Project management principles and practices

Project Management

Team Building

a) There are several team building techniques that trainers use based on the objectives that must be reached. Some of the most efficient techniques are represented by personal development activities, team development activities, and organizing social activities. Personal development activities refer to individual programs assigned to different groups. This technique helps team members improve their skills and performance at work, influencing the efficiency of the team and of the project they are involved in. Team development activities focus on certain games intended to help team members approach the problems they are confronted with, and how to improve the activities they are developing within the project in case. Social activities are simple strategies used by companies in order to improve relationships between team members.

These team building techniques are considered efficient because of the numerous different purposes they can be used for. These techniques are oriented towards improving communication within teams and groups (Midura & Glover, 2005). The success of different projects also relies on the efficiency of communication. In addition to this, these team building techniques are intended to improve the problem solving and decision making skills of team members. This allows individuals that work in projects use these skills in addressing the numerous situations that require such skills (Wallace, 2007). Team members' abilities regarding business planning are also addressed by these team building techniques (McNamara, 2010).

b) Some of the most efficient team building techniques include: teamwork activities, group bonding sessions, and team development activities. Teamwork activities are represented by several exercises that managers use in order to improve relationships between members of their teams. This is extremely useful in the case of new teams where members have not previously worked with each other. Group bonding sessions are usually represented by trips and other activities sponsored by the company with the objective of helping team members develop strong relationships that improve their productivity (Borysowich, 2008). Team development activities are represented by games intended to help individuals improve problem solving skills. There are several advantages from using these team building techniques. They are usually intended to significantly motivate teams involved in different projects, to improve communication, to increase the productivity of team members, and others. These techniques are also used in improving organizational culture and in increasing employee loyalty.

2. a) Project managers use different techniques in order to evaluate and control the projects they are involved in. Such a technique is represented by earned value management. This technique refers to measuring the performance and progress of projects based on objective evaluation. In this case, managers focus on measuring the objectives of the project, its schedule and costs by integrating them in a system. Earned value management has significant effects on some of the project's activities. This strategy helps managers improve the planning activity that refers to scheduling the project, but also to establishing the importance of tasks and activities attributed to the project team. In addition to this, earned value management is useful in improving the control on the progress of the project (Dwivedi, 2011).

There are also other advantages associated with the use of earned value management. This activity helps managers better establish the scope of the project. This is useful in determining the objectives that must be reached by the project in case. This leads to increased efficiency of the project team. In addition to this, earned value management is used by project managers in order to improve the analysis activity of the performance regarding the team's work and the project. This strategy also helps project managers to better establish the costs that the project is likely to require (Chapman, 1997).

b) Earned value management is an important technique used by project managers in order to evaluate the efficiency and performance of different projects. The importance of this method relies on the fact that it allows managers to objectively evaluate the performance of their projects. This strategy is mostly used by team leaders in evaluating the objectives of the project. They also measure the schedule of the project and its costs, which helps identify and reduce some of the risks associated with these projects.

The use of this method is also intended to improve activities like planning and control. These activities are important in identifying the problems that can affect the progress of the project. The success of the project can also be analyzed with earned value management. This technique can be applied in simple or advanced strategies, in accordance with the requirements of each project.

c) Project managers orient towards different techniques when analyzing the performance of certain projects. In order to reach this objective, some of project managers use earned value management. This technique is used in situations where it is necessary to objectively evaluate the performance and progress of different projects. Some of team leaders prefer to use this technique in order to identify the most important objectives that are established in the case of these projects. This strategy can also be applied when trying to evaluate the schedule and the costs required by projects. Therefore, it is important to integrate these objectives into a system.