Managing the Project Team

With the advancement of technologies, IT professionals need to constantly update their knowledge in new programming languages or management methodologies so that they can work on your company's projects. When we talk about the role of the project manager, to manage the projects that are under his responsibility, it is necessary that in addition to technical knowledge, he also has knowledge about people management to manage the project team more efficiently.

In this article, we will talk about the human aspects, communication and the development of leadership skills that allow the project manager to deal more effectively in conflict resolution and project human resources management.

In a multifunctional team, we have employees with completely different behavioral profiles, performing different activities, with personal problems and even different professionals. And in this scenario, it is up to the project manager to maintain the harmony and motivation of the team for the project to be carried out according to what was planned.

The management of the schedule, activities or cost is considered by many to be the easiest part of the management work, but dealing with the behavioral aspects of the team may be the most challenging part for the project manager.

For this, it is necessary for the project manager to possess or develop some skills known as “soft skills”.

We can understand how soft Skills skills of leadership, communication and behaviors needed so that project managers can guide, motivate and direct the team so that it can achieve the objectives of the project.

This theme is so relevant to contribute to the success of the project that PMBOK, in its sixth edition, addresses this subject by mentioning that the styles, trends and practices in managing project resources, are migrating from a command structure and management control for the adoption of a more collaborative and supportive management approach, which gives autonomy to teams with delegation of decisions to team members. In addition, modern approaches to managing project resources seek to optimize resource utilization and it is recommended that the project manager should invest in personal Emotional Intelligence (IE), improving internal (e.g. self-management and self-awareness) and external (e.g. relationship management).

Research suggests that project teams that succeed in developing EI become an emotionally competent and effective group. Even, according to this research, there is a reduction in the turnover of team members.

We can mention that to improve team management, the project manager should beyond what is already recommended in PMBOK, develop the four pillars below:

• Self-knowledge: The first recommended step is for the project manager to develop self-knowledge, knowing more about his behavioral and psychological preferences. With this, he will learn about the different types of profiles, develop his communication and improve team management.
• Interpersonal relations: As much as it is in a professional environment, it is important that the project manager knows how to create links with the project team, creating harmony, developing empathy or being more open to listening to people. Developing this ability will facilitate communication at any hierarchical level of the company.
• Understanding your collaborators: In order to effectively manage the project's human resources, it is essential that the project manager understands its employees. When we talk about understanding, we broaden the meaning of the word, proposing an individual understanding of the skills or difficulties of each team member. Are project managers able to identify the behavioral and psychological profile of each of the employees to adjust their own communication and improve the absorption of information, reduce the duration of meetings and make communication flow during the project?

  We can cite some tools such as DISC or MBTI, which could help in this identification, but the most important point we should address is how the project manager will actually use the information generated in these reports?

• Understanding your team: After the individual identification of the employees, the project manager needs to apply the knowledge on his team to know the team as a whole so that he knows the best way to communicate, motivate, control, encourage and direct the work of the project team.

Despite citations about leadership and communication skills development at PMBOK, the project manager should not be limited to using only the tools and techniques recommended by the PMI, because when we talk about human aspects we have very different needs, expectations and characteristics and the project manager should be prepared to deal with the particularities of his project team.

Even today, many companies promote courses, lectures and seminars for their team but focus only on addressing technical issues, leaving aside the behavioral or psychological aspects and thus continue to have relationship or communication problems in their companies.

Have you ever stopped to think when it was the last time your company promoted any such training to managers or project team and what can the company gain by developing this skill on their project team?

Even with all technological evolution, we must remember that projects are executed by people and for the project manager to succeed in the execution of projects it is essential that he understands people.

To learn more about the training for project management, team development or optimization of your project office, please contact us.