Exam 2: CH 11

Project managers can encourage healthy, functional conflict by:

1. Asking tough questions and challenging the rationale behind recommendations 2. Bringing in people with different points of view in critical meetings 3. Designate someone to play devil's advocate 4. Asking the group to take 15 minutes to come up with all the reasons the team should not pursue a course of action 5. Avoid acting defensively when someone challenges their ideas 6. Value and protect dissenters

Major sources of conflict over the project life cycle:

1. Defining Stage ---Priorities ---Procedures ---Schedules 2. Planning Stage ---Priorities ---Schedule ---Procedures ---Technical ---Workforce 3. Executing Stage ---Schedule ---Technical ---Workforce ---Priorities 4. Delivery Stage ---Schedule

4 essential qualities of an effective project team vision:

1. Essential qualities must be able to be communicated 2. Visions have to be challenging but also realistic 3. Project manager has to believe in the vision 4. Vision should be a source of inspiration to others

Five-Stage Team Development Model

1. Forming 2. Storming 3. Norming 4. Performing 5. Adjourning

Managing Dysfunctional Conflict 5 possible strategies to manage dysfunctional conflict:

1. Mediate the conflict 2. Arbitrate the conflict 3. Control the conflict 4. Accept the conflict 5. Eliminate the conflict

4 major steps of facilitating group decision making:

1. Problem identification: 2. Generating alternatives 3. Reaching a decision: 4. Follow-up:

Characteristics commonly associated with teams that exhibit positive synergy: (1-4)

1. Team shares a sense of common purpose, and each member is willing to work toward achieving project objectives 2. Team identifies individual talents and expertise and uses them, depending on the project's needs at any given time; team willingly accepts the influence and leadership of the members whose skills are relevant to the immediate task 3. Roles are balanced and shared to facilitate both the accomplishment of tasks and feelings of group cohesion and morale 4. Team exerts energy toward problem solving rather than allowing itself to be drained by interpersonal issues or competitive struggles

High-performance project teams are much more likely to develop under the following conditions:

10 or fewer members per team Members volunteer to serve on the project team Members serve on the project from beginning to end Members are assigned to the project full time Members are part of an organization culture that fosters cooperation and trust Members report solely to the project manager All relevant functional areas are represented on the team The project involves a compelling objective Members are located within conversational distance of each other

Characteristics commonly associated with teams that exhibit positive synergy: (5-8)

5. Differences of opinion are encouraged and freely expressed 6. To encourage risk taking and creativity, mistakes are treated as opportunities for learning rather than reasons for punishment 7. Members set high personal standards of performance and encourage each other to realize the objectives of the project 8. Members identify with the team and consider it an important source of both professional and personal growth

Informal techniques to rejuvenate project team:

Institute new rituals Take an off-site break as a team View and inspiration message or movie Give a pep talk

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

Begins by gathering project team members and/or stakeholders around a table and identifying the project problem at hand Each member then writes down his or her solutions then presents it to the group No criticism is allowed Each solution is discussed and clarified by the group After they all have been discussed, the members privately rank-order their preferred solution NGT prevents groupthink and discourages any pressure to conform to the wishes of a high-status, powerful group member since all ideas are discussed and all preferences are expressed privately Works best when there is a well-defined problem

Project Team Pitfalls Going Native

Can occur when a project team works abroad or when the team becomes closely identified with their customer The customer's interests take precedence over the parent organization's interests This change of viewpoint can lead to excessive scope creep and open defiance of corporate policy and interests

Five-Stage Team Development Model: 3. Norming

Close relationships develop and the group demonstrates cohesiveness Feelings of camaraderie and shared responsibility for the project are heightened This stage is complete when the group structure solidifies and the group establishes a common set of expectations about how members should work together

Five-Stage Team Development Model: 5. Adjourning

Completion phase Team prepares for its own disbandment Higher performance is no longer a top priority; attention is devoted to wrapping up the project Responses of members are different: some are upbeat because of what the accomplished while others are depressed over the loss of friendships gained

4 major steps of facilitating group decision making: 3. Reaching a decision

During this phase, it is useful to have a set of criteria for evaluating the merits of different solutions Project manager attempts to build consensus among the group

Formal techniques to rejuvenate project team:

Have a team-building session facilitated by an outsider to clarify ownership issues affecting performance ---Hire an external consultant or have an internal staff specialist assigned to facilitate the session Engage in an outside activity that provides an intense common experience to promote social development of the team

4 major steps of facilitating group decision making: 2. Generating alternatives

If the problem requires creativity, then brainstorming is commonly used

5 possible strategies to manage dysfunctional conflict: Eliminate the conflict

If there is a clear villain then only he or she should be removed; if both parties are at fault, eliminate both

Symptoms of groupthink:

Illusion of invulnerability - teams feels invincible Whitewash of critical thinking - members discuss only a few solutions, ignoring alternatives Negative stereotypes of outsiders - good guy/bad guy stereotypes emerge in which the group considers any outsider who oppose their decisions as the bad guys Direct pressure - when a team member does speak out or question the direction in which the team is headed, direct pressure is applied to the dissenter; he or she is reminded that speed is important and that the aim is agreement, not disagreement

While project managers tend to focus on group rewards, there are times when they need to reward individual performance; common individual rewards:

Letters of commendation Public recognition for outstanding work Job assignments - good work should be rewarded with desirable job assignments Flexibility - allowing members to work at home or excusing a minor discretion can engender long-lasting loyalty

5 possible strategies to manage dysfunctional conflict: Arbitrate the conflict

Manager imposes a solution to the conflict after listening to each party Goal is not to decide who wins but to have the project win

5 possible strategies to manage dysfunctional conflict: Mediate the conflict

Manager intervenes and tries to negotiate a resolution by using reasoning and persuasion and suggesting alternatives Try to find a common ground

Five-Stage Team Development Model: 1. Forming

Members get acquainted with each other and understand the scope of the project Begin to establish ground rules by trying to find out what behaviors are acceptable with respect to both the project and interpersonal relations This stage is completed when members begin to think of themselves as part of a group

4 major steps of facilitating group decision making: 4. Follow-up

Once a decision has been made, important for the team to find the time to evaluate the effectiveness of the decision

Project Team Pitfalls Team Spirit Becomes Team Infatuation

People can become infatuated with the challenge of the project and the project team which can leave in its wake a strong of broken professional and personal relationships that contribute to burnout and disorientation upon the completion of the project

4 major steps of facilitating group decision making: 1. Problem identification:

Project manager needs to be careful not to state the problem in terms of choices Project manager instead should identify the underlying problem and allow the group members to generate alternatives

Ways of establishing a team identity:

Project managers need to try to make the project team as tangible as possible to the participants by developing a unique team identity to which participants can become emotionally attached 1. Effective use of meetings ---Timely gatherings of all the project participants help define team membership and reinforce a collective identity 2. Co-location of team members ---Have members work together in a common space ---This is not always possible, like for matrix environments, so a good substitute is a creation of a project office ------These rooms serve as a tangible sign of project effort 3. Creation of project team name ---Developing a team name is a common way for making a team more tangible 4. Get the team to build or do something together early on 5. Team rituals ---Such rituals help set project work apart from mainstream operations and reinforce a special status

Project Team Pitfalls Bureaucratic Bypass Syndrome

Project teams are often licensed to get things done without having to go through normal protocols of the parent organization If this bypassing becomes a way of life, it results in the rejection of bureaucratic policies and procedures, which provide the glue for the overall organization A team that operates outside the organization may alienate other workers, who are constrained by the norms and procedures of the organization

The 5-step model has several implications for those working on project teams:

Provides a framework for the group to understand its own development ---Project managers have found it useful to share with teams; helps members accept the tensions of the storming phase Stresses the importance of the norming phase, which contributes significantly to the level of productivity experienced during the performing stage

Project managers play a key role in developing high-performance project teams How a project manager can create a high-performance team that leads to superior performance:

Recruit team members Conduct project meetings Establish team identity Create a shared vision Build a reward system Manage decision making Manage conflict Rejuvenate the project team

5 possible strategies to manage dysfunctional conflict: Control the conflict

Reducing the intensity of the conflict by smoothing over differences or interjecting humor If the conflict continues, project assignments may need to be rearranged

5 possible strategies to manage dysfunctional conflict: Accept the conflict

Some cases the conflict will outlive the life of the project and the project manager just has to live with it

Five-Stage Team Development Model: 4. Performing

Team operating structure is fully functional and accepted Group energy has moved from getting to know each other and how the group will work together to accomplishing project goals

Project Team Pitfalls Groupthink

Tendency of members in highly cohesive groups to lose their critical evaluative capabilities

Five-Stage Team Development Model: 2. Storming

This stage marked by a high degree of internal conflict Members accept that they are a part of group but resist the constraints that the project and group put on their individuality Conflict over who will control the group and how decisions will be made As these conflicts are resolved, the project manager's leadership becomes accepted, and the group moves to next stage

Individual rewards typically should only be used when ______________________________________________________________

everyone in the team recognizes that a member is deserving of special recognition

When people see projects as boring and as something that interferes with more significant priorities, project quality will suffer; In these circumstances, ______________ play a more important role in motivating team performance

external rewards

Rewards need to have a ________________________

lasting significance Cash bonuses are not likely to be significant compared to an vacations or electronics