ability to complete a whole and identifiable task or product,
working on a task or project that has a substantial impact on
others.
evidence indicates that these characteristics enhance member
motivation and increase team effectiveness.
These work design characteristics motivate because they increase
members’ sense of responsibility and ownership over the work and
because they make the work more interesting to perform.
4.7.2. COMPOSITION
Several team composition factors are important to a
team’s effectiveness.
These include team member abilities, personality,
and role allocation, and diversity, size of teams,
member flexibility, and member preferences.
Part of a team’s performance depends on its members’
knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Research has shown that to perform effectively, a team
needs three different types of skills.
First, it needs people with technical expertise. Next, it
needs members with problem-solving and decisionmaking skills. Finally, a team needs people with
interpersonal skills.
 4.7.3.PERSONALITY:
Personality has a significant influence on individual employee
behavior.
Five personality model have been shown to be relevant to team
effectiveness.
Specifically, teams that are rated more highly in mean levels of
extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional
stability tend to receive higher managerial ratings for team
performance.
Another interesting finding related to personality is that “One
bad apple can spoil the barrel”.
A single team member who lacks performance.
So including just one person who is low on agreeableness,
conscientiousness, or extraversion can result in strained internal
processes and decreased overall performance.

4.7.4. ALLOCATING ROLES AND DIVERSITY:
teams do have different needs, and people should be selected for
a team to ensure that there is diversity and that all various roles
are filled.
WE CAN IDENTIFY NINE POTENTIAL TEAM ROLES.
Linker (coordinates and integrates)
creator (initiates creative ideas),
promoter (champions ideas after they are initiated),
assessor (offer insightful analysis of options),
organizer (provide structure),
producer (provide direction and follow – through)
controller (examines details and enforces rules)
maintainer (fights external battles)
Advisor (encourages the search for more information). Teams
have people to fill all these roles and have selected people to play
in these roles based on their skills and preferences.
Size of Teams: the most effective teams are neither
very small (under four or five members) nor very large
(over a dozen).
Member Flexibility: Teams made up of flexible
individuals have members who can complete each
other’s tasks.
Selecting members who value flexibility and then
cross-training them to be able to do each other’s jobs
should lead to higher teams performance over time.
Member Preferences: Not every employee is a team
player. Given the option, many employees will select
themselves out of team participation.
High performing teams are likely to be composed of
people who prefer working as part of a group.
4.7.5. CONTEXT
 The three contextual factors that appear to be most significantly
related to team performance are
 Adequate Resources: In our work group model, we acknowledged
that a work group is part of a larger organization system. All work
teams rely on resources outside the group to sustain. And a scarcity
of recourses directly reduces the ability of the team to perform its
job effectively
 Leadership and Structure: Team members must agree on who is to
do what and ensure that all members contribute equally in sharing
the workload. Additionally, the team needs to determine how
schedules will be set, what skills need to be developed, how the
group will resolve conflicts, and how the group will make and
modify decisions.
 Performance Evaluation and Reward System: How do you get team
members to be both individually and jointly accountable? The
traditional, individually oriented evaluation and reward system
must be modified to reflect team performance.
 4.7.6. PROCESS INCLUDES:
 A Common Purpose. Effective teams have a common and
meaningful purpose that provides direction, momentum and
commitment for members.
 Specific Goals. Successful teams translate their common purpose
into specific, measurable, and realistic performance goals. Goals
lead individuals to higher performance, goals also energize
teams.
 Team Efficacy. Effective teams have confidence in themselves.
They believe they can succeed. We call this team efficacy. Success
breeds success. Two possible options are helping the team to
achieve small successes and providing skill training.
 Small successes build team confidence. In addition, managers
should consider providing training to improve members’
technical and interpersonal skills.
 Conflict
Levels. Conflict on a team isn’t
necessarily bad.
 Conflict can actually improve team effectiveness.
 Task conflicts stimulate discussion, promote
critical assessment of problems and options, and
can lead to better team decisions.
 Social Loafing. Effective teams undermine this
tendency by holding themselves accountable at
both the individual and team levels.
 Successful teams make members individually and
jointly accountable for the team’s purpose, goals
and approach. They are clear on what they are
individually responsible for and what they are
jointly responsible for.
4.8. REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM LEADERSHIP
Becoming an effective team leader requires:
 learning to share information,
 developing the ability to trust others,
 learning to give up authority; and
 knowing when to leave their teams alone and when to
intercede.
 New roles that team leaders take on include
managing the team’s external boundary and
facilitating the team process.
5.2. THE ROLEOF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION FOR TEAM
PRODUCTIVITY
 5.2.1. INTRODUCTION
 Communication is an essential part of most aspects of management.
Whenever you discuss a problem with a work team, interview a
potential employee, discuss a change initiative with those you
manage, or investigate a customer’s needs, you need to communicate
effectively.
 To be successful or effective as a manager you need to understand
what is involved in communication and develop your skills in this
area.
 Many of the problems that occur in an organization are the direct
result of people failing to communicate.
 Faulty communication causes the most problems. It leads to
confusion and can cause a good plan to fail.
 As a manager studying the communication process is important
because you coach, coordinate, counsel, evaluate, and supervise
through this process.
 It is the chain of understanding that integrates the members of an
organization from top to bottom, bottom to top, and side to side.
5.2.2. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
 Communication can be defined as the process by which people attempt
to share meaning via the transmission of symbolic messages. The word
communication is derived from the Latin word “communes”, meaning
“common”, the communicator seeks to establish commonness with a
receiver by transmitting information and understanding using common
symbols.
 Organizational communication refers to the communication that is
taking place in an organizational setting. The success of an organization
depends on the effectiveness of organizational members
communication. Effective organizational communication can create a
common understanding of organizational objective and its achievement
between management and workers.
 During the transmitting of the message, two processes will be received
by the receiver: content and context. Content is the actual words or
symbols of the message which is known as language - the spoken and
written words combined into phrases that make grammatical and
semantic sense. We all use and interpret the meanings of words
differently, so even simple messages can be misunderstood. And many
words have different meanings to confuse the issue even more.
5.2.2. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
 Context is the way the message is delivered and is known as
Paralanguage - it includes the tone of voice, the look in the sender's
eye's, body language, hand gestures, and state of emotions (anger, fear,
uncertainty, confidence, etc.) that can be detected.
 Although paralanguage or context often causes messages to be
misunderstood as we believe what we see more than what we hear; they
are powerful communicators that help us to understand each other.
Indeed, we often trust the accuracy of nonverbal behaviors more than
verbal behaviors.
 Some leaders think they have communicated once they told someone to
do something, "I don't know why it did not get done...I told Jim to do it."
More than likely, Jim misunderstood the message.
 A message has NOT been communicated unless it is understood by the
receiver (decoded). How do you know it has been properly received? By
two-way communication or feedback.
 This feedback tells the sender that the receiver understood the message,
its level of importance, and what must be done with it. Communication
is an exchange, not just a give, as all parties must participate to complete
the information exchange.
A COMMUNICATION MODEL
 ***
***
 THE SENDER
***
ENCODING MESSAGE&MEDIUM
DECODING ***
FEEDBACK
**** noise
RECEIVER***
5.2.3. INTERPRETING INFORMATION
 Perception is the cognitive process by which an individual give
meaning to the environment through input skills.
 It is the process through which people receive and interpret
information from the environment.
 It is the way we process information into the decisions that
ultimately guide our actions, our perceptual accuracy is intern
affected by our value, needs, cultural background and other
circumstances of the moment.
 In order to understand perceptual differences, you need to be on
guard to make your own perception as accurate as possible, you
must also anticipate, recognize and be prepared to react to the
perceptions of others.
 Perceptual distortions lead to inaccurate impression which
intern can lead to biased decisions and in appropriate actions.
THE FOUR COMMON PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
 1. STEREO TYPES
 A stereo type occurs when an individual is identified with a group or
category, and then the attributes associated with the group or category is
assigned to the individual in question
 2. HALO EFFECTS
 A halo effect occurs when one attribute is used to develop an overall
impression of a person or situation.
 This involves generalization from only one attribute to the total person or
event.
 When meeting a person for the first time, for example, the halo effect
may cause one trait such as a pleasant smile to result in a positive first
impression. Halo effect cause the same problem for managers as do
stereotypes cause individual differences to be obscured. This is
especially significant in respect to a manager's views of subordinates'
work performance.
THE FOUR COMMON PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
 3. SELECTIVE PERCEPTION
 The tendency to single out for attention those aspects of a situation or
person that reinforce or appear consistent with one's existing beliefs,
values, or needs.
 Selective perception can bias a manager's views on situations and
individuals.
 One way to reduce its impact is together additional information or
opinions from other source to get the chance to improve perceptual
accuracy.
 4. PROJECTION
 Projection is the assignment of personal attributes to other individuals.
A classic projection error is assuming other persons share our need
desires and values.
MANAGING THE PERCEPTION PROCESS
 A manager who is skilled in the perception process will:
1.
Have a high level of self-awareness.
Individual needs,
experience, and expectation can all affect perception.
2. Seek information from various sources to conform or disconfirm
personal impressions of a decisions situation.
3. Be empathetic- that is being able to see a situation as it is
perceived by other people. Different people will define the same
situation some what differently.
4. Avoid common perceptual distortions that bias our views of
people and situations. These distortions include the use of
stereotypes, halo effect, selective perception and projections.
5. Influence the perception of other people when they are drawing
incorrect or incomplete impressions of events in the work
setting. People act in terms of their perceptions.
5.2.4. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
 There are several barriers to effective communication
that can exist both in organizational and interpersonal
communication. the major factors are discussed here
under.
1. FRAME OF REFERENCE:
 Different individuals can interpret the same
communication differently depending on their
previous experiences.
5.2.4. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
 This results in variations in the encoding and decoding
process.
 Communication specialists agree that this is the most
important factor that break down the “Commonness”
in communication. When the encoding and decoding
process are not alike, communication tends to break
down.
 2. SELECTIVE LISTENING:
 This is a form of selective perception in which we tend
to block out new information, especially if it conflicts
with what we believe. When we receive a directive
from Mgt. we notice only those things that reaffirm
our beliefs. Those things that conflict with our
preconceived notions we either do not note at all or we
5.2.4. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
 3. VALUE JUDGMENT
 In every communication situation, value judgments are made by the





receiver.
This basically involves assigning an over all worth to a message prior to
receiving the entire communication. Value judgments may be based
on the receiver's evaluation of the communicator or previous
experience with the communicator or on the message's anticipated
meaning.
4. SOURCE CREDIBILITY
Source credibility is the trust, confidence, and faith that the receiver
has in the words and actions of the communicator.
The level of credibility the receiver assigns to the communicator in
turn directly affects how the receiver views and reacts to wards ideas,
and actions of the communicator.
Thus, how subordinates view a communication from their manager is
affected by their evaluation of the manager. This, of course, is heavily
influenced by previous experiences with the manager.
5.2.4. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
 5. FILTERING
 Filtering
a common occurrence in upward
communication in organizations refers to the
manipulation of information so that the receiver
perceives it as positive.
 Subordinates cover up unfavorable information in
messages to their superiors. This is because of the
influence of the superior.
 6. IN GROUP LANGUAGE
 Often, occupation, professional, and social groups
develop words or phrases that have meaning only to
members, such special language can serve many useful
purposes. It can provide members with feelings of
belongingness, cohesiveness, and in many cases, self
5.2.4. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
 8. TIME PRESSURE
 The pressure of time is an important barrier to communication. An obvious
problem is that managers do not have the time to communicate frequently with





every subordinate; however, time pressure often can lead to far more series
problems than this. Short-circuiting is a failure of the formally prescribed
communication system that often results from time pressure. What it means is
that some one has been left out of the formal channel of communication that
normally would be included.
9. TUNNEL VISION
Tunnel vision Refers to a person's attempt to place an imaginary restriction on
approaches to problem solving. It is perceptual problem that is to limit possible
alternatives and being in a narrow direction to look for solutions.
10. DEFENSIVE ATTITUDE - LACK OF OPENNESS TO THE
COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Defensive attitude is a real barrier to communication since the person’s
emotions will clouds the issues and perceptions of the message. It is unhealthy
reaction, as the person with defensive attitude seems to expect to have to
defend themselves or their work.
People with defensive attitude usually concentrate on rebuttal arguments and
blame others for their reactions as a result they fail to get the views of others
and creating understanding on issues communicated to them.
5.2.5. ACTIVE LISTENING
 Listening is divided into two main categories: passive and active.
Passive listening is little more that hearing. It occurs when the receiver
or the message has little motivation to listen carefully, such as music,
story telling, television, or being polite.
 People speak at 100 to 175 words per minute, but they can listen
intelligently at 600 to 800 words per minute (WPM).
 Since only a part of our mind is paying attention, it is easy to go into
mind drift - thinking about other things while listening to someone.
The cure for this is active listening - which involves listening with a
purpose.
 It may be to gain information, obtain directions, understand others,
solve problems, share interest, see how another person feels, show
support, etc. It requires that the listener attends to the words and the
feelings of the sender for understanding. It takes the same amount
or more energy than speaking. It requires the receiver to hear the
various messages, understand the meaning, and then verify the
The following suggestions can improve your helpfulness as an empathic
listener.
Use a variety of response styles, as
appropriate
Talk less and listen more
Avoid being Judgmental
Listen for feelings as well as ideas
5.3. THE NATURE OF CONFLICTS IN ORGANIZATIONS AND CONFLICT
MANAGEMNT STYLES
 WHAT IS CONFLICT?
 Conflict is a natural part of working in groups, because different





people have different ideas and viewpoints.
Sooner or later, every leader will have to deal with a conflict between
two or more people.
Conflict can be defined as, a “disagreement between two or more
individuals or groups, with each individual or group trying to gain
acceptance of its views or objectives over the other.”
Because people differ in their attitudes, values and goals, conflict
among them becomes unavoidable.
Accordingly management is concerned not so much with eliminating
conflict that would be impossible but to contain it and manage it for
organizational as well as individual benefit.
Some degree of conflict in an organization is not only unavoidable
but also necessary.
TYPES OF CONFLICT SITUATIONS
 There are five basic types of conflicts. These are :-
 1-Conflict within the individual. The conflict within the individual is
usually value related, where role playing expected of the individual
does not conform to the values and beliefs held by the individual. For
example, a secretary may have to lie on instructions that her boss is not
in the office to avoid an unwanted visitor or an unwanted telephone
call.
 2- Interpersonal Conflict. Interpersonal conflict involves conflict
between two or more individuals and is probably the most common
and most recognized conflict. This may involve conflict between two
managers who are competing for limited capital and manpower
resources.
TYPES OF CONFLICT SITUATIONS
 3- Conflict between the individual and the group. As it is known,
all formal groups and informal groups have established certain norms
of behavior and operational standards which all members are expected
to adhere to.
 4- Inter-group conflict. An organization is an interlocking network of
groups, departments, sections or work teams. The intergroup conflicts
are not so much personal in nature as they are due to factors inherent
in the organizational structure.
 5- Inter-organizational Conflict. Conflict also occurs between
organizations which are dependent upon each other in some way. This
conflict may be between organizations and supplier organizations
about quantity, quality and delivery time’s raw materials and other
policy issues.
4.3.3. THE CAUSES OF CONFLICT
 Communicational aspects of conflict. Poor communication, though




not reflecting substantive differences, can have a powerful effect in
causing conflict. Misunderstood or partial information during the
process of communication can make the difference between the
success and the failure of a tasks and may such failure for which the
responsibility becomes difficult to trace can cause conflict between the
sender of the communication and the receiver of the communication
Behavioral aspects of conflict. These conflicts arise out of human
thoughts and feelings, emotions and attitudes, values and perceptions
and reflect some basic traits of a personality.
Structural aspect of conflict. These conflicts arise due to issues
related to the structural design of the organization as a whole as well as
the design of its sub-units. Some of the structurally related factors are:
Size of the organization. The larger the size of the organization, the
more basis of existence of conflict.
Line-staff distinction. One of the frequently mentioned and
4.3.3. THE CAUSES OF CONFLICT
 Participation. It is assumed that if the subordinates are not allowed to
participate in the decision making process, then they will show
resentment which will induce conflict
 Role ambiguity. A role reflects a set of activities associated with a
certain position in the organization. If these work activities are ill
defined then the person who is carrying out these activities will not be
able to perform as others expect him to, because his role is not clearly
defined.
 Design of work flow. Poorly designed work flow structures and
poorly planned coordination requirements lead to intergroup problems
and conflicts, specially where tasks are interdependent
 Scarcity of resources. When individuals and units must share such
resources as capital, facilities, staff assistance and so on, and these
resources are scarce and there is a severe competition to obtain these
resources, then conflict can become quite intense.
4.3.4. MANAGING BEHAVIORAL CONFLICT
 Some of the primary strategies for dealing with and
reducing the impact of behavioral conflict are
discussed as follows.
 AVOIDANCE. In certain situations, it may be
advisable to take a passive role and ignore the conflict
altogether.
 From the manager’s point view, it may be especially
necessary, when getting involved in a situation
involving conflict would provoke further controversy
or when the conflict is so trivial in nature that it would
not be worth the manager’s time to get involved and
try to solve it.
4.3.4. MANAGING BEHAVIORAL CONFLICT
 FORCING:
As Webber puts it, “the simplest
conceivable resolution is the elimination of the other
party – to force opponents to flee and give up the fight
– or slay them. This is a technique of domination
where the dominator has the power and authority to
enforce his own views over the opposing conflicting
party. This technique is potentially effective in
situations such as a president of company firing a
manager because he is considered as a troublemaker
and conflict creator. The outcome of using this
technique is always one party being a loser the other
party being a clear winner.

4.3.4. MANAGING BEHAVIORAL CONFLICT
 PROBLEM
SOLVING: This technique involves
“confronting the conflict” in order to seek the best
solution to the problem. This approach objectively
assumes that in all organizations, no matter how well
they are managed, there will be differences of opinions
which must be resolved through discussions and
respect for differing viewpoints. In general, this
technique is very useful in resolving conflicts arising
out of semantic misunderstandings.