Challenges for Creating Effective Team Work - Assignment Example

Project Management Contents Contents 2 ANSWER 3 ANSWER 2 8 Challenges for creating effective team work 8 Lack of Diverse Skills and Interests 9 Poor Communication 9 Lack of Leadership 9 Role Confusion 9 Conflict 10 Poor Work Environment 10 Mechanisms to Encourage the Team work 10 References 15 ANSWER 1 Project management is the overall activity and process of planning, organizing, controlling and also motivation for the particular procedure to achieve certain goals and also eradicate the problems that might rise up in daily working. A project has a definite time schedule with a definite start and end time in which all the activities are been done to get the goals and objectives that are basically for a particular value adding. Managing projects is very important and also difficult as it need to see various aspects wherein the project manager needs to utilize all its resources in the best way so that the projects is been completed in time. For bigger companies which take up multiple projects and specially the one’s which interrelated projects are like construction of roads, even IT projects, the management of the teams working over the complete project is very important (Meredith and Mantel, 2008, pp. 78-82). Big projects are been broken into parts and these parts are been assigned to a particular team of certain number of members who work towards achieving their goals of completing their project successfully in time and also by proper usage of resources. Take an example of a case where three teams are working for a big project and all the teams are interrelated with the work they do as the output from a team 1 is the input for the team 2. Apart from these certain teams are there for the support purpose and they also need to work with other teams as a whole big single unit. These teams need to operate individually well and also as a single unit for the success of the project (Kendall and Ross, 2009, pp. 88-92). Human error is a very common error that takes place in a project which causes lots of problems and also defects resulting into a huge number of wastages. The various types of wastages that are generally caused due to the human errors are like waste of time, source, capital, labor force and also results in causing defective and error products. The different types of errors that are generally caused by human are caused because of many reasons and it leads to defective product or service. The basically human errors that are caused are wrong decisions, wrong detection, wrong diagnosis, errors in execution process. While managing multiple projects these factors are to be taken of special care for getting the exact goal in time and also for proper utilization of resources. Human errors are generally caused due to many factors which are mainly categorized into three parts personal factors, psychological factors and physiological factor. These errors are been classified based on the skills (Leach, 2004, pp. 112-114), Rules and regulations and also the knowledge based. The errors due to skills that generally human make are due to the sub-conscious behavior and also the errors that are made while executing. The rule based errors are caused because of the strong rules and regulations been implemented which forces the employees to feel captured and also they are not able to work freely. Certain errors are even caused due to the knowledge of the people about a particular thing. For instance if a particular employee doesn’t has any idea about a particular thing it will be very difficult for him to make a decision or work on that project. While controlling multiple teams working for a big project team it is very necessary to see different facts and the main being that the teams work as a single unit and the flow of information and also the resources must be perfect. When a particular team gives a particular resource to another teams it must be taken care that the resource been given is the exact one that the other team is looking towards for their work. This is very important for the co-ordination and also for the good operation of all the team. The wrong resource if given to Team 2 by Team 1 will create a lot of problems as it will be of no use for Team 2 operations and it will result into a lot of wastes like waste of time, cost, movement of materials and many others which might result into loss for the overall project (Central Computer & Telecommunications Agency, 2003, pp. 86-92). Communication is one of the most important factors for successful running of the whole project. Two or three teams working on a particular project need to communicate properly not only inside the team but also there should be good communication among the team leads. Proper communication helps to know the exact position of the work been done by each team based on which proper planning can be done by each team, as all the teams are been interrelated and they work dependent on each other. Team communication does helps in proper understanding and also increases the productivity of ever team member (Reiss, 1996, pp. 43-47). With the increase in productivity the projects get completed in time and also within the amount estimated for the project. Good communications builds good trust and unity among the members which creates a good work environment and also make the members more involved to the project as a result the project runs smoothly and also in an efficient way which gives long- term benefits for the company. The team leads need to encourage communication among their teams and also communicate among themselves so that all the teams are aware about the project status, they can get better communication by communicating the message in a simple and relevant manner so that it is easily understandable for all the other team leads, by issuing the project status reports of each team, conducting meetings of all the team leads and allowing flexibility so that the team leads become very friendly among themselves and are able to communicate easily. Company must look towards removing the racial discrimination and encourage unity in each team so that the teams can plan properly for the execution of the project. Planning is the most important factor and also is known as the seed for the success of the particular project. Proper planning helps to utilize the resource in the best way for a project and also makes it possible to complete the project in time and within the budget been allocated for the project completion. The project planning helps in setting the goals and also defining the particular things which are the specific work that the team needs to perform and helps in tracking and control the work of the team. Project planning also shows the project alternatives, the assumptions that are to be made and also the constraints and risks that might arise (Burke, 1992, pp. 134-137). Risk management is very important and for controlling the risks that might arise in a particular project proper planning is needed from earlier which helps to see the commodities which has the maximum risk and based on which the team can work efficiently towards avoiding the particular risk to a great extent. The various steps involved in risk management are listed below. Define the procedure for risk management. Identify the key risks that can happen. Perform various processes for the assessment of the impact of the risk element. Create a risk response plan Have a continuous monitoring of the key risk during the whole project process. All these steps can be done only after building a proper plan for the project based on the following questions. WHAT are the scope, objective and the exact statement of work? WHAT-IF the Contingency arises? HOW to develop approach, the procedures, processes and also the work breakdown structures? WHO is the project organization and also schedule the resource requirement? WHEN which work is to be done and which milestones are to be achieved? WHERE the required facilities can be obtained from? For proper planning of the activities of the whole project Gantt chart should be made which will help in scheduling the activities in accordance to their competition and estimated time The particular structure of the teams has to very clear as that will make clear the proper flow of information and also help in increasing he control of the team performance. Clear indication of the structure will help members to know their roles in the best way and also improve their productivity. The team structure helps to make the members to understand their individual position in the team and also the amount of involvement they have based on the work they have been assigned. When a particular project has multiple teams working then it is better to have a flat and decentralized system in the team structure which will encourage each employee to get more involved to the work and also help in coming up with new creative ideas from all the members. This type of structure will help in increasing the unity and team work by improving the communication among the members of the teams and also among the different team members. ANSWER 2 Challenges for creating effective team work For the efficient and successful running of the project there should be a good team work among all its members. Members should look to work as a single unit towards the achievement of the particular project rather than having an individualistic approach towards their work. Each member in the team are been assigned with a certain task which is a part of the whole task of the project. If a particular member works only for his task as he wants having n individualistic approach then the whole team is been affected and the project is not run by a smooth process and many problems do arise during the overall process. There are many difficulties that company and even the project managers do face in creating an effective team work and also make the members of the team to work as a team towards the achievement of the common goal and objectives (Schwindt, 2005, pp. 234-237). The difficulties faced in creating good team work are been listed below. Lack of Diverse Skills and Interests A team with members having similar skills and interest is difficult to manage and achieve the purpose. This will increase conflicts among the employees. Poor Communication Poor communication among the employees create a lot of problems for the team as the right information is not been conveyed and this also affects in allocating the right role to the individual. Lack of Leadership A proper leader is always very important for any particular team. Lack of effective leader creates a lot of challenges for the effective performance of the team. The team member’s loose morale and also motivation for working efficiently as a result the productivity reduces to a great extent of every member. It also affects in a huge way in the project control and the way the project is been done. Role Confusion The confusion about the exact role of the members with regard to the work they have to do and their recognition in the team creates a lot of problem in the effective team work of the whole team. This confusion affects a lot to the well functioning of the whole unit (Kendrick, 2003, pp. 34-37). Conflict Conflicts among the team members because of various reasons are very inevitable. These conflicts arise to many reasons among the members and it affects a lot to the unity and the team work of the unit. Poor Work Environment The work environment for the members does affects as it does creates interest towards the work and also helps in increasing communications and with the problem with work environment does creates a lot of problems in the effective team work of the unit (Webb,1996, pp. 87-95). Mechanisms to Encourage the Team work Companies with multiple projects must look to have effective measures towards creating an effective team work among the teams and also the team members. For a particular project to become successful it needs to be completed within the stipulated time and also within the estimated budget for the completion of the project. This objective for every project can be achieved only when there is an effective team work among all the members and also among the teams that are involved in the project. The effective team work will help a lot to the completion of the project through the following ways listed below. Helps in increasing productivity of the members. Helps in proper utilization of the resources. Proper flow of information takes place. Creates a good and healthy work environment without any conflicts. Leads to error free process. Successful completion of the project in time and within the budget. Reducing the wastes like waste of additional work, extra cost incurred etc. Brings out creative and innovative ideas. There are many ways that the company can achieve effective team work and increasing co-operation and unity among the members and also in reducing the conflicts to a great extent. The main twelve ways to create effective team work in the project team and also the team members is been listed below. Cleary state the purpose of the team and the objective they need to achieve. Explain the team how their team’s goal is contributing to the growth of the company and the way it’s going to benefit the members as well. Make it clear that the individual goals are also been achieved along with the achievement of the team goal. The individual roles must be clearly explained to every individual which in turn is a part of the common purpose of the project. This should be done in specific way such that the individual finds he/she involved with the project very closely. This will make the members feel involved and also make them work more efficiently. Make the members come in contact with the people who use what they do which will improve the communications and also make them know the exact thing they need to make for the project and will also make them work more efficiently towards their tasks. Conflicts do arise in a team when different people from diverse culture work because of many reasons and they do arise very frequently and also easily even from a small topic. Thus for effective team work the conflicts must be addressed soon and the reason for the conflict should be understood based on which it must be resolved and it should be kept in mind that the unity among the members is again brought. The friendly environment in the team and also among the teams is been maintained. Efforts must be made that further conflicts are been avoided and people work with more o-operations among themselves by having clear rules of the work environment. Thus proper handling of the conflict and the process towards resolving the conflict is very important. Remember the role of leadership. The leader of the team and the project has to have a good control over its employees and maintain a good work environment, must hold the employee responsible for achieving the goals and help them in solving the problems. The leader must take care of the fact that the members must work as a team towards the common goal. Provide flexibility to the employees to meet their work goals and encourage them to give ideas and suggestions with regard to the required changes that can help in improving the process. And not only take suggestions from them but also implement few of the suggestions which are really good. This will make the employees feel more involved with the project. Give appraisal and reward to the whole team as a unit based on the performance in various ways. Company can plan small celebration parties for the whole teams on the achieving of the task and also provide increments to every employee of the team. Along with the team individuals should also be appraised and rewards based on their performance and the promotions must be made. Communicate the team’s success in a proper way so that every member gets to know on the achievement of the objectives and the goals been set for the project. It should indicate every aspect of what the member did and what was expected from the member, the same thing is also done in case of the whole team to see the exact success rate of the teams and also communicate the exact problems over which the teams can work upon for improvement. Conducting various training and development programs for the team members and also combined training program among the different teams such as conducting some cricket or football matches or by some other cultural event which will help the team members to know each other well and also increase the friendly environment in the workplace. This will help in improving the communication among the members and the information flow will be very effective between the teams and also among the members of the teams (Goldratt, 1997, pp. 156-162). Thus for any projects successful completion the work done by the teams is very important, and for the teams to perform efficiently there must be good and effective team work and co-operations among the members of the team and also among the different teams working towards achieving the goals of the project. The effective team work helps the company to improve the unity among the members and also reduce the amount of conflicts among the members. This effective work helps to improve the communication in the work place as a result of which the work environment and culture maintained in the teams is very nice and friendly. The members find themselves very much involved in the overall project and also find their goals getting achieved by working efficient for the projects goal. References Burke, R. 1992. Project Management: Planning and Control. France: Management Press. Central Computer & Telecommunications Agency. 2003. Managing Successful Programmes. London: Stationery Office. Goldratt, E. 1997. Critical Chain. London: Avebury. Kendall and Ross, R. 2009. Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO. America: John Wiley & Sons. Kendrick, T. 2003. Identifying and Managing Project Risk. America: Amacom. Leach, L. 2004. Critical Chain Project Management. London: Artech House Publishers. Meredith, J and Mantel, S. 2008. Project Management: A Managerial Approach. America: John Wiley & Sons. Reiss, G. 1996. Programme Management Demystified. America: Routledge. Schwindt, C. 2005. Resource Allocation in Project Management. America: Springer. Webb, A. 1996. Managing Innovative Projects. London: Cengage Learning EMEA. Read More