Project Management Teams - How Are Yours Selected?
Posted: Tuesday, April 07, 2009
by Ron Rosenhead
Project Agency
How are your project teams selected? Are they selected or do you have representatives from different parts of the business or are they simply assembled with the same old faces? Imagine a long time scale project -12 months plus the staff costs associated with this are significant. However, I see little time spent on putting the right team together to ensure effective delivery of the project. People on project management training courses say scant attention is given to this issue.
Why not?
One reason may well be that the resources already exist withinthe organization so as one senior manager said; we must utilise our staff resources fully! But, which people are utilised? Do they have the right skills alongside the time to give to the project? Little thought is given to the overall team, its strengths or who should sit on it.
My suggestion is that you recruit a project team in the same way you recruit for a vacant position; only it should be quicker, very much quicker. Develop a person specification in the same way you would for a vacant position in the company. Identify which criteria are essential and which are desirable and do ensure you include excellent soft skills and for the project manager position leadership capability. Use the interview and any application process to identify skills gaps and use this to inform any training you decide to give.
I have had several examples where an individual in the project team has a specific skill but they go outside the company and buy in consultancy support leading to de-motivation of staff. One thing to avoid is the shepherds crook method of recruitment described by one person on one of our project management training courses. She was walking along a corridor and a manager saw her. She said that it was as though I was being hooked into getting involved in a project. Little thought had gone into the reason for her involvement and she was concerned about her day job; how to deliver both!
So, if you want a project team to deliver then think about ensuring you recruit the right team. Use traditional recruitment processes to help however ensure that the process is significantly quicker and ensure you train them effectively project management training included. At all costs, avoid the shepherds crook method of selection!
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