In this article, we will look at which people need to be united in a project team so that the project has every chance of successful completion.

Project implementation is a team activity. The project team brings together individuals interested in achieving the project result. They are actively involved in the project, and it affects their interests.

Let's take a closer look at the project team members.

Project customer(sometimes, but not always, he is the user) - this is the person who will benefit from the outcome of the project.

Sponsor– this is the person who provides the project with comprehensive support. This could be finance or any other resources. It can also be assistance in organization and administration.

Project office is a department that can simply provide support in project management or be directly responsible for the execution of projects.

Project Manager(well, this is understandable) - this is the person who is directly responsible for managing the project.

Project team is a group of people performing design work.

Suppliers– these are external organizations that supply resources and provide services necessary to achieve project results.

As previously discussed, it is necessary that the project is managed in accordance with the expectations and interests of the main participants. If they contradict each other, a compromise must be found.

It is also usually worth separating external and internal projects in terms of the characteristics of the project team, stakeholders and their roles.

External projects– this is when the customer of the project is not your organization.

Thus, the Project Owner determines the goals of the project and subsequently accepts the result. A sponsor is needed to resolve disputes that are beyond the scope of the project manager's competence. At the same time, it is important to understand that the customer, sponsor and project manager are different people, and not one person combining these roles.

Please note that customer and user are different roles. The customer sets goals and can accept the result. And the user will work with this result. If suddenly these roles find themselves combined, it is necessary to evaluate the result from the point of view of the customer and the user, without confusing them.

It is also undesirable for the customer to combine the role of a sponsor. This often happens when performing internal projects, when the project is carried out within the organization and for an internal Customer. But in any case, it will be better if the Customer and the Sponsor are different persons.

Often, the progress of a project in an organization depends on the organizational structure of the organization.
For example, in functional structure projects are usually implemented within a functional unit. And if you need to attract an employee from another department, then you need to negotiate with the head of the department to which the employee belongs.

In this case, there are significant disadvantages associated with the fact that the project manager may not have enough authority, and communication may be difficult. There may be problems with coordination between departments and control over project execution is limited.

But there are also positive aspects - for example, employees, working on different projects and in different teams, have the opportunity to improve their skills and gain new ones. Yet managing a project in an organization with a functional structure is difficult.

IN organizations with a project structure Each division is actually a project team created for a specific project. It includes various specialists, and they spend all their time on this project. Thus, the project structure is a feature of project-oriented companies and is appropriate for large and important projects.

However, it also has pros and cons. Main advantages: the best conditions for effective project management, the project manager has great powers, project executors are fully involved in the project.

The downside is that at the end of the project the team must be disbanded, and it is not very clear what the performers should do. It is also possible that the professional level of specialists may decrease due to the fact that, being assigned to perform certain work within the framework of this project, they do not receive new knowledge. In addition, there may be a problem of underutilization of resources during the project.

For most companies, the optimal compromise between the functional and project structure is matrix structure. In which the main drawback is that each performer has two bosses: the project manager and his line manager, which is why conflicts are possible when clarifying the order and priorities of the work performed by the employee, which is aggravated by the limited powers of the project manager.

A project as a form of organizing activity involves the phenomenon of teamwork. Each project participant solves individual tasks set by the project manager, but there are tasks that can be solved exclusively in collective interaction. Even an elementary decomposition of a key design task is fully carried out in collective creativity. Forming a project team is an important part of pre-launch preparation and a significant block of work during the project implementation period.

Features of the project team

The project team performs two main functions. Firstly, her actions are aimed at solving the project problem: searching for information, developing solutions, participating in final discussions, etc. Secondly, the team acts in support of the project manager and comrades (the most important thing here is the ability to listen, support and encourage others).

Team effectiveness should be defined as the ratio of the result of the solved task and the totality of efforts aimed at creating a team and leadership. The economic feasibility of team work methods does not always allow their use. But the features of the project task are very favorable for the success of team activities.

Forming and managing a project team is labor-intensive and expensive. Time and money are spent on planning and selecting team members. The formed group must be developed to the command level and then managed, which also entails certain costs.

The PM must get everything right and invest energy in building team spirit at the right times. In this case, synergy will not be long in coming, and the best traits of the team will appear. Below we present to your attention the main features of the project team and its differences from the working group.

Main features of the project team

When implementing a project, moments of breakthrough decisions and actions are very important, when the efforts of the participants are mobilized. In a team environment, due to its nature, it is easier to generate innovative ideas. The project team is better able to solve complex problems and challenges that arise at the intersection of industry and management competencies. The project team has more opportunities for bold, and probably even risky, decisions than each of its members individually, since collectively the team has stronger experience and vision of the situation. Let's continue the list of features of teamwork:

• together it is easier to get out of confusing dead-end situations;
• roles are distributed more rationally, interpersonal friction is reduced;
• psychological benefits arise: a feeling of friendly support, a sense of pride in joint achievements, recognition in the team;
• provides direct access to information without distortion;
• the characteristics of team members that emerge in the form of shortcomings are quickly translated into constructive channels;
• team members quickly learn from mistakes made;
• the team is able to easily process and absorb external initiative, ideas, assistance, turning them to benefit the common cause;
• if one of the team members begins to feel insecure, this is quickly recorded and compensated.

Standard interpretation of command typing procedures

The Human Resource Management section of the PMBOK guide pays close attention to recruiting a project team. “Recruitment” is part of the Project Staffing Plan. It addresses the issues of sources of recruitment for the team, the distance of members relative to each other, the cost of resources and the degree of participation of the personnel service in recruitment.

The formation of a project team is described by a separate process responsible for the selection and recruitment of its members. The main outcome of the process is to describe and guide the selection of team members, assigning areas of responsibility for creating a high-performing team. The following is a visual model of the process of recruiting a project team.

Process Data Flow Diagram of Project Team Recruitment

Selecting a team and recruiting its members for successful functioning requires taking into account several circumstances. The first thing to consider is the possible opposition of functional managers to the selection of their employees to participate in the team (no matter, partially or fully). The project manager must be prepared to negotiate effectively with company officials and be able to influence them.

During the recruitment of the team, its human resources should become sufficient so that the project task does not fail. The ability to recruit people with the necessary competencies and the required numbers is one of the most important characteristics of PM. Any restrictions in solving the recruitment problem are a subjective illusion, since the general composition of internal and external possibilities should be considered inexhaustible. The only important question is the price of resources.

The inputs to the team recruitment process are: the human resource management plan, the company's environmental factors, and the organization's process assets. In the PMI interpretation, the selection of team members and their recruitment is carried out in several stages. In consultation with certain company employees and external parties, their preliminary appointment is made, which facilitates the start of recruitment work. Next comes the negotiation process with heads of functional units, managers of other projects or external potential contractors.

The team is recruited either exclusively by the PM himself, or with the involvement of the personnel service, as well as external recruiting agencies, based on the results of the plan and internal corporate capabilities. The selection of the team is carried out based on the results of an analysis of recruitment decisions based on many criteria, such as:

• availability;
• expenses;
• experience;
• capabilities;
• knowledge;
• skills;
• attitude;
• international factors.

Recruitment for the team

For the selection and recruitment of team members, the issue of project status is important. It also matters what kind of organizational structure of project activities has developed in the company. Projects that are most important for strategic implementation receive a special status, and the project manager has complete carte blanche to attract any personnel he needs. The realities of Russian project management practice in commercial-production organizations are such that project priority can only aggravate existing contradictions.

For a project manager, harmonious relationships with functional managers are of great strategic importance. By selecting the best specialists for your project, it is easy to make “enemies” who tomorrow may turn out to be users of the products of new project tasks. Therefore, selecting team members is a very delicate issue, despite all the strict deadlines and requirements for the quality of its solution. Considering the above, it is difficult not to express a personal position from practical experience. It seems that there is an ethically verified solution. Oddly enough, it lies in the task paradigm of managerial interaction.

A task is the result of two expressions of will: the director and the responsible resource. The task setter presents the world with the intention to achieve a result. He, as it were, puts it on display for a narrow circle of potential performers. And if among them there is a person whose internal tasks are synchronous with the task of the director, a connection of two good wills arises. Thus, the emergence of volunteers significantly mitigates power and administrative tensions during recruitment.

Any reader of this material has the right to declare the unreality of such a concept, since good resources are always in short supply. And he will be right, but only in the local part, if you look at the resource from the point of view of the exclusive interests of the employer. Expanding the resource base for providing a team with personnel is always in two directions. The first direction is the internal motives and tasks of the resource itself. And the second is the external environment, which is inexhaustible, especially taking into account the international aspect. The following factors should also be taken into account when recruiting a team.

1. The candidate for the team has no fear of problems in conditions of uncertainty.
2. The workload of a specialist, taking into account the risks, can grow into overload.
3. Experience of a “winner” in other project activities, which increases the credibility of the project by attracting such experienced participants.
4. Good political connections of the candidate with departments important to the project.
5. Initiative, enterprise and ambition of the candidate for team members.

Stages of team formation

Formation and development of a team is a process that has a certain duration. A team, no matter how strong individuals and specialists it is assembled from, cannot become highly effective overnight and immediately produce excellent results. The project manager must patiently and consistently guide his people along the path to becoming a community of like-minded people. What criteria can be applied to ensure that the project team is working to its full potential? Let's look at some signs:

• the goals and objectives of the project unite and bring people together in the team;
• individual and team results acquire recognized quality and unambiguity;
• the project manager has the traits of not only a formal, but also an informal leader;
• There is respect and a positive attitude in the team, conflicts are constructive and quickly resolved;
• mistakes occur, are not considered a tragedy, conclusions drawn exclude repetition;
• the team is aware of the consumer and customer of the project product and is precisely focused on meeting their needs;
• problems are not left without resolution, and team skills allow you to find optimal solutions;
• Team members are highly motivated to solve problems.

The features and specifics of the project team determine the stages of its formation. The most recognized model is considered to be the model of the American social psychologist B. Tuckman, who proposed to distinguish five stages of development of a team as a small group. I suggest you get acquainted with these stages.

1. Formation stage. The participants get to know each other, look closely at each other, and wait to see how events will develop. The project manager is encouraged to help team members overcome uncertainty by assigning simple tasks for collective execution.
2. Stage of clarification of relations. It’s also an uncomfortable stage when, having gotten a little used to it, people begin to act as best they can. It is advisable for the RM to calmly respond to criticism that arises from members of each other, jointly discuss the results and show the strengths of each participant.
3. Rules approval stage. The phase of getting used to and accepting each other begins, constructiveness appears in dialogues and general discussions. The manager needs to gradually include his leadership and inspiring message to the team, reduce time for arguments and organize work to formalize the rules of teamwork.
4. Productive work stage. The team is deployed, collaboration and interaction are maximized. The project manager must maintain a businesslike atmosphere, prevent unconstructive conflicts and quickly resolve them. Constructive contradictions must be led to positive solutions.
5. Completion stage.

The presented article examines not only the methodological foundations of forming a project team and recruiting its participants. The main features and characteristics of the project team in contrast to working groups have been identified. The main value of the material is the emphasis on the belief that every project manager has the opportunity to go beyond resource limitations and find those candidates who will build success from individual “building blocks” and team progress. It is quite natural that such work will require effort and time. However, the result is the head of everything, and such a delay at the start can be completely justified and compensated.

1. The project team(CP) – the organizational structure of the project created for the period of implementation of the project or one of the phases of its life cycle. The task of the project team management is to develop policies and approve the project strategy to achieve its goals. The project team includes individuals representing the interests of various project participants.

2. Project management team(PMC) - the organizational structure of the project, which includes those members of the CP who are directly involved in project management, including representatives of some project participants and technical personnel. In relatively small projects, the PSC may include almost all members of the CP. The task of the PMC is to perform all management functions and work in the project as it progresses.

3. Project management team(KMP) - the organizational structure of the project, headed by the manager (chief manager) of the project and created for the period of implementation of the project or its life phase. The project management team includes individuals who directly perform managerial and other project management functions. The main tasks of the project management team are the implementation of project policies and strategies, the implementation of strategic decisions and the implementation of tactical (situational) management.

The classification of project teams depending on the purpose of the project teams, the forms of their existence and the content of the work is given in Table 6.7.

Table 6.7 – Examples of classification of project teams

Types of Teams: CP – project team; MC – management team (group).

Questions for self-control

1. Indicate the main aspects of team building.

2. Explain the concept of “group dynamics”.

3. Describe the stages of development of the project team.

4. Identify and explain the types of project teams.

5. Indicate the main provisions for creating and forming a project team.

The project team is a set of employees performing the functions of managing the project and project personnel.

The project team is divided into 2 levels:

• -top level of the structure - project manager
• -lower - performers, departments and specialists responsible for individual functional areas.

In terms of content, the project team is a group of highly qualified specialists with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively achieve the goals of the project. The main integrating factor in the creation and activities of the team is the strategic goal - project implementation. In the process of achieving project goals, the team acquires its own characteristics, uses the organizational capabilities of the participants and the project resources. The project team acts as a social organism that has its own beginning, carries out the life process (project management) and ends its existence by disbanding or transforming into another management team.

The process of forming a project team (team building) is usually considered as the formation of a single, integral team of managers capable of effectively achieving the goals of the project.

The meaning of teamwork to implement a project is the possibility of a synergistic effect from combining group efforts, knowledge and the development of group management decisions, i.e. in achieving “the state in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Such cooperation in the work of personnel is much more effective than competition.

Diagram 1. Project team management process

The project team is created by the project manager - a legal entity to whom the customer delegates the rights to manage the project to the extent determined by the contract. The task of the project manager when forming a team is to select team members who would provide:

• · compliance of the quantitative and qualitative composition of the team with the goals and requirements of the project;
• · effective group work on project management;
• · psychological compatibility of team members and the creation of an active, stimulating “intra-project” culture;
• · extensive intra-group communication and development of optimal group solutions to problems that arise during the implementation of the project.

The project manager appoints project manager who carries out general management of the project, controls its main parameters and coordinates the activities of team members. The project manager, with the approval of the project manager, determines the required number of specialists - team members, their qualifications, selects and hires workers. project manager team management

To carry out support functions, ensure management processes and work of the team, a secretariat is created, headed by an administrative assistant. The project team consists of attracted members who take part in the development and implementation of the project at various stages of its life cycle.

The “backbone” of the team consists of permanent members:

• · Chief Engineer,
• · Chief Accountant,
• · design manager,
• · contract manager,
• · construction manager, etc.,

They head the functional departments of the team and are responsible for making decisions on project management within their competence.

The project team has all the qualities and characteristics inherent in the social group. As a formal group, it occupies a certain place in the structure of the organization, has assigned functions and responsibilities, and uses formal channels of information. As an informal group, it is quite resistant to crises and conflicts, and uses various informal connections and information channels.

Similar to the project life cycle, the project team has its own life cycle, in which five main stages can be distinguished: formation, collaboration, functioning, reorganization, disbandment.

Table 1. Characteristics of various stages of life of the project team

The project team as a social group has certain characteristics. When forming and organizing the work of a team, the manager must take these characteristics into account.

The project team is characterized, first of all, by a sufficient degree of cohesion - a high degree of attraction to each other.

A dangerous consequence of cohesion is group like-mindedness - the tendency to suppress opinions that do not agree with the group. The manager's task in this case is to maintain healthy competition, creative activity, stimulate the exchange of opinions and identify new ideas. An alternative to unanimity is increased conflict in the team, leading to unconstructive actions and the satisfaction of personal ambitions at the expense of the interests of the project.

When selecting a team, identifying groups working on individual tasks, the factor of psychological compatibility should be taken into account, which is ensured by the unity of value orientations of the staff.

A huge role is played by the working climate within the team, which is determined by the totality of behavioral attitudes of team members and, above all, leaders. There are four main polar orientations depending on the motivational attitudes of staff - power, freedom (independence), money and purpose (work).

When selecting a project team, in addition to professional requirements, the following qualities must be taken into account:

• · ability to work in a group;
• · independence, entrepreneurship;
• · desire to take responsibility for decisions made;
• · ability to make risky decisions and work in conditions of uncertainty;
• · communication skills, stress resistance;
• · low level of conflict;
• · compliance of values ​​with the goals and values ​​of the project.

Selection criteria usually include education, work experience, medical characteristics and personal qualities. It should be noted that there are currently very few specialists with education in the field of project management and we can talk about either experience in participating in projects or additional education in the field of project management.

One of the selection methods is testing of applicants. To ensure the reliability of the data obtained, it is advisable to compare the results of various selection methods, such as tests and interviews.

Planning the team’s activities should begin at the stage of pre-investment research, at the stage of identifying a possible project leader. After determining the team structure and selecting a project manager, his task is to carefully plan the work of all functional units of the team for the effective use and distribution of resources allocated to the project.

The first stage of this work is personnel planning - determining the necessary quantitative and qualitative composition of the team and project personnel. The further process requires the active participation of all team members in drawing up work plans. The basis for drawing up a team work plan is the project development and implementation plan.

The organization of a project team's work differs from the organizational norms of a formalized organization.

One of the principles of teamwork is the distribution of duties and responsibilities for achieving set goals, rather than rigidly consolidating the functions performed. The principle involves moving away from a detailed division of labor in project management and the activities of individual team units by introducing team responsibility for solving specific tasks.

This principle allows you to fairly strictly plan the activities of the project team and its individual divisions, monitor and evaluate the activities of its members, and use an effective incentive system based on the goal/result criterion.

The team's functional divisions initially represent groups of equal-status workers with one official leader at their head, aimed at solving specific problems in project management.

In conditions of maximizing the assigned tasks, the uneven professional and personal growth of team members very soon becomes apparent, and potential leaders appear. Team success and achievement of project goals begin to depend on personal achievements, initiative and responsibility. Thus, personal leadership becomes the main organizational resource.

Team responsibility for project results and the desire for personal leadership and success become strong motivators. Each team member understands that his high personal rating in the team becomes the key to his further successful professional career in project management and increases the likelihood of his participation in other projects.

To effectively organize team work, you need:

• · clear distribution of roles and responsibilities;
• · awareness by all team members of the goals and current tasks of the project;
• · taking into account both personal and professional qualities of specialists when combining them into a team;
• · attention of managers both to achieving project goals and to establishing a friendly working atmosphere.

Responsibility for the work always lies with the project team manager. The rest of the work can and should be delegated. The ability to delegate authority, thereby developing the abilities of staff, becomes the main quality of an effective project manager.

A project team is a temporary group of specialists created for the duration of the project. The main task of this group is to ensure that the project's goals are achieved. It is created in a targeted manner for the period of the project. Also includes all external contractors and consultants.

Project Management Team - Members of the project team who are directly involved in managing the project, including representatives of some of the project participants and technical personnel. On smaller projects, this team may include almost all members of the project team.

The main task of the project management team is to carry out project management functions to effectively achieve project goals. Project teams can exist at different levels of the organization: board of directors, groups of managers involved in planning or reorganization, project teams.

In practice, there are three main models for forming a project team:

1. Involving managers or specialists in working on the project in conjunction with their main job. This model is chosen for time- and resource-constrained projects. The management of the enterprise appoints a project manager from among the full-time employees. At the same time, the project manager continues to perform the duties of his main position and part-time manages the project team. He is given rights to access the necessary information and to plan and coordinate the use of resources required for the implementation of the project. The problem with using such a model may be that the project manager can only have little influence on employees from other departments due to the priority of their reporting to line managers of departments. Increased workload due to project work and the main position can lead to negligence on project assignments.

2. “Enterprise within an enterprise” (classical model). This model is chosen for complex and voluminous tasks and the need for close integration of the project with the main activities of the enterprise. Working in a project team has a clear priority over subordination to the heads of traditional departments. The project is supervised directly by management, and the manager and individual project employees are completely or partially exempt from their normal activities.

3. Mixed forms. Most often, this model is used in medium-sized enterprises executing projects. In this case, as a rule, an experienced project manager is selected to manage the project (possibly from outside) and, depending on the project, qualified specialists from functional departments are involved in conjunction with the main work (for certain tasks, external specialists can also be brought in for the duration of a specific task). tasks). All responsibility rests with the project manager, who usually has support from the management of the enterprise.

Another option is to appoint one of the company's senior managers as the project coordinator. At the same time, for operational work on the project, he is usually assigned a young and promising employee, who in the future can lead the direction related to the project.

The place and role of teams in a project is determined by the goals of the individuals and representatives of project participants, the degree of participation of the team in the project processes and its responsibility. The composition and functions of the project management team depend on the size, complexity and other characteristics of the project, but in all cases its composition must ensure a high professional level of all responsibilities assigned to it.

The culture of a project management team of various types generally includes national, corporate, organizational and professional. Based on the degree of involvement in the project, the team can be divided into three groups of participants:

core group - specialists directly working on the implementation of the project in close contact with each other and knowing each member of the group;

secondary group - larger than the main one, it unites specialists and organizations that provide assistance to members of the main group, but are not directly involved in the implementation of the project and the achievement of its goals;

auxiliary (tertiary) group - people who influence the members of the main and secondary groups and the progress of work on the project, but do not enter into direct cooperation with them.

Main stages of the project team life cycle

Domestic experts identify five stages in the life cycle of a project team:

1. Formation. At this stage, team members get to know each other. The project manager is engaged in the formation of favorable relationships and effective interaction in the team, uniting participants based on the main goal of the project, the development of common norms and agreement on values ​​begins. In addition, the manager builds effective relationships with the environment and external project participants.

2. Stage of cooperation between participants. In the process of working together on a project, differences in the approaches and methods used by the participants appear, difficulties and conflict situations arise in the team’s work. The project manager pays special attention to the formation of constructive positions among project participants in solving emerging problems and the optimal distribution of roles in the team.

3. Normal functioning stage. By this stage, the participants have already formed a sense of team; they all, as a rule, understand what is required of them to achieve a common goal, and perform a part of the work determined for them within the project. This stage is the longest and most productive for the project. 4. Reorganization stage. At this stage, the manager, as a rule, makes changes in the quantitative and qualitative composition of the team. This is due to various reasons, including changes in the volume and type of work, the need to replace some workers due to their unsuitability, the need to attract new specialists or temporary experts.

5. Team disbandment stage. Upon completion of the project, the team disbands. Two typical scenarios for the development of events at this stage are as follows.

In the first case, when the team achieves success in implementing the project, all its members receive satisfaction from working together and are ready for further cooperation. When opening a new project, the manager, as a rule, invites these same people to the team.

In the second case, when the project is unsuccessful, the team disbands and, most often, no longer gathers in this composition.

Experience in implementing various projects shows that the optimal period of work for a project team is 1.5–2 years. Then its effectiveness decreases. To solve this problem, experts recommend periodically returning project participants back to functional units and attracting new employees.