Page 122 - Global Project Management Handbook

DEVELOPING MULTINATIONAL PROJECT TEAMS 5-11

KEEPING THE TEAM FOCUSED

The key to continuous team development and effective project management is to keep the
team focused. Field studies on multidisciplinary work groups show consistently and mea-
surably that, to be effective, the project leader not only must recognize the potential dri-
vers of and barriers to high team performance but also must know when in the life cycle
of the project they are most likely to occur. 61,62 Team leaders can take preventive actions
early in the project life cycle and foster a work environment that is conducive to team
building as an ongoing process. A crucial component of such a process is the sense of
ownership and commitment of the team members. Team members must become stake-
holders in the project, buying into the goals and objectives of the project, and they must
be willing to focus their efforts on the desired results.
Specific management insight has been gained from studies by Thamhain and Wilemon 66
into the work group dynamics of project teams. These studies clearly show significant
correlations 61,66 and interdependencies among work environmental factors and team per-
formance. They indicate that high team performance involves four primary factors: (1)
managerial leadership, (2) job content, (3) personal goals and objectives, and (4) work envi-
ronment and organizational support. The actual correlation of 60 influence factors with
project team characteristics and performance provided some interesting insight into the
strength and effect of these factors. One of the important findings was that only 12 of the 60
influence factors that were examined were found to be statistically significant. Other factors
seem to be much less important to high team performance. Listed below are the 12 factors,
classified as drivers, that associate with project team performance most strongly:
1. Professionally interesting and stimulating work
2. Recognition of accomplishment
3. Clear project objectives and directions
4. Adequate resources
5. Experienced management personnel
6. Proper technical direction and leadership
7. Mutual trust, respect, low conflict
8. Qualified project team personnel

9. Involved, supportive upper management
10. Professional growth potential
11. Job security
12. Stable goals and priorities
It is interesting to note that these factors not only correlated favorably with the
direct measures of high project team performance, such as technical success and on-
time/on-budget performance, but also were positively associated with other indirect
measures of team performance, such as commitment, effective communications, cre-
ativity, quality, change orientation, and need for achievement. These are especially
important characteristics for high team performance in a multicultural, multinational
environment where management control is weak through traditional chain-of-command
channels but relies more on the norms and desires established by local teams and their
individual members. What we find consistently is that successful project leaders pay
attention to the human side. They seem to be effective in fostering a work environ-
ment that is conducive to innovative creative work, where people find the assignments
challenging, leading to recognition and professional growth. Such a professionally