What is a project?
Let's be clear from the start about what we're talking about. A project is a temporary activity undertaken to create a specific outcome.
'Temporary' means that every project has a definite ending point. In contrast to other ongoing operations or programmes you might be involved in, the project team cannot endlessly rework project outputs and the project will eventually come to an end. Projects may take a few weeks, months or even years to complete. The key, however, is that the project is finite. The outcome of the project, or the 'deliverable', could be a brand new product or service; at least it will result in something new, even if it's simply an enhancement of something that already exists.
A deliverable is a measurable, tangible, verifiable item that must be produced to complete the project. Deliverables can be interim outputs (such as video scripts, architects drawings or training needs analyses) as well as final deliverables associated with these interim outputs (such as the completed video presentation, the finished building, or the final training programme).
When you, as a project manager, accept responsibility for a project, you accept the schedule, timeline, deadlines, resources, and expectations set out at the start. You need to have the details and plans in place to handle whatever arises during a project's duration - setting appropriate expectations for timelines, milestones, and deliverables. And, to ensure success for each and every project you need to have the right team.
Leading a project team
The success of a team and its overall effectiveness is obviously going to be influenced by the quality and skill of the person who leads it. So what makes an effective project team leader?
As with all aspects of management, the styles used by individual managers vary. Managers are individuals and as people will have a tendency to be more task oriented (their main concern is to get the job done) or more people oriented (their main concern is to ensure that people work well together). Effective team management requires a balance between both task and people orientation.
As a project manager you know that your team has been set up to achieve a particular set of deliverables and the team must commit to this goal.
But teams are made up of individuals, each of whom must share the team's common objective but each of whom will also have personal objectives, which they want to satisfy through membership of the team. One team member might want to impress the boss, another might be looking for skills enhancement, and another might want to work with another particular team member. Also teams have the group dimension; they are co dependent or inter-dependent.
The ideal team manager takes all three aspects into account all of the time and achieves balance between them constantly. Realistically, this is difficult to sustain permanently! There will be times when you must hit a milestone so then this takes priority and if you have a good enough relationship with your team they will be prepared to put in the hours until the job is done! At other times, an individual member of the team may need special support and attention or the needs of the group as a whole have to come to the fore. Thus your focus will shift depending on the circumstance but you must never entirely lose sight of the other two aspects.
Top tip
Bear in mind that successful team management relies on the balance between getting the project achieved on time and in budget, and looking after the needs of the team along the way!
I now invite you to visit my website and download a copy of my white paper "Blended Learning - the Way Forward?" and receive a 2010 Survey of Blended Learning http://www.blendedlearningzone.com/index.html to learn more about learning online.
Kate Cobb is Director of blended learning zone. She was commissioned to write "Blended Learning" for the CIPD (UK) L&D Journal in 2008 and is a published author of training books and manuals. She provides a range of services for HR and L&D managers in design and delivery, consultancy and strategic planning of blended learning solutions.
Kate has over 25 years experience as a management training consultant providing F2F training, executive coaching and instructional design services for a wide variety of clients in UK, Europe and the Middle East in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
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