Chapter 3 Pragmatic PM Element #2: The Project Team

Like most business activities, project management primarily involves managing people to reach objectives. Applying appropriate project management tools to plan, execute, monitor, and control a project is important, but only if those tools provide a framework for managing the people fulfilling the project work. When all the planning is done, people execute the project work, and people get the project done. Selecting people and transforming them into a functioning, high-performing project team is a major role of the project manager.

Only rarely is the PM the sole member of the project team. Most projects have at least two people involved, and often more. However, human resources are expensive and specific skill sets can be surprisingly scarce. A large team with considerable skills might be desirable, but it will tax a project budget. The project manager must balance the need for specialized project team members with the associated project costs. Pragmatic project management means assembling the minimum number of project team members necessary to deliver the maximum benefit to the project.

Assembling the right team can be like going to a restaurant where a new and rare delicacy is on the menu but only in limited supply. You need to place an order early to ensure that what you want is available. In most organizations and industries, experienced, quality experts tend to be in short supply. To ensure those valuable human resources are on your team, make a request for their support early.

To assemble the minimum number of project team members necessary to deliver the maximum benefit to the project, employ a combination of fulltime, part-time, and contractual project team members just during the part of the project schedule when those members are needed. For example, a project manager might phase project team members into the project schedule according to their role (Figure 3.1):

Figure 3-1 Phasing Project Team Members by Role

The project manager does not always have the opportunity to personally shape his or her project team. Sometimes, the project team is already in place when the project manager begins working on a project. If so, the project manager must assess the project and the project team and modify his or her approach to meet the needs of the situation.

Sometimes, joining a project team already in place is particularly difficult, and the PM's frustration about the situation can be distracting. Several years ago, I found myself unexpectedly the president of the local Lions club when the existing club president left the area for a new job. The club's major project each year is Prairie Days, an old-time community fair held over the last weekend in June with a carnival, vendors, entertainment of all kinds, events, and food. It is a big undertaking. The entire city and surrounding countryside turns out for the event; over a dozen police officers direct crowds and traffic.

As president, it became my job to organize and run Prairie Days. As a new member of the club, I knew little about Prairie Days beyond that it happens each year and failure was not an option. Most of the money the club used to help the community throughout the year was raised at the event; no Prairie Days, no club. The pressure was on, and boy did I feel it.

To make matters worse, two months before the event, the vendor that provided the carnival for the past 20 years retired without notice. Carnival vendors typically schedule their services years in advance; two months was a seemingly impossible hurdle.

I began by inviting the entire club to a meeting to address the situation. At the meeting, club members were quiet and unresponsive. I felt panic rising in my gut, the sort of panic that seasoned project managers can relate to when they see an important project headed south. “This is never going to work,” I muttered as I left the clubhouse after the meeting, followed closely by the club secretary. “I can't do all this by myself.”

The club secretary, a woman of eighty plus years and countless Prairie Days events, reached out and smacked me lightly on the back of the head. “You need to delegate, dummy,” she said. I turned on my heel and glared at her. “Exactly who am I going to delegate to? They were stone silent in there.”

She glared right back at me, although there was the glint of a smile in her eyes. “You read those people wrong during that meeting. They weren't stone silent. They were just waiting for you to ask them to help.” She shook her head and chuckled as she turned away and headed for her car. “Some big project manager you are.”

I called another meeting a week later and tried a different approach. This time, I made a point of including everyone in the discussion and asked who would be willing to help me plan and run the event. A few minutes later, I had four committees in place, and we were on our way to a successful event.

Once the committees were in place, each one took ownership of its particular part of the event and assigned individuals to specific tasks. The club committees developed a project plan and executed the plan accordingly. In short order, a new carnival vendor was found, and Prairie Days went off without a hitch, raising more money for the club's charitable account than ever before.

The project management axiom that those who do the work should develop the plans makes sense. A project charter developed for a complex IT project is bound to benefit from the collective experience of experts who have participated in similar projects. The Lion's club Prairie Days project team members planned the project and executed the plan successfully. The team's involvement in the planning process and their responsibility for making the plans led to the event's ultimate success.

SELECTING A PROJECT TEAM

Project team members have a wide variety of skill sets. From the administrative assistant handling myriad paperwork to the project manager who runs the whole show, a project team can consist of any number of people filling numerous roles.

Exactly how the project team is structured depends on project objectives and the type of work needed to fulfill those objectives. The project charter is the best place to start when determining the constitution of a project team.

For example, if a project is highly technical and the PM lacks the necessary technical skills, he or she must find someone as early as possible with the necessary technical competence. When project costs are high and funding sources are complex and varied (e.g., grants, government appropriations, internal operational budgets, philanthropic donations), the complexities of funding and accompanying reporting requirements may demand an accounting expert as an early member of the project team.

Some projects require a highly formal team structure, and others require a less formal structure. In either case, the project team—be it two people or 20—must fulfill basic roles and responsibilities.

THE FORMAL TEAM

Formally constituted project teams are defined in the project charter and form once the project sponsor approves the charter. Formal teams are commonly associated with organization charts and generally follow a specific professional hierarchy that includes the project sponsor, project manager, and every other person involved in the project (Figure 3.2).

Figure 3-2 Simple Project Organization Chart

Figure 3.3 presents a list of common project team roles and responsibilities included in an IT project. All the roles in the list could be acquired from the organization's internal resources or, with the exception of the project sponsor, from a contractor. In addition, several roles identified in the list can be fulfilled by a single person working in multiple capacities.

Figure 3-3 Project Team Roles and Responsibilities

For many projects, it is common for organizations to hire contractors with specific skill sets. In those instances, additional contractor roles and responsibilities should be considered for the project team (Figure 3.4):

Figure 3-4 Project Contractor Roles and Responsibilities

Given all the potential roles, responsibilities, and skill sets, how do you choose a project team, and how do you decide when specific team members should begin working during project execution? As a general rule, most projects require at least three project team members, including:

Project sponsor – authorizes and funds the project

Project manager – leads and manages day-to-day project operations

Technical lead – applies the sophisticated technical expertise needed to address project objectives and requirements.

The rationale behind the project sponsor's early involvement is obvious: The sponsor authorizes and funds the project. A project cannot move forward without the sponsor's approval. Later, when the project requires a decisionmaker with more authority than the PM, the project sponsor must make those decisions to ensure that the project progresses.

The PM leads and manages the project, forms the project team, facilitates project planning, execution, and closeout. A project manager is essential from the very first days of the project.

The technical lead understands the complex aspects of the project, providing the skills and experience necessary to construct a building, design a software system, layout a major carnival, or orchestrate food service for a convention. The technical lead's skills and experience help provide the team with a comprehensive understanding of project complexities.

Occasionally, the technical lead and the project manager are the same person, although this can be problematic. The technical lead is at times buried in intense deliberation over technical issues, and it can be very difficult to separate the technical aspects of the project and the need for basic PM leadership and oversight.

Other members of the project team are brought on board as project requirements dictate. In formal project structures, each new member of the team works directly or indirectly for the project manager. The project manager should always report directly to the project sponsor.

The project sponsor often plays an on-again, off-again role in the project, called in to make decisions extending beyond the basic team's authority. Most of the leadership and decision-making work, however, is left to the project manager and the technical lead.