Common Aspects of Team Development

Regardless of how the management activities are structured, there are common aspects of project team development that are relevant for most project teams. These include:

• Vision and objectives. It is essential that everyone is aware of the project vision and objectives. The vision and objectives are communicated throughout the project. This includes referencing the intended outcomes when the project team is engaged in making decisions and solving problems.
• Roles and responsibilities. It is important to make sure project team members understand and fulfill their roles and responsibilities. This can include identifying gaps in knowledge and skills as well as strategies to address those gaps through training, mentoring, or coaching.
• Project team operations. Facilitating project team communication, problem solving, and the process of coming to consensus may include working with the project team to develop a project team charter and a set of operating guidelines or project team norms.
• Guidance. Guidance can be directed to the overall project team to keep everyone headed in the right direction. Individual project team members may also provide guidance on a particular task or deliverable.
• Growth. Identifying areas where the project team is performing well and pointing out areas where the project team can improve helps the project team to grow. Working collaboratively, the project team can identify goals for its improvement and take steps to meet those goals. This also applies to each individual on the project team. Individuals may want to grow their skills and experience in certain areas, and the project manager can assist with that.

There are several models that describe the stages of project team growth included in Section 4.

When project teams form across different organizations based on a contract, strategic partnership, or other business relationship, specific roles that perform various functions may be more formalized and less flexible depending on the contract or other terms. Such arrangements often require more up-front work to establish a “one team” mindset, ensure project team members understand how everyone contributes to the project, and establish other enablers that integrate skills, capabilities, and processes.