Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Styles of team
There are two main structural dimensions to the project team:
For example, a website designer might be working with business managers and network specialists to create a storefront whilst another website designer is working with different business managers but maybe the same network specialist on an Intranet application for presenting internal management information on sales - both as part of the same project. So, does it make sense to have a team of developers, a team of managers and a team of network
specialists, or should we have a team for the storefront and a team for the management information system? Rather than seeing this as an "either or" choice, we could think of the project team as a matrix. Members of the various resource type teams will need to work together to share knowledge and ensure a consistent solution. People working together on the various processes or functional aspects of the solution will equally need to work together. Each of these sub-teams, whether horizontal or vertical, will need a recognised leader. Team members will need to understand their individual roles. The question then becomes how to structure this in terms of reporting and control. Here are some basic rules that may help you decide how to structure the teams:
People working together in a team usually see their teammates as "being on their side". They will normally work together and help each other to achieve their collective goals. Placing people in the same team generates collaboration, knowledge sharing and skills transfer - for example, between the specialists in a software package and the key future users of that package. Building a good, effective team is vital - team structure will influence the way the team behaves. Aim to create a collaborative team, where individuals share knowledge, cooperate, support each other and are motivated to achieve the team's goals. Interaction between team members is the best way to get a balanced view of all perspectives, eg business needs, practicality, technical feasibility, efficiency, performance. The understanding, knowledge, and capabilities of people working in other teams are rarely exploited to the full. People working in other teams are often viewed as a nuisance - they interfere with our team's progress. According to the complexity theory, putting a large number of people into a single team creates more interplay than progress.
We will take a look at some example team structures below. First, let's consider the roles within those teams.
Roles
There are many different roles in addressing a full business solution. Some of these will probably form the core full-time project team. Others may be part-time specialists, and others might be representatives of various groups interested in the project. As well as identifying the type of person, it is often necessary to give thought to the level of capability or power. If we need someone who can take a business decision we must identify the right person. If we need someone to do routine work, we should not waste the time of a more expensive resource. Core team roles will normally depend on what you are doing. For example, you might need sales managers, website designers and Java programmers, or you might need accountants, systems analysts and COBOL programmers. Other roles may depend less on the specific solution; for example, you almost always need a Project Manager. Here are some common project roles along with a brief explanation: Role Project Sponsor Explanation The person who saw a need for change and had the authority to make something happen. There may be several sponsors who collectively have this role. It may be that even higher authority and support is required such that others should also be drawn into this role. To succeed in all aspects of the project in all parts of the organization it may be necessary to establish many supporting sponsors at different levels and in different organizational units. The person with genuine executive authority over the project. The Project Director has full accountability and responsibility for the project's success, and has the power to make all decisions, subject to oversight by the executive bodies. A body of people representing the overall executive authority of the organization. This might, indeed, be the Board of Directors, or it could be a delegated sub-committee of the Board
Supporting Sponsors
Project Director
Executive Committee
Steering Committee or The group of people charged with regular oversight Project Board of the project. Collectively they should represent all significant areas of participation in the project and
they should have authority to take decisions on behalf of those areas. Members would typically be departmental heads, Vice Presidents, or Directors, along with external representatives. The Project Director and Project Manager would normally report to the Steering Committee. Project Manager The person with day-to-day responsibility for the conduct and success of the project. The Project Manager would normally have control over all project resources. The "Project Office" provides supporting shared services to the Project Manager and to the overall Project Team. Often this function has a manager plus support staff. Typical responsibilities include controlling and tracking the detailed plan, managing documentation, preparing reports, etc. It may also be the place to house part-time specialists supporting the team, for example, a Training Designer. A large project may require its own accountant to deal with procurement, sub-contractor expenditure, joint venture accounting, progress tracking and financial reporting etc. Typically the project will be divided into various sub-teams - each with its own Team Leader. Team Leaders would be responsible for the management and coaching of that sub-team. They may also have responsibility for managing and tracking the detailed sub-plan for their team.
Project Accountant
Team Leader
Organisational Change A specialists in identifying issues, requirements and Manager / Facilitator solutions regarding organisational change, ie corporate or individual rational, political and emotional factors in bringing about the desired business change. Communications Specialist A specialist in communicating messages within the organisation. There will normally be a range of communications media that the project should exploit in achieving its goals. A specialist in the process and techniques of reengineering business processes to gain optimum performance. The person within the organisation with overall control, authority, and accountability for any given business process.
An expert in best practice solutions for a given business process. A manager within the organisation with detailed understanding and experience of how a given process operates. A specialist in modelling business processes such that potential improvements can be defined and quantified. A specialist in defining overall business solutions with responsibility for the "big picture". A specialist in defining technical components of a business solution with responsibility for the technical architecture of the solution.
Process Modeller
Organisational Design A specialist in the assessment of resourcing needs Specialist and capability levels, plus the design and achievement of the revised resourcing and organisational structure. Solution Designer A specialist in the detailed design of solution components. There will, in fact, be many different types of specialist in this category as each needs to be a specialist in the aspect of the solution they design, eg database designer, website designer, program designer, package configuration designer, network designer, procedure designer etc A specialist in the creation of solution components. Again, there will be different types of developer depending upon what is being developed. A specialist in the design and construction of networking and telecommunications. They would deal with internal and external networking issues, such as architecture, hardware, capacity/bandwidth, etc A specialist in marketing. Where the solution has an external element, it is important to consider how to make it attractive to the external people and bodies concerned. In particular with eSolutions, such considerations will form a fundamental part of the design of the solution rather than just an exercise following the completion of the solution. A specialist in identifying training needs then designing training approaches and content to meet those needs.
Marketing Specialist
Training Specialist
Training Developer
A specialists in the development of training materials. Often the most efficient approaches to training delivery will require some or all of the content to be created and delivered electronically. A person with the skills and knowledge required to deliver training content. A specialists in the creation of accurate usable documentation - both for the day-to-day use of the solution and as design documentation for future reference. Documentation in modern solutions will normally be supported electronically, eg using workflow software and context-sensitive help information. End users form valuable resources in the team - they can be used for many purposes related to the design, construction and delivery of the business solution. As former members of the team they will return to their departments as experts and coaches for the new solution. A specialist in the way the live technical solution should be operated. Operating procedures would include routine operations, controls, security, backup/recovery, disaster plans, etc. The people responsible for the provision of appropriate accommodation for the revised organisation to perform the new processes. This may be simply some adjustment of existing facilities or it might amount to the acquisition and construction of entire new facilities. A legal specialist who would deal with various contractual matters such as detailed contracts for the provision of equipment or services. The external accountants who are responsible for the audit of the organisation. They may need to review the plans, designs and completed solution to ensure it meets an adequate standard from an audit perspective. An employee of the organisation charged with responsibility within the organisation for maintaining standards and procedures. Many industries and organisations are subject to various forms of regulation by external regulators. There may be a need to co-operate with these
End User
Internal Auditor
External Regulator
regulators or to maintain specific records or information to meet their requirements. Quality Manager Quality Auditor A person responsible for processes and procedures that ensure required levels of quality are achieved. A person responsible for the Quality Audit - ie checklist adherence to declared procedures and deliverables.
Case Study A local health authority finance manager who was about to implement new accounting systems was attending a briefing about implementation projects. We explained all the different roles that might be needed to deliver a complete solution. He said " but I can only spare a half day a week and there's just one technician who handles all our IT." We did not have an acceptable answer for him.
In this structure the major functional areas have been addressed by teams focused on that area. The team would have a mix of people so that all the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding are collectively within that team, subject to any further specialised support that is needed. The technical elements of the overall solution have been recognised as requiring a team of specialists, so, in fact, we have part of the team structure fully process-structured and another part in a resource pool form. Other features in this example:
Project Manager is supported by a Project Office. Project Director is on the same level as the Steering Committee (and would probably be seen as a full member of the committee). Project Manager reports to the Steering Committee. There is an ultimate decision making body at an executive level above the Steering Committee.
This is a very similar structure to the previous one. The main teams have been defined to support the major business processes within the scope of the project. Specialised shared service teams have been set up - one for all the technical support areas and one for non-technical general and specialised support, eg change management and training. Other features in this example:
Project Office provides significant range of shared services - not just administration. Process Owner Directors within the organisation are matched with process teams for efficient communication on a "one-to-one" basis instead of through various committees and layers of management Technically oriented members of the process teams have a secondary reporting relationship to the technical team leader. Although the analysts operate within the process team, the programmers are in a shared service resource pool.
This structure is based on the traditional resource pool concept. Teams are constructed from similar types of resource. People often feel more comfortable in teams like this, but they do not necessarily combine together so effectively to produce solutions. For any given issue, a combination from different teams will need to communicate and collaborate. For example, design by prototyping would be conducted by members of the user team and the applications team. In some IT environments, the staff believe separation from the business and users is an advantage. They find the "interference" from users slows their progress. This may well be true - but close collaboration with the business will normally improve the quality of the solution and prevent the risk of delivering a solution that is not valued by the user community. Usually teams are constructed to promote collaboration, knowledge sharing and skills transfer. One particular, and unusual, use for this structure is where you wish to minimise skills transfer. This has been considered valuable in a few cases where there is a significant shortage of a particular skill in the marketplace. Why? Because if you transfer skills to the line staff they all resign to double their salary as consultants - see the case study below. Other features in this example:
BPR and Change Facilitators are, in effect, also a resource pool; however, they occupy a special position in the structure - facilitating