Managing Project Teams
Effectively managing a complex information technology project requires a sharp mind adept at prudent planning, a thorough comprehension of the tools and tech needed to succeed, and the ability to adapt seamlessly in the face of adversity. While working in the field of IT project management may initially appear to be a solitary task conducted in a clinical environment, the reality is that the vast majority of IT projects are collaborative efforts involving the combined efforts of several individuals. Learning how to balance competing personalities, resolving interpersonal conflicts, pairing team members according to their competency level, and inspiring a genuine sense of motivation are all integral aspects to managing a project team. Mastering the intricacies of access control, scope verification, and the other intricacies of IT project management represents only half of the proverbial battle, and in order to assure that every project you lead is performing….

Virtual project teams have become increasingly important, and they deliver many benefits to organization. However, there are difficulties associated with virtual project teams that managers need to be aware of. These revolve around communication issues, including trust, information flow, communication styles and sociological issues such as personal culture and the political nature of communication. It is recommended that managers develop a keen understanding of the differences between virtual team communication and conventional business communication. In addition, managers need to be clearer with respect to responsibilities, time frames, types of information that should flow and other aspects of team management. In general, virtual team management needs to be more regimented than conventional team management in order to be effective and deliver to the organization the benefits that virtual project teams promise.
Background

The information superhighway has allowed for the emergence of virtual project teams as a viable means of bringing together the knowledge….

Virtual Project Teams
Managing Virtual Project Teams

The purpose of this project is to present definitive and formal analysis of virtual project teams and their successful management. Additionally, this project will provide evidentiary information from peer review and scholarly research as well as synthesis and conclusions regarding the subject matter.

Successfully initiation and executing a virtual team is increasingly gaining attention in the workplace. From opportunities to integrate multidisciplinary and international teams to the chance to leverage the best possible resources within an organization on a particular project, virtual teams can be transformative and significantly alter the concept of project planning and execution. However, because the concept of virtual teams, virtual team building and the effective and efficient management of virtual teams is in its nascent stage, little guidance is currently available to assist with successful implementation and management of these teams (Chinowsky & Rojas, 2003).

Some of today's companies are large multi-state and….

Competencies of Project ManagersIntroductionAt any given time, the project manager is responsible for ensuring that communication is clear and concise, and that all team members are kept up-to-date on the project\\\'s progress. Unfortunately, communication failures are all too common, and can often lead to frustration, confusion, and even outright conflict. In order to avoid these pitfalls, project managers must be vigilant in their efforts to keep the lines of communication open. This means being proactive in seeking out feedback, encouraging honest discussion, and keeping everyone informed of both successes and challenges. By taking these steps, project managers can help to ensure that communication breakdowns do not derail the project.Key Skills for a Project ManagerThere are a few key skills or competencies that Herb, the project manager, could improve to be more effective in managing the team\\\'s performance. First, he could focus on better communication. This means being clear and concise….

Conflict, Trust and Task Commitment on Project Team Performance by Porter and Lilly (1996). This article discusses the role that conflict plays in project team performance. The authors work with the hypothesis that conflict is a hindrance to project teams, even though it is sometimes felt to be a benefit to strategic teams. The underlying theory here is that project teams must quickly come to together and work towards a common goal. In many cases, the goal is already established, and the conflict therefore serves as little more than a distraction. Furthermore, there is less time to resolve a conflict in a project situation, and with a relatively short-term time horizon, there is less opportunity to resolve conflict via trade-offs or other forms of compromise.
The authors therefore are working with the idea that in project situations, it is best to avoid conflict altogether, or to deal with it immediately.….

Project Team
All teams go through a process of 'forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning' when they are being created. These states tend to be predictable and sequential, although some teams spend more time at particular stages than other teams. Teams can also regress, particularly if new players are added. As seen in exhibit 13.3 project managers must be aware of the different dynamics and needs of the team at different stages, when it is tentatively establishing roles (forming); when people are jockeying for position (storming); when the team goal and roles are being clarified (norming); when the team is functional and reaching its goal (performing); and finally when it disbands (adjourning).

High-performing teams (as seen in Exhibit 13.4) have clear, strong personal values which facilitate achieving both the personal rewards of members and the project results. Self-direction, personal responsibility, and a high need for achievement are some of the values….

Deep Dive Project AnalysisIssues the Project FacedSome of the issues faced by the project in installing a museum off the coast of the Canary Islands included the ecological requirements and significant cost put into the project. Time was of the essence as well, and when the project team ran into a problem like how to avoid an electric cable near the site of excavation it had to get creative because there simply was no other option (Parsi, 2017). Another issue they had was how to support the aquatic life in the sea. Supporting an environment in which the team could actually be creative and feel confident in finding new solutions to unexpected problems was really important in managing the project. It was how the team arrived at the solution of turning concrete sculptures into a reef to support sea life (Parsi, 2017). Everyone was treated like a stakeholder and a….

Project Team PitfallsA project managers job is to ensure that a project is completed on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards. To do this, they must identify and avoid potential pitfalls that could cause the project to fail. One way to find potential pitfalls is to carry out a risk assessment. This involves identifying all the possible risks that could affect the project, and then assessing their likelihood and impact. The risk assessment will help the project manager to identify which potential pitfalls are most serious and need to be addressed first. Another way to find potential pitfalls is to talk to previous project team members. They will be able to share their experiences of what went wrong on previous projects, and how these problems could have been avoided. Overall, by being aware of the potential pitfalls before they happen, the project manager can greatly increase the….

Quite similarly, a labor and material payment bond can also work to protect an owner from liens against his or her property if the contractor fails to pay workers, sub-contractors and/or suppliers" ("Bonds Insurance," Contractor's Insurance, 2009).
Contractor warrantees guarantee the work's quality for a particular duration of time, much like a warranty for a particular piece of electronic equipment purchased at a store. However, while the parts themselves may be under separate manufacture's warrantee, contractors' warrantees are specifically for the work involved, and provide an extended kind of protection to ensure the quality of the workmanship as well as the component parts. These are meant to provide an added level of protection for the individual contracting the work.

orks Cited

"Achieving Excellence in Construction Procurement Guide." OGC.gov.uk. June 4, 2009.

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documents/CP0065AEGuide5.pdf

"Bonds insurance." Contractor's Insurance. June 5, 2009.

http://www.contractorsinsurance.org/bonds-insurance.htm

Carbasho, Tracey. Integrated Project Delivery Improves Efficiency, Streamlines Construction.

Tradeline Inc. July 16, 2008. June 5, 2009.

http://www.tradelineinc.com/reports/0A03D1C0-2B3B-B525-85702BCEDF900F61#story

Gelinas,….

people project team, talked department heads, shared time skill requirements. All departments provide people project levels needed. The person Design participates heavily type project, leave months project.
Who should be chosen for the project team?

Mr. X

ecently, there has been much discussion about the need to replace Ms. A from design with two part-time people on our new project. Two candidates have been offered for my selection for the junior part-time slot: ussell Smith and Katy Jones. I have decided to recommend Katy Jones. Given the critical nature of the project, finding someone with a proven 'track record' is essential. Katy is a long-standing employee with the company and has familiarity with similar projects. She has experience with a product line akin to the current one, on which the project is focused. Given the time lag that has resulted from the need to replace Ms. A, Katy can walk into the….

Confused Availability
Project team personnel were initially confused due to the number of assignments, lack of communication between individuals and the team, and with only a small number of full-time and mostly part-time personnel assigned to the project, it seems as if the employees were not sure as to who was expected to complete the assignments as well as who was expected to ensure their completion. As one recent study found "the decrement in performance that can occur when multiple tasks are performed concurrently is typically attributed to interference between the tasks" (Nijboer, Taatgen, Brands, Borst, van Rijn, 2013, p. 2). Additionally, the same study found that there was indeed a capacity for sharing of resources between two or more tasks, but another very early study found that "when two tasks have to share the capacity of a single resource, performance degrades" (Navon, Gopher, 1979, p. 254). Perhaps the early study….

Flexibility within a team scenario is very important as having a choice in creating favorable matchups is a luxury for many managers looking to create a competitive advantage and sustain an effective and efficient unit of teamwork.
eflection on Learning

The many graphs and charts depicted within this chapter to reinforce the lessons written, provided much learning inspiration for me. The confusing nature of the pictures denote the importance of having a strong understanding for the problem at hand. It appears that data and information can be manipulated in many different ways, running the risk of increasing confusion rather than lessening it. Leadership is ultimately responsible for creating clear and concise questions that can help the data provide answers.

Too much data or too little data will leave the project in a state of disrepair and balance appears to be the most important objective in determining the progress of any project. Progress….

Autodesk Case Study
The project team for the AutoDesk build was headed by Phil Bernstein and had a very specific vision in mind. Essentially, the primary vision of this team was to "highlight ways in which its own technology could support building information modeling, design-to-fabrication, sustainability, building performance analysis, and integrated project delivery" (Cohen, 2010, p 10). The vision statement also includes the need for collaboration across industry boundaries, where all stake holders share responsibility in the project, which allows for greater strength in the design and overall build. As such a possible vision statement would be as follows: harnessing technology through collaboration to build performance efficiency.

Question 2

Phil Bernstein was very ambitious in the middle of the project by asking for adaptations to the initial design to incorporate more satisfactory elements. The research states that "he wanted to create a dramatic gesture by cutting a three-story atrium through the space"….

IntroductionOrganizing and managing a project team is critical to organization success in a much more globalized world. Due primarily to the interconnectedness of many firms throughout the world, organizations both small and large require very dynamic and responsive teams. These teams will need to collaborate with one another as organizations now become to compete on a global scale. Exacerbating this issue is technology will allow more competitors to enter the market with little to no capital investment. These trends are only just beginning and are causing massive disruption across seemingly unrelated industries. etail for example, has seen a dramatic change in its operations from a global perspective. Many clothing manufacturers source their products from countries with low labor costs, ship to the products to wealthier developed nations, while having global scale. All of these operations require a network of project teams, each with its own unique set of circumstances, needs,….

international project team. Furthermore, my experience in dealing with such a team is certainly relevant to the article written by Neverauskas and Ciutiene (2011) and their explanation of "theoretical approaches" for project management problems (p. 845). There are a number of different facets of this particular article that make it difficult to understand. The bulk of them pertain to the fact that the authors are obviously non-native speakers of English, and appear to only have written in this language in order to gain a wider readership and to communicate better with others. In this respect, English serves as a neutral means of communicating between disparate parties who all have some working knowledge of this particular language in common.
However, what is probably most notable about this article is the point of commonality that it shares with my experience with an international project management team. That experience largely involved facilitating presentations….