Managing and boosting team productivity isn’t an easy task.

On one side, you want to maintain healthy motivational levels within the team, but on the other side, you still need to work hard towards organizational goals.

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how hard you work, the results just never seem to happen.

Still, being productive doesn’t simply mean working extra hours – in fact, knowing you’ll be working late may even be an excuse to procrastinate and delay tasks.

But fear not! Regardless, you can still increase your team’s productivity and reap the rewards, also thanks to the 7 tips included in this article.

Boosting team productivity: Be realistic about your timeline

 How much time do you have on hand?

• What is achievable during this set time?
• How long does it take to accomplish the different tasks?

Answering these questions is the first step in boosting productivity. At times, you will fail simply because you are not realistic about your timeline.

Knowing how long it takes to do something and knowing how much time you have is critical.

Also, bear in mind that productivity is not static and every day you can be more or less efficient and focused on your work.

That is why it is important to allocate yourself some spare time in which you can catch up on tasks that have not been completed.

One example is to leave Friday afternoons free so that you have room to finish your work.

Boosting team productivity: Evaluate processes

Similarly to the way you re-evaluate and measure the time needed for each task, so should you evaluate and measure process efficiency (which are different from projects).

Sometimes, the way things are done is dictated by people who are not doing that work or perhaps those processes are based on old technology and old ways of working.

All of this can have a major impact on team productivity.

As you re-evaluate each process, it’s important to make sure you reconsider how things are done and not be afraid of change.

Also, it is critical to engage those people who are actively using those processes.

Boosting team productivity: Refrain from multitasking

We all run into a multitude of distractions during our workday that make us lose focus.

A typical example: you lose focus by even responding to a 2-minute email in the middle of another task.

Recovering that focus is what takes the longest and, in turn, makes you less productive.

You need to teach your team to focus all their energy and attention on the task at hand, forgetting, for the moment, about the rest.

Boosting team productivity: Prioritize and organize workload efficiently

Being well-organized is key to success, and having to-do lists is a sound organizational technique.

The project manager can help team members organize their workload by highlighting and establishing priorities.

There will always be lots of different things to do, but the trick is to prioritize and organize the schedule accordingly.

The way in which the project team is created will play a significant role in this. If you have picked the wrong people, it will be very difficult to organize them properly. Regarding this topic, you might be interested in this article on how to create a project team.

Boosting team productivity: Be self-aware

Being productive depends on self-awareness.

It is critical to teach team members to recognize when they are most productive and when they are doing the best work.

With this awareness, it is possible to organize the work, of the individual and the team, more efficiently.

In this regard, the project manager should be more flexible, meaning that not all tasks necessarily have to be completed while sitting in the office.

Some people, for example, when they need to listen to a video or need to make phone calls, might do so more productively while walking.

Each team member works best when they are given an environment where they are allowed to do things “their way,” obviously within limits.

Boosting team productivity: Give constructive feedback

It is also important that team members get constant feedback on their work.

True leaders understand how important feedback is, knowing how to provide it effectively and constructively.

Whether it is positive or negative, this must always be honest.

The project manager must be straightforward about what and why, providing objective examples and helping to envision the post-change future.

Similarly, feedback must also be positive in the case of tasks well done and small wins.

 

All of this will help establish a culture of trust and personal growth as employees feel valued.

Boosting team productivity: Listening and understanding

Although this should be an automatic matter in every organization, it is actually still an issue that employees constantly face.

As a manager, it’s crucial to promote two-way communication, working to understand the needs of team members.

It’s also helpful to listen to any ideas they may have, because if employees feel sidelined, it will affect their motivation levels by having a negative impact on team productivity and efficiency.

 

Using these 7 tips means being aware of what to focus on and knowing when it’s time to loosen up.

Team productivity is like baking a cake where the right ingredients – team members – must be carefully picked and mixed in the right way.

Overall, there is no single way to make your team more productive; on the contrary, with small, consistent steps you can lay the foundation for a productive environment.

The development team in projects plays a major role in driving success. As you can guess, it is a key element in project management.

Speaking of project management, you might also like this article on how to choose a project management tool.

The ideal project development team motto might be “All for one, one for all!” and in this article we try to explain why.

However, what is the development team in projects?

But let’s start at the beginning. A Development Team consists of the project manager and the group of people who work together on a project to achieve their goals.

It is composed, essentially, by:

• the project manager;
• the di project management staff;
• by other team members who, while not directly involved in management, are still involved in project-related activities.

Basically, this is a team consisting of people with specific expertise in the subject matter or the skills required to accomplish the task involved in the project.

Development team roles

The development team in projects includes the following roles:

Project manager or head of project:

The project manager plays the major role in the project and is responsible for ensuring success and quality.

His job is to make sure that the project lifecycle progresses and is completed within the given schedule and approved project budget and at the same time achieves its goals.

A project manager is entrusted with various tasks and responsibilities such as:

• Project plan development
• Final results management according to the project plan
• Project team leading and management
• Deciding the working methodology for the project
• Establishing a project schedule and determining each phase
• Assigning tasks to project team members
• Provide regular updates to upper management

Project development team members

Project team members are essentially the staff members who are part of the team and work on the various phases of the project.

They can either be internal staff or external consultants and can work full-time or part-time; moreover, their roles may vary depending on each project.

Tasks of project team members can be summarized as follows:

• Help achieve the overall goals of the project
• Provide experience and knowledge
• Work together to establish and meet business needs
• Document the process

Project sponsor

The project sponsor is the driver and internal supporter of the project.

They are typically members of senior management, those who have a stake in the successful outcome of the project.

Project sponsors work in close contact with the project manager, legitimizing project goals and taking part in high-level planning.

Also, they often help to solve conflicts and remove hindrances that occur during the project lifecycle and sign off on approvals needed to move forward in each phase.

The duties of the project sponsor are:

• Making key corporate decisions for the project
• Approving the project budget
• Ensuring resource availability
• Communicating project goals to the entire organization

The 5 stages of the Tuckman model for transforming the project team

A project development team is comprised of people who possess unique characteristics and knowledge.

This is what a team is like: different personalities, different backgrounds, different knowledge and, in some cases, completely different languages, cultures and workplaces.

That said, it becomes obvious that having professionals available does not automatically mean having a team.

Therefore, in order to transform a random group of people into an established team, you have to work through what are known as “the five stages of the Tuckman model“.

1. Forming Stage

In this first stage, project team members meet for the first time.

This is similar to having an orientation phase where they learn about project information, goals, roles, and responsibilities.

During this stage, people look for leadership and authority.

A mistake at this stage can lead to problems that are unlikely to be solved afterwards.

2. Storming – conflict stage

The conflict stage is probably the most difficult and critical one to complete.

This is a period characterized by conflict and competition, where individuals’ identities begin to surface and differences over what needs to be done and how.

In cases of conflict, the project manager must take immediate action to avoid the creation of sub-groups that could lead to a disruptive climate.

To overcome this phase, team members, with the help of the project manager, must work to:

• overcome barriers,
• accept individual differences,
• overcome and work through conflicting point of views.

3. Norming – cohesion stage

If teams successfully move past the conflict phase, what emerges is a certain level of unity and thus we reach the cohesion stage.

Here, team members are no longer focused on individual goals, but instead look for ways to work together.

Team performance increases as people learn to collaborate and begin to focus on team goals.

Yet, harmony is precarious, and if disagreements reappear, the team may fall back to the conflict stage.

4. Performing – performance stage

In this stage, agreement and collaboration are achieved and the team becomes mature and structured.

Not all teams manage to reach this level; many teams stop at the previous stage.

A team in the performing stage is one that can perform independently and without constant supervision.

Also, problems and conflicts can inevitably occur, but they are resolved internally as the team is focused on achieving goals.

5. Adjourning – mourning stage

This stage is achieved as the process nears completion and most of the team’s goals have been completed.

The focus is on completing the final tasks and documenting the effort and results.

This is a fragile phase in which the project manager must make sure to keep the team’s focus strong; only once the project is finished the team can celebrate.

After that, team members can be assigned to new projects.

 

Bottom line: Having a strong project development team is more than just bringing together people with the right mix of skills.

The key is to create an effective and productive team that can communicate, cooperate and innovate in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.

Resource planning is key for project management success.

In other words: managing projects means managing resources.

No matter what type of organization you’re in, whether it’s a factory, a construction company, or a marketing agency, its success will depend on the people, equipment, and materials used – that is, the resources.

As we discussed in our previous article, to properly manage resources, one cannot operate on instinct, but the Project Manager must have a strategy. It is precisely because of the strategy that a true “Resource management plan” can be implemented.

What is a resource plan?

A resource plan arranges, pinpoints, and lists the resources needed to successfully complete a project.

Resources are a wide category that includes equipment, tools, supplies, materials, time, and people.

A sound resource management plan will map the exact amounts of storable resources (such as cash) and non-storable resources (such as labor).

Considerations made during resource planning greatly influence the planning and budgeting of a project.

In fact, these two elements are closely related.

What are the elements of a resource plan?

The resource plan is aimed at using resources as efficiently as possible, thus contributing to the overall productivity of the project.

The best approach is to have a steady flow of resources and make sure you use them wisely and productively.

To properly assess and create a resource plan, you need to ask yourself some questions about the most important elements, including:

• What are your project team’s roles?
• What are the procurement needs of your project?
• What types of contracts are required?
• What criteria will be used to choose contractors or vendors?
• How much of the budget is allocated to resources?
• How will performance be measured in the project?
• Types of resources to be managed in your projects

More specifically, resources being considered may include:

• Financial resources: in short, money. How much can you invest in new equipment or employee training?
• Staffing resources:e., employees. Are there enough people hired? Do the resources have the appropriate skills to complete the project? Does someone else need to be hired?
• Spatial resources: e. offices, halls, storage, etc. Does the current space comfortably fit all people? Are these resources being utilized to their maximum capacity?
• Tech resources: e. software, digital tools and systems, etc. Is there something needed and is there money to purchase/adopt it?
• Equipment: does everyone have the needed equipment to complete their tasks and projects?

A project’s resource planning should ensure that all of these resources are used effectively, on schedule and within budget.

Dedicated tools may not be necessary for resource planning, but overall it’s much more convenient to use a project management software like Twproject which has a section dedicated specifically to resource planning, because it allows you to have immediate access to all real-time data, as well as data collected during prerequisite analysis. You can try it for free by clicking here.

Resource planning steps

Resource planning is divided into four main phases.

1. Resource planning prerequisites

Before moving on to creating a resource plan, a project manager needs a number of prerequisites.

These include the work breakdown structure – or WBS – which helps to break the project down into manageable sections and thus helps to understand what kind of team and resources will be needed.

Likewise, the project manager will need an estimated duration of the project and activities, so that they can schedule project resources accordingly.

One of the techniques used here is the critical path method that outlines the progress of the project, including dependencies, milestones and activity durations.

2. Resource procurement

After gathering and analyzing the requirements, the project manager must assemble the project team based on the skills and experience the project requires.

Also, equipment and materials must be purchased and contractors and suppliers must be contracted.

There will be more or less types of resources needed depending on the type of project.

For example, with simpler projects, you may not need to contract outside vendors. For more complicated projects, however, the list and type of resources may be extensive and varied.

3. Resource management

After establishing the roles and responsibilities of the team and the function of each individual resource, the project manager will move on to managing the resources to ensure that they follow and are clear on the established plan.

Problems may always be around the corner and, of course, if and when they occur, the project manager will need to be able to identify, analyze, fix, and review the situation.

4. Resource tracking

Tracking resources is a different concept than just management.

By this concept we mean monitoring resources during task and project execution to make sure they are delivering the results expected of them.

Resource planning tools and techniques

A resource management software can automate tasks and track labor hours relative to budgets, provide color charts to help monitor scarce resources and share data with stakeholders.

Through this, a project manager can become aware of any critical issues early on and introduce various techniques to help ensure efficient resource planning.

Here are what they are:

• Resource-focused meetings: short, regular, action-oriented meetings provide a framework for project managers to discuss roles and responsibilities related to resource planning. The meeting focuses on sharing fact-based information and short-term planning for critical project activities and tasks. These meetings typically help create a project culture and provide leadership with frequent check-ins for corrective action and clarification.
• Resource leveling: this is a technique for optimizing resource allocation by adjusting project scheduling over time to resolve conflicts caused by over-allocation of resources. This technique can influence the critical path.
• Resource smoothing: a technique for optimizing resource allocation without affecting the critical path.
• Resource availability and usage: A resource planning technique to ensure that the resources allocated to the project are truly available. This is accomplished by calculating the cost to use them, monitoring planned versus actual use of resources, and undertaking corrective action.
• Resource capacity planning: a planning technique used by portfolio managers who supervise resource planning and manage multiple projects. Capacity planning is about determining if there are enough resources allocated to complete new projects and determining if the amount of resources are sufficient for existing project teams.

 

Bottom line, efficient resource planning is a sign of a well-organized internal structure.

Having a holistic view of resources and aligning them on the goal to be achieved and the way forward is a must if you want a successful project.

Team training is a key aspect of a modern company if you consider that teamwork is now unanimously considered essential for business success. Therefore, today more than ever, it is essential not only to know how to create a project team that works, but above all it is imperative to make it grow in the best possible way.

When it comes to training, you must consider the time devoted to it as an investment.

By training your team, thus enabling them to assume responsibility and make decisions on their own whenever possible, this will also allow the project manager to not have to monitor every little action of the team and use his time to work on other more important tasks.

How to know when training is needed

Before any training program is deployed, it is necessary to determine that the training methods can appropriately address the team’s needs.

This begins with performing a needs analysis, not only at the team level, but also at the individual level.

Once these needs are determined, the appropriate type of training will be chosen to overcome the challenges facing the team and/or individual.

Here are some tips for understanding when training is needed and of which type:

1. 1. Set clear expectations for each role

To help determine training and development needs, you need to set clear expectations for each role within the team. This allows you to create a benchmark to monitor performance and learn what skills an employee needs to be successful in their role.

2. Monitor employee performance

Gauging and monitoring performance should be considered a means of supporting employees-not penalizing them-and at the same time can be a valuable tool for identifying development opportunities within a group.

3. Ask

Having employees provide direct feedback on training needs can be a very valuable addition to your training and development plan. An easy way is to ask employees to rate their job satisfaction and performance and then ask them what would make it better.

4. Make use of the focus group

Focus groups are a valuable tool to help to identify training and development needs within an organization. Under the guidance of an experienced facilitator, the focus group allows you to collect employees’ views and opinions on current training and how to improve delivery.

How will team training take place?

After a needs analysis has been performed, the training program chosen should possess the following characteristics:

• Accessibility, shall be available to all employees in need of training;
• Usability, it will need to be designed at a level that employees can understand;
• Learnability, it will need to adequately address training needs, creating concrete knowledge.

Then there are several design elements to consider, including the duration, location of the training, and who will provide it.

Training programs can be run using one-on-one or group practice sessions, or they can be structured into a single continuous session or a number of smaller classes.

Studies have shown that multiple sessions yield better knowledge transfer than a single ongoing session, most likely because they provide students with a timeframe in which to rest and assimilate information without feeling overwhelmed.

As for the location of the training, this can be either within or outside the organization.

In this sense, there is little research to show which environment yields better results.

However, on-site training can facilitate on-the-job experience and provide students with a realistic practice opportunity.

Additionally, off-site training tends to be more expensive, in which case on-site training may result in a better return on investment.

As for who will facilitate the training; instructors can either be from in-house, internal trainers, or from outside the organization, external trainers. But that’s not all; a training program can also be self-directed.

These self-directed programs require more motivation from the employee/student, but allow for a more personalized, learner-centric approach.

Through the use of technology and training platforms, it is now possible to actually make these self-administered programs more engaging and very effective.

However, in this case, you need to make sure that learners are familiar with the type of technology being used or, if not, you should provide learners with a tutorial before starting the actual training program.

Team training benefits

There are a number of benefits related to Team training. Let’s see the most important ones:

1. Keeping up-to-date with industry changes

Nearly every industry is facing constant change, both in relation to technology and processes as well as competition. Ensuring your team gets regular training gives them a better chance to be at the forefront of change and allows them to be aware of everything that is happening around your organization.

2. Keeping up-to-date with technological developments

One of the biggest changes an organization faces every day is technological developments. By providing regular training, you can ensure that your team understands the latest technology to its maximum potential.

3. Improving employee skills

We already discussed in another article how to improve team productivity by improving the work environment, but we can also improve productivity with training. One of the most striking benefits of providing ongoing employee training is the improvement of both individual and team skills. This will help the entire organization enjoy the rewards of a job properly done.

4. Training as a motivational tool

If continuous training opportunities are offered, teams are more likely to come back to work eager and enthusiastic to try out the newly learned knowledge. Moreover, this allows for increased trust between employee and organization.

5. Attracting new talent

A structured training program will likely make an organization more attractive to those who are looking for a job. In fact, those who care about their career and professional growth are looking for this kind of thing.

 

In an organization, training can often be somewhat something that is only experienced by new employees.

Many companies perceive it solely as a necessity to help the new employee transition into their new role, yet effective, ongoing training for each individual employee can be very beneficial to the organization.

Although investing in ongoing team training may seem significant, it’s imperative to understand that constantly improving staff will help increase profits and improve overall business results.

Knowing how to engage your project team is certainly one of the key drivers for running a successful business.

A project manager wants their employees to feel proud of what they do and of the organization they work for.

Those who work with a purpose will give their very best; a practice that can only benefit a project’s goal and a company in general.

Therefore, it is important to consider every aspect of why people do the work and what motivates them to do it.

There are many ways to measure the level of employee engagement within your project team, as well as tools to learn how to engage them. Let’s have a look at them in this article.

What is project team engagement?

Employee engagement means more than knowing whether or not someone likes their job.

Measuring a project team’s engagement allows you to know how committed each member is to the company and its success.

Understanding the engagement level is the first step; the following step is to improve this engagement.

As a manager, creating a workforce that is not only happy, but engaged and motivated to produce, will clear a hurdle on the path to success.

Some factors to be considered in understanding team engagement are the company and its leadership. You might also be interested in this article about different leadership models.

Before you can begin measuring their level of engagement, you need to ask:

• Are the organization’s goals and visions clear and concise?
• Do employees understand these goals?
• Is there a distinct connection between everyone’s work and the company’s goals?
• Can employees see how their work contributes to the company’s success?
• Is the organization’s leadership present and capable of motivating its workforce?
• Do managers have the skills necessary to lead a team to success?

When all of these factors are positive, you can begin to look more deeply at how engaged the project team is.

How do you measure Team members’ engagement?

Engagement is measured by conducting a simple employee survey.

Questions or statements such as “I feel my needs are a priority at this company” or “My workplace is safe” will be rated by each team member on a scale of 1 to 5 based on the degree to which they agree or disagree with that statement.

Once the survey is complete, you must interpret the results: raw scores will give the average of all survey responses, but these results won’t allow you to draw conclusions about actual employee engagement.

If you can compare this data to other companies that completed the same survey, you can better determine whether the scores are low or high.

How to engage the project team

Once you’ve completed the survey and interpreted the data, you need to know how to increase project team engagement.

There are several strategies you can put in place to help the team:

• Know your team members: Getting to know their families, backgrounds and personal goals allows you as a manager to develop a stronger relationship with them. Evidence shows that employees who feel valued tend to be much more engaged in their work and performance.
• Provide them with tools for success: A project manager not only needs to supervise work, but should also be sure that the team understands what they are doing. When one of the team members isn’t sure what to do or how to manage a situation, productivity can stall as they try to figure things out. While additional coaching or training is needed, providing employees with a solid foundation for future activities is a good step to increase their level of engagement.
• Tell them how the company is doing: For the team to have a real interest in the company, they should be aware of its successes, concerns, and difficulties. Empowering the team to know what works and what doesn’t ensures they have the opportunity to develop new ideas for weaker areas and continue to be proactive in the areas they are working in.
• Acknowledge the team and its work: A manager who acknowledges a well-done job is an essential motivator in developing employee engagement best practices. To be a successful project manager, it’s worth understanding what form of acknowledgement works best for each team. Either words of encouragement or a specific employee appreciation activity or, if the company can, a financial bonus. Appreciation helps promote positive attitudes and healthy behaviors in the workplace, a key factor in raising employee engagement levels.
• Promote teamwork between employees: There is a reason why people love playing team sports. When a group of people unite to win, it leads to a contagious feeling that embraces everyone around them. The same can be applied in the work environment, where developing a strong team of employees gives them a sense of greater purpose. Bringing them together to work toward a single goal can be incredibly satisfying and allows them to achieve a sense of cooperation, consideration, and trust not only in each other, but in the company itself.
• Creating a fear-free work environment: Many companies have a tendency to work in a performance-based environment that can lead to a fear of being scolded if a decision fails. Running a business where employees are punished for mistakes or a poor choice is a strategy that will inevitably lead to team members not taking risks. So choosing a gentler, more positive approach can be much more effective in achieving results, without diminishing the level of team engagement.
• Motivate and inspire: Building a positive work environment starts with happy employees, but it doesn’t end there. The tone is set by the management staff and a good way to achieve a positive tone is to be more than just a boss, but to be a true mentor. Whether it’s a pat on the back and words of encouragement urging you to keep trying or pointers on certain procedures, the manager should not be viewed with fear, but be seen as a guiding light.

Engaging the Project Team: Bottom Line

It is the manager’s responsibility to help employees become a cohesive and successful team.

Making your employees feel like they are part of a team and that their presence in the workplace is necessary is a key factor in maintaining high levels of engagement.

Engaged employees means increased productivity, higher profits and margins, and skyrocketing customer satisfaction scores can give your organization a fabulous reputation.

When the company can reflect the best efforts and reliability of its employees, it culminates in a successful business model where everyone is passionate, engaged and committed.

Simply put, project team involvement is a necessary part that will create a fear-free workplace full of ideas and a sense of camaraderie.

Managing and working with international teams from all over the world is becoming the new standard.

Companies are experiencing a particular moment: they are growing, on the one hand, and changing their organizational structure on the other.

Although international growth and team diversity can pose unique challenges, at the same time, working in international teams can also offer considerable benefits.

When you engage with people from around the world and from different backgrounds, you find yourself facing different ideas and perspectives.  This can not only benefit relationships in the workplace, but can also lead to increased productivity and business success.

But when team members are spread around the world, ensuring that everyone works for the same goals can be one of the greatest challenges that a project manager can face.

Here are some tips to make this process easier.

5 tips for leading an international project team in the best possible manner

1. Identify international teams’ cultural challenges

National culture plays an important role in the way people act and it is hardly changeable.

Having an open mind about the challenges of managing an international project is thus essential.

Working with an international team requires an acknowledgement of local feedback to make global projects successful.

One tip, if applicable, is to spend time with team members directly abroad to understand the pace, processes and work atmosphere.

If this is not possible, talking to those directly engaged, asking questions and understanding the dynamics can also be beneficial.

Here are some examples of cultural differences that can emerge in an international team:

• Leadership: an egalitarian and collaborative style will run better with Northern European countries than with Russians, who will generally distrust a leader who is too friendly with their subordinates.
• Timeliness: In some countries, time is a flexible concept. In Spain, getting to a meeting 5-10 minutes late is not perceived as badly as in Germany, for example.

However, when a schedule is absolute, it is essential to make sure that everyone really understands its importance.

• Admitting a mistake: in some cultures it is easier (because it is more acceptable to society) to raise a hand and say “I made a mistake”. In others not. This can make handling problems more complicated.

Knowing different cultures can help you manage the differences that will inevitably happen.

2. Dealing with time zone practical aspects

Project managers who lead international projects have to face a series of practical challenges including time zones.

How can you hold meetings in real time with all team members? Who will be the one who will have to wake up in the middle of the night to attend the meeting?

Of course it will be difficult to find volunteers, so solutions could be to create incentives or move the meeting times so that the burden does not always affect the same people.

3. Giving the right consideration to communication

The main problems for international projects are usually understanding and communicating and this is not something that can be solved just by using a nice software.

Regularly scheduled meetings can be a great opportunity for team members to exchange information and knowledge, to learn from each other’s experiences and to keep up to date with developments and updates of the organization and the team.

In particular, meeting at critical moments in the project and confronting each other is a safe way to move forward with the minimum amount of communication problems.

Successful communication is also based on the transversal skills that a project manager brings to the table, including:

• Listening skills
• Sensitivity to perceive unexpressed concerns
• The ability to answer openly so that the other person can fully understand.

4. Use the right collaboration tools

Technology can definitely play a role in putting communication skills into practice; people need to be able to listen and talk to each other effectively and have access to data to ensure the success of a project.

A project management platform such as TWProject.

is definitely a key enabler. However, you must also be aware that the human element remains, always and in any case, fundamental.

5. Having clear goals and celebrating results

Regardless of where the team members are located, generally speaking, the project manager must ensure that the vision and goals to be achieved are clearly broken down.

For example, creating clear benchmarks and metrics, virtually updating these goals so that everyone can see the progress the team is making can help everyone stay in line with the work process.

Also, creating celebrations of success, whether locally or globally, to share the team’s successes together certainly helps to keep a group together.

 

Ultimately, a project manager should always be prepared for change. If they are not already working with an international team, this is increasingly likely to happen.

The project manager should therefore be able to address this situation and have their own strategy prepared.

As projects increase in complexity over time, project teams become more large, both in terms of national and ethnic diversity.

It is therefore up to the successful project manager to integrate all team members, regardless of their backgrounds, into a cohesive unit that will ultimately contribute to the overall success of the project.

Lastly, what needs to be stressed is that the need for planning cultural management and communication is becoming increasingly important in today’s globalized marketplace.

Strengths and weaknesses play an important role in determining who we are, both for employees and project managers.

Strengths and weaknesses are vital because they help to decide which career paths to follow, which roles would be better to play and how to behave in those roles.

From a manager’s point of view, simply motivating a team in the classic way sometimes it’s not enough. The real secret to unleashing the potential of each team member and each team is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the members of your team.

This information empowers leaders to make smarter job decisions, provide more effective performance reviews and ensure that every employee can grow and succeed.

However, strengths and weaknesses are often relative and employees alone do not know how to spot them and, above all, how to exploit them. It will be the Project Manager to have to fill this gap by performing one of the most important and delicate tasks assigned to him:

How can you do that? Certainly it takes a lot of sensitivity and experience, but below we will give you some suggestions with which you can perform this task brilliantly:

How to find out the strengths and weaknesses of a Team: Be up-front and honest

Employees are often asked what their strengths and weaknesses are during interviews and performance reviews, but these answers are rarely reliable.

Attributes such as “results-oriented” can be vague and employees can only boast artificial strengths to increase the chances of a promotion or positive feedback.

Once the manager shows his or her most human side to employees, they are more likely to be honest about their strengths and where they are struggling.

An open, direct and honest conversation about strengths and weaknesses is a great way to start.

And why should we wait for the performance review meeting to launch the dialogue window?

Managers can foster a supportive environment every day of the year by expressing their strengths and weaknesses themselves and then inviting employees to do so.

The goal is to developing employees who know what they are good at and what they need to work on.

Managers should recognize employees to be honest, even when they make mistakes.

When expressing gratitude for courageous action, they also encourage people to share, without fear of making mistakes.

How to find out the strengths and weaknesses of a Team: Listen and observe

When working with the same people on a daily basis, it can be difficult to view them objectively.

Rather than a strength or weakness, you only see how a person behaves normally.

So you have to change the perspective: for example, if someone in the team is known to be always in a good mood and friendly, it could also be a natural diplomat.

Furthermore, weaknesses may not be blatantly obvious, for example, an employee who seems calm may actually be apathetic, disengaged and unassertive.

As a manager, you can only understand the distinction if you see people acting differently in a different environment.

Managers should therefore make an extra effort to consider each employee as objectively as possible and in a broader context.

Brief notes describing how employees behave on a daily basis can be a good way to look for key patterns and characteristics.

How to find out the strengths and weaknesses of a Team: Internal competition

Competition is an effective way to make the best (or the worst) of employees emerge; it is a powerful motivator and can raise strengths and weaknesses in a qualitative and quantitative way.

Hosting competitions within teams and/or between organizations can be a fun and effective way to see who is a natural leader and who excels in certain areas. You may also want to read this Talent Management article in this regard.

This can be as beneficial in general as specifically: if you are trying to figure out who is the best person to lead a new project, why not run a contest to see who possesses the required skills?

In addition, a friendly competition promotes teamwork, which in turn will help increase team productivity in the long term.

It will certainly not solve the main problems in the workplace, such as lack of intrinsic motivation, employees poorly or erroneously assigned to certain roles or confusion about the overall business environment.

However, using internal competition to get people to focus on the task at hand and reveal their real skills can answer many questions.

How to find out the strengths and weaknesses of a Team: Communication and company intranet

Company social intranets contain an enormous amount of valuable information about employees’ strengths and weaknesses if you know how and what to look for.

Managers can watch and monitor user activity to learn more about them.

For example:

• What kind of content do they publish and what does this reveal about their interests?
• Do they often ask for help or seem confused about something? This could be a sign that they need further training or personal attention.
• Are they more talkative in the intranet than in real life or vice versa?
• What does the tone used say about their personality? Maybe they are better at writing, rather than verbal communication, or maybe they are shy when they are in front of a large group.

Social intranets can also provide insights about employees’ networks and relationships, as well as their attitudes to work. Corporate intranets can also give an insight into the company climate and organizational well-being.

 

Collecting these insights and information does not mean that the work is over.

Once the manager has identified the strengths and weaknesses of his or her employees, we will move on to the stage where these will need to be exploited to keep everyone productive, involved and working consistently as a whole.

Project managers play a key role in every phase of the project life cycle, from planning to execution, from monitoring to control to completion.

The success or failure of the project and beyond may depend on them; the sustainability of a company may depend on their skills and competences.

Let’s try to provide insight about the role of the project manager and everything there is to know about this individual in this article.

First, let’s start with a central question…

…who is a project manager?

A project manager, as already stated before, plays a leading role in every phase of a project and is responsible for the scope, resources and, in short, the success or failure of the project itself.

With the help of their team, the Project Manager takes on multiple responsibilities across all five phases of a project’s life cycle.

These responsibilities are intertwined with the 10 areas of knowledge: integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk acquisition and stakeholder management.

Project Manager Responsibilities

Let’s see in detail, breaking each phase down, what the responsibilities of a project manager are:

1. Start-up phase

• Preparation of a project document
• Stakeholder identification and management

This involves defining boundaries or scope of the project and set it down clearly and identify the project stakeholders by including them in the stakeholder register.

 

2. Planning phase

• Development of a project management plan
• Definition and management of the scope, creation of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and requirements collection
• Planning, definition and development of programs, activities, resource estimation and duration of activities
• Planning, cost estimation and budgeting
• Planning and identification of quality requirements
• Planning and identification of human resources demands
• Communication system planning
• Planning and identification of potential risks, conducting qualitative and quantitative risk analysis and planning of risk mitigation strategies
• Expectations planning and management of the parties involved

 

3. Execution phase

• Direction and management of all activities involved in the execution of a project
• Quality management
• Project team selection, development and management
• Management of all communication aspects
• Management of all stakeholder expectations

 

4. Monitoring and control phase

• Supervision and control of the project work and management of all necessary changes
• Validation and control of the project scope
• Time management
• Project cost management and control
• Quality check of the results
• Control of all communications within the team and stakeholders
• Project stakeholder engagement control

 

5. Closing phase

• Completion of all project activities
• Completion of all contracts and relationships with suppliers or third parties
• Drafting of a final project document inclusive of best practices

 

As you may have realized, to be a professional project manager is not enough just to possess the technical know-how.

This role also requires a series of non-technical skills and it is these soft skills that often determine whether a project manager – and consequently their projects – will be successful or not.

Project managers must possess at least these seven non-technical skills:

• Leadership
• Motivation
• Communication skills
• Organizational skills
• Priority assignment
• Problem solving
• Adaptability

In conjunction with the necessary technical skills, these skills will make a project manager even more efficient, providing a strong background that will allow them to adapt to the ever-changing dynamics of a project.

Additional responsibilities of a project manager that few people mention

Aside from the responsibilities that we have already discussed and which are automatically related to the management of a project, there are others that are rarely mentioned but which nevertheless have a significant weight in the role of a project manager.

Here are two important ones:

Additional responsibilities of a project manager: Ethical Conduct

A project manager will inevitably be working with different types of individuals and organizations and will experience situations that can be addressed using one behavior or another.

It is the project manager themselves that sets the basic rules of behavior as a leader within their project.

Therefore, every day, a good project manager should do everything possible to lead the project in a professional and ethical way by referring to the PMI Code of Ethics

Additional responsibilities of a project manager: Motivating and training people

It’s easy to set project goals and deadlines that are too tight and often one might forget that people are involved and not robots.

It is surely important to provide challenges and responsibilities to the various team members as well, whilst paying attention to what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Each project manager is responsible for the motivation and the way their team works, even when working on a short-term project.

People need to be constantly motivated to keep their interest in the organization and the success of a project and, to increase productivity, a project manager will also need to assess any customized training needs.

The goal at the end of the project, besides its success, should be to have people eager to work again.

 

Bottom line, a project manager must remember that there are responsibilities inherent in their role, although the project management world is so vast that they cannot be engraved in stone.

If the project requires something special, the project manager must be prepared to take responsibility for it – or know how to delegate it.

However, it is very important to remember that it is the project manager who commands the vessel and that the team of “sailors”, no matter how experienced they may be, will always rely on them to determine the direction towards which they should sail.

Assigning roles and managing project responsibilities is certainly one of the most sensitive things a Project Manager has to deal with. You have to deal with sensitivities and expectations of team members, but at the same time you can’t lose focus on the project objective or business purpose.

Successful projects are usually the product of careful planning, talent and collaboration between the project manager, team members and other project stakeholders.

Projects cannot progress without every one of these key elements, but it is not always easy to clearly identify the roles and responsibilities that everyone should cover.

These roles may also be assigned to one or more individuals or, conversely, individuals may play more than one role depending on the structure and type of organization, as well as the scope of the project and its strategic positioning.

So, let’s try to define what the critical roles are to ensure the success of a project. Let’s see and explore at least 7 of them.

1. Project manager

We can’t but start by talking about the project manager (to whom we will soon dedicate an entire article), the main responsible for the completion of the project as initially agreed.

Depending on the type of project organization, typically a project manager leads the overall planning, execution, monitoring, control, and closure of the project.

This includes managing, reviewing, and prioritizing day-to-day project activities with the goal of remaining on schedule and within the project budget.

Their responsibilities also include executive status and reporting, risk analysis management, conflict mediation, communication management and stakeholder management.

The project manager usually uses project management software to plan activities and provide them a framework.

The main goal of these project management tools is to help the project manager prepare, execute, and control all aspects of a project or group of projects with optimal time management.

2. Project team

The project team consists of full-time or part-time employees who are assigned to work on different project activities and outcomes.

Having an interdisciplinary team with the right mix of skills and competences is key to the successful execution of any project.

Project teams, often identified and “put together” by project managers, may include internal staff from different departments and even different geographical areas.

Sometimes, project teams may also include suppliers, contractors, or external consultants, who have been explicitly grouped together for the project.

Their role is to successfully perform the project tasks and activities that have been assigned to them, keeping the project manager informed about the progress of the project, as well as any blockages and risks that may arise during project execution.

Project team members typically use project management software to see the tasks assigned to them, understand their work priorities, report progress and time spent on different tasks, and collaborate with other team members and the project manager.

3. Steering Committee

The steering committee is constituted by representatives of the management and other high-level stakeholders.

These individuals or groups with a direct interest in the outcome of the project supervise the whole life cycle of the project, providing guidance on the overall strategic direction.

They provide “leadership” support for the project, address issues raised by the project manager and decide on requests for changes to key elements of the project, such as final results, planning and budget.

4. Customer of the project

Clients are the individuals, organization or department for whom the project was started.

Whether it is an internal company project or an external project, each project has a customer who has a specific need that will have to be met by the successful completion of the project.

During a project, the role of the client is crucial to overall success.

They play an active role in approving project plans, requesting changes, increasing problems and risks, approving milestones, issuing payments and, most importantly, accepting (or declining) the final results of the project.

5. Project Management Office (PMO)

The Project Management Office, or PMO for short, is a group of individuals who help build and maintain a set of standards and best practices for internal project management and oversee their application in every project.

In other words, a Project Management Office is an organizational structure that standardizes project-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques.

As more and more projects gain strategic importance, PMOs help to manage and execute them in a more predictable and controlled way, ensuring standardization of project management practices to achieve scale economies and thus improve overall project success rates.

6. Resource Manager

Although limited in number, many organizations have this role as a dedicated Resource Manager, whose primary responsibility is to manage groups of resources available and assignable to projects.

The Resource Manager works closely with the project manager to coordinate resource capabilities and workload and is responsible for assigning the right people to the right projects at the right time.

The Resource Manager plays an essential role in capacity planning to ensure that resources satisfy project requirements.

He is also primarily responsible for managing skills management, continuously assessing the training needs and career development of employees working on projects.

7. Project sponsor

The project sponsor is the project’s pilot and internal champion.

Generally, they are top management members, those with an interest in the outcome of the project.

The project sponsors work hand-in-hand with the project manager and validate the project objectives by participating in the project planning.

Moreover, they often help resolve conflicts and remove obstacles that occur during the project and sign the necessary approvals to move each phase forward.

Tasks of the project sponsor:

• Make key business decisions for the project
• Approve project budget
• Ensure resource availability
• Report the objectives of the project throughout the organization

Bottom line, in order for a project to be successful, a whole team effort is required.

The roles and responsibilities assigned to team members and various stakeholders can be small or massive, but in the end every role and responsibility is important because the project can only be successful through efficient teamwork.

Having a strong, cohesive team, is the dream of every Project Manager.

Working in a team has become common in many organizations, but working with others may not always be easy, especially when team members disagree with each other.

This can lead to serious consequences, such as not finishing a project on time or breaking the budget.

Instead of angering in case of disagreements, groups should therefore learn to stick together and communicate in every situation.

If a group is cohesive, members are more motivated to work together towards a single goal, which will lead to success.

So, how can we increase the cohesion of the working group? Let’s see our 6 tips.

What is the working group cohesion?

Group cohesion results when a group of individuals feel connected and moved to achieve a common goal.

Team members respect, trust and support each other.

While cohesive teams are often made up of people with different skills, what unites them all together is a strong sense of identity drawn from the organization itself where they share values, goals and processes.

In a way, a cohesive group can be compared to a group of fans following the same sports team in search of a collective victory.

Team cohesion is important because this social and professional connectivity can create a culture that inspires employees to remain loyal to the company.

With team cohesion, the team will feel comfortable in their work environment and satisfied to be part of something greater than themselves and the individual.

How to increase working group cohesion

Team cohesion isn’t always immediate and is generally the result of targeted actions taken by managers to promote positive group dynamics.

Here are 7 tips that a project manager can adopt to increase team cohesion:

1. Set objectives and values

Before beginning to work on team dynamics, it is important to have the team’s goals and values in mind.

If the organization does not already have a clear mission or vision, now is a good time to create it.

These elements will provide team members with a clear and shared picture of what they are working on.

2. Provide training and development

In order to maintain a strong team cohesion, each member of the team should feel qualified enough to contribute to the overall objective in the first place.

Upon recruitment, employees should be provided with clear information on their responsibilities, as well as adequate training to ensure the efficient performance of their work tasks.

Over time, employees should improve their work and to do so, they will need opportunities to develop their skills.

This can be achieved through cross-functional collaboration within the organization itself or through company-sponsored conferences, programs or training courses.

This will help team members feel adequately prepared and move forward in their careers within the organization.

3. Support team building

Part of team cohesion is also based on the self-esteem and morale of individuals.

Embarking on team building activities can be a great way to build the empathy and respect needed within a successful team.

As employees interact with each other and get to know each other beyond their work roles, team cohesion will increase.

4. Promote and enhance communication

Team building only works with unambiguous and continuous communication and the project manager is in charge of providing the appropriate resources to accomplish this.

Everyone should be able to connect easily and comfortably with their colleagues, without blockages or interruptions.

Here’s how establishing different communication channels to help the team stay productive and involved becomes essential, such as choosing project management software that includes an instant messaging feature, so that even remote teams can remain easily connected and cohesive without distractions.

5. Build trust

When establishing channels for interaction, it is important that team members feel comfortable with open communication.

Whether they are discussing with the project manager or a colleague, no one should be reluctant to express their thoughts and ideas.

Team cohesion will not be achieved if secrets are being kept at the management level, even if unintentionally.

6. Celebrate success together

Celebrating success – big or small, as a group or individually – is key to maintaining the cohesion of a team.

When the entire organization works towards shared goals, it is appropriate to share the results as a group.

The project manager should remember to thank the team members for their hard work and, in the case of important successes, also give a recognition.

7. Have fun

Lastly, have fun.

This does not mean that work has to play second fiddle and that time has to be spent telling jokes, but seeing the workplace not just as a boring, dull office can boost employee morale.

At minimum you work 8 hours a day and if every now and then, for about ten minutes or so, team members find themselves telling funny stories about their lives, the project manager doesn’t have to worry, on the contrary.

Opening up and getting to know each other can only be seen as a positive element.

 

Group cohesion is therefore the best way to ensure that all talent is maximized while increasing employee commitment and satisfaction.

This lasting bond will keep the team productive and more effective than ever before and projects can only succeed.