Chapter 6
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1. Understand the steps involved in project team
building.
2. Know the characteristics of effective project
teams and why teams fail.
3. See the advantages and challenges of virtual
project teams.
4. Know the stages in the development of groups.
5. Describe how to achieve cross-functional
cooperation in teams.
6. Understand the nature of conflict and evaluate
response methods.
7. Understand the importance of negotiation skills
in project management.
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Identify necessary skills
Identify people with these skills
Talk to potential team members
Negotiate with their supervisor
Success?
No
Renegotiate with top
management
Yes
Yes
Assemble the team
Success?
Build fallback positions / Adjust schedules / Partial
participation / Notify stakeholders of consequences
No
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






A clear sense of project mission
A productive understanding of team
interdependencies
Cohesiveness
A high level of trust
A shared sense of enthusiasm
A “results” orientation
Team members know their role on the team
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






Poorly developed or unclear goals
Poorly defined project team roles &
interdependencies
Lack of project team motivation
Poor communication
Poor leadership
Turnover among project team members
Dysfunctional behavior or disruptive acts
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It is important to consider the following
constraints when staffing the project





Type of organizational structure
Employment agreements
Preference on project team members
Other projects
Priority of projects
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1. Forming – members become acquainted
2. Storming – conflict begins
3. Norming – members reach standard
agreements
4. Performing – the work is performed
5. Adjourning – group disbands
Punctuated Equilibrium is a different model
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5. Adjourning
4. Performing
Trust
Flexible
Supportive
Confident
Efficient
High Morale
Convene
Quiet
Polite
Guarded
Impersonal
Business-like
High Morale
1. Forming
Productive Testing
Organized Infighting
Establish procedures
Develop team skills
Confront issues
Rebuilding morale
3. Norming
Conflict over control
Confrontational
Alienation
Personal agendas
Low morale
2. Storming
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Task
Outcomes
(is successful)
Superordinate Goals
(everyone has same objective)
Rules & Procedures
Cross-functional cooperation
Physical Proximity
Psychosocial
Outcomes
(feels
successful)
Accessibility
Feedback loop
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Make the project team tangible
◦ Use publicity
◦ Encourage unique terminology & language
Reward good behavior with non-monetary rewards
◦ Flexible, creative, practical
Develop a personal touch
◦ Lead by example
◦ Positive feedback for good performance
◦ Be accessible & consistent
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How Can Virtual Teams Be Improved?
 Establish clear expectations
 Use face-to-face communication whenever
possible
 Don’t let team members disappear
 Establish a code of conduct with team
members
 Keep everyone in the communication loop
 Create a process for addressing conflict
Use electronic media to link members of a
geographically dispersed project team
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Conflict is a process that begins when you perceive
that someone has frustrated, or is about to
frustrate, a major concern of yours.
Categories of conflict
• Goal-oriented
•
•
•
Based on end result
Administrative
•
Based on reporting
relationships
Interpersonal
•
Personality differences
Views of conflict
• Traditional
•
•
•
Views conflict as negative
Behavioral
•
Manage conflict, don’t
eliminate it
Interactionist
•
Encourage conflict
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Organizational
 Reward systems
 Scarce resources
 Uncertainty
Interpersonal
 Differentiation
between functional  Misperceive
 Faulty communication
groups
 Personal grudges &
prejudices
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




Mediate – defuse and confront
Arbitrate – judgment
Control – cool down period
Accept – unmanageable
Eliminate – transfer the member
Conflict is often evidence
of progress!
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A process that is predicated on a manager’s
ability to use influence productively.
Questions to ask prior to entering a negotiation
1. How much power do I have, and how much
power does the other party believe I have?
2. What sort of time pressures are there?
3. Do I trust my opponent?
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Separate the people from the problem
Focus on interests, not positions
Invent options for mutual gain
Insist on using objective criteria
Remember: You
negotiate for
information
Karrass.com
Fisher & Ury
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1. This chapter discussed the characteristics of high
performing project teams. List the factors that
characterize these teams and give examples of each one.
2. “Trust can actually encourage disagreement and conflict
among team members.” Explain why this could be the
case.
3. Identify the stages of group development. Why is it
necessary for project teams to move through these
stages prior to becoming productive?
4. Gersick’s model of punctuated equilibrium offers an
alternative view of group development. Why does she
suggest that some defining moment (such as an
explosion of emotion) often occurs at some midpoint in
the project? What does this defining event accomplish
for the team?
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5. Explain the concepts of “task outcomes” and
“psychosocial outcomes” for a project. Why are
psychosocial outcomes so important for project team
members?
6. Distinguish between the traditional, behavioral, and
interactionist views of team conflict. How might each
explain and treat a project team conflict episode?
7. Identify the five major methods for resolving
conflict. Give an example of how each might be applied
in a hypothetical project team conflict episode.
8. What are some of the guidelines for adopting a strategy
of “principled negotiation?”
9. Explain the idea that we should “focus on interests, not
positions.” Can you think of an example in which you
successfully negotiated with someone else using this
principle?
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