1. Teamwork and Project Management
Karl A. Smith
Purdue University/
University of Minnesota
Engineers Leadership Institute
Minnesota Society for
Professional Engineers
December, 2006

2. Teambuilding and Project Management Perspectives
Capitalizing on individual differences
Leading a team to consensus; the importance of buy-in
Expanding a team’s capabilities
Perspectives on the role of project manager
Key components to project and/or team success
Project coordination 2

3. . . . Tomorrow’s corporation is a “collection of projects”
. . . Everyone needs to learn to work in teams with multiple independent experts--each will be dependent upon all the others voluntarily giving their best.
. . .The new lead actor/boss--the Project Manager--must learn to command and coach; that is, to deal with paradox.
From Eight Commandments for Project Managers Tom Peters

4. Top Three Main Engineering Work Activities
Engineering Total
Design – 36%
Computer applications – 31%
Management – 29%
Civil/Architectural
Management – 45%
Design – 39%
Computer applications – 20%
Burton, L., Parker, L, & LeBold, W U.S. engineering career trends. ASEE Prism, 7(9),

5. Project
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result
-- Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), 2004
A project is a combination of human and nonhuman sources pulled together in a temporary organization to achieve a specified purpose.
-- Cleland and Kerzner, 1985 5

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9. PMBOK www.pmi.org The Project Management Body of Knowledge is the
sum of knowledge within
the profession of project
management
PMBOK 9

10. “The Project Management Body of Knowledge is the sum of knowledge within the profession of project management” page 3. 10

11. Project Management is not just scheduling (Lewis, p. 8)
It’s the intersection of:
Tools
People
Systems 11

12. Developing Project Management Expertise
What is expertise?
What is project management expertise?
Why is this important?
How to develop expertise? 12

13. Expertise Implies: a set of cognitive and metacognitive skills
an organized body of knowledge that is deep and contextualized
an ability to notice patterns of information in a new situation
flexibility in retrieving and applying that knowledge to a new problem 13
Bransford, Brown & Cocking How people learn. National Academy Press.

14. Expert Project Managers
Take a moment to recall one of your expert project managers
Describe him or her briefly
Listen as others describe their expert project managers
List common characteristics 14

15. Characteristics of Expert Project Managers? ?? 15

16. What is takes to be a good project manager
--Barry Posner (1987)
Communications (84% of the respondents listed it)
Listening
Persuading
Organizational skills (75%)
Planning
Goal-setting
Analyzing
Team Building Skills (72%)
Empathy
Motivation
Esprit de Corps
Leadership Skills (68%)
Sets Example
Energetic
Vision (big picture)
Delegates
Positive
Coping Skills (59%)
Flexibility
Creativity
Patience
Persistence
Technological Skills (46%)
Experience
Project Knowledge
Central Concept - Innovation
Dominant Project Characteristics - Overlapping, Fewer boundaries
Main Thrust - Modifying and Adapting Demands
Metaphor - Designing
Means - Creativity, Higher Technology Ability

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18. Acquisition of Expertise
Cognition: Learn from instruction or observation what knowledge and actions are appropriate
Associative: Practice (with feedback) allowing smooth and accurate performance
Automaticity: “Compilation” or performance and associative sequences so that they can be done without large amounts of cognitive resources 18

19. Paradox of Expertise
The very knowledge we wish to teach others (as well as the knowledge we wish to represent in computer programs) often turns out to be the knowledge we are least able to talk about. 19

20. Teamwork and Project Management Exercise
Project Life Cycle
The engineering method is design under constraints – Wm. Wulf, President, National Academy of Engineering
The engineering method is the use of heuristics to cause the best change in a poorly understood situation within the available resources – Billy Koen, Mechanical Engineering Professor, UT-Austin, author Discussion of the Method 20

21. Team Member Roles
Task Recorder
Process Recorder
Materials Manager 21

22. Design objective
Design and build a tower that can support a concentrated load (standard book) at a height of least 25 cm. The tower is built from index cards and office tape.
Design rules
Materials are 100 index cards and one roll of office tape
Cards can be folded but not torn
No piece of tape can be longer than 2 inches
Tower cannot be taped to the floor, ceiling, or any other object
Tower must be in one piece, and easily transported in one hand
Time to design and build: 20 minutes
Height is measured from the ground to the lowest corner of the book placed on top
Tower must support book for at least 10 seconds before the measurement is made
Room must be cleaned up before measurements are made.

23. Group Processing Plus/Delta Format Delta (∆) Plus (+)
Things That Group Did Well
Delta (∆)
Things Group Could Improve

24. Teamwork & Project Management Heuristics--Examples
Identify the weak link and Allocate resources to the weak link
Freeze the design--at some stage in the project (when about 75% of the time or resources are used up) the design must be frozen
Discuss the process and ask meta-level questions, e.g., What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How does it help? 24

25. • Conceiving and defining the project • Planning the project
The prevailing view of the project life cycle is that projects go through distinct phases, such as:
• Conceiving and defining the project
• Planning the project
• Implementing the plan
• Completing and evaluating the project
• Operate and maintain project
A typical construction project has the following seven phases (Kerzner, 1998):
1. Planning, data gathering, and procedures
2. Studies and basic engineering
3. Major review
4. Detail engineering
5. Detail engineering/construction overlap
6. Construction
7. Testing and commissioning
Central Concept - Innovation
Dominant Project Characteristics - Overlapping, Fewer boundaries
Main Thrust - Modifying and Adapting Demands
Metaphor - Designing
Means - Creativity, Higher Technology Ability

26. 26

27. The Project 50 – Tom Peters
Traditional
Create – 10%
Sell – 0%
Implement – 90%
Exit – 0%
The Project 50
Create – 30%
Sell – 30%
Implement – 30%
Exit – 10% 27

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29. Wysocki & Rudd, Figure 2.8, page 4729

30. Project Manager’s Role Over the Project Life Cycle: • Planning
• Organizing
• Staffing
• Directing
• Controlling
See Smith (2004) p
Central Concept - Innovation
Dominant Project Characteristics - Overlapping, Fewer boundaries
Main Thrust - Modifying and Adapting Demands
Metaphor - Designing
Means - Creativity, Higher Technology Ability

31. Successful Projects
Take a moment to recall one of your most successful projects
Describe it briefly
Listen as others describe their successful projects
List common characteristics 31

32. Characteristics ? 32

33. A recent survey of technology projects in the United States by the Project Management Institute reveals some startling percentages. Close to half of the projects started were never finished, 30% were completed but took at least twice as long as expected, some took 5 times as long. Only 10% of the projects were finished on time.
Central Concept - Innovation
Dominant Project Characteristics - Overlapping, Fewer boundaries
Main Thrust - Modifying and Adapting Demands
Metaphor - Designing
Means - Creativity, Higher Technology Ability

34. Standish Group Survey of Software Project – 1994 (Lewis, 2000, p. 109)
17% Succeeded
50% Revised
33% Failed
Central Concept - Innovation
Dominant Project Characteristics - Overlapping, Fewer boundaries
Main Thrust - Modifying and Adapting Demands
Metaphor - Designing
Means - Creativity, Higher Technology Ability

35. [Pinto (1986), See Smith (2004), p. 67]
Critical Success Factors and Their Importance for System Implementation (Listed in decreasing order of correlation)
[Pinto (1986), See Smith (2004), p. 67]
1.Project mission. Initial clearly defined goals and general directions.
2.Top management support. Willingness of top management to provide the necessary resources and authority/power for implementation success.
3.Schedule plans. A detailed specification of the individual action steps for system implementation.
4.Client consultation. Communication, consultation, and active listening to all parties impacted by the proposed project.
5.Personnel. Recruitment, selection, and training of the necessary personnel for the implantation project team.
6.Technical tasks. Availability of the required technology and expertise to accomplish the specific technical action steps to bring the project on-line.
7.Client acceptance. The act of "selling" final product to its ultimate intended users.
8.Monitoring and feedback. Timely provision of comprehensive control information at each stage in the implementation process.
9.Communication. The provision of an appropriate network and necessary data to all key actors in the project implementation process.
10.Troubleshooting. Ability to handle unexpected crises and deviations from plan.
Central Concept - Innovation
Dominant Project Characteristics - Overlapping, Fewer boundaries
Main Thrust - Modifying and Adapting Demands
Metaphor - Designing
Means - Creativity, Higher Technology Ability

36. Top Ten Reasons Why Projects Succeed (Standish Group, 2000)
Executive management support
User involvement
Experienced project manager
Clear business objectives
Minimized scope
Standardized infrastructure
Firm basic requirements
Formal methodology
Reliable estimates
Skilled staff
Wysocki & Rudd, p. 34 36

37. Predictors of Lowered Project Success William M. Hayden
Unrealistic project work plans
Inability to deal early with suspected problem issues
Technical complexities not well communicated to team members
Conflict between client expectations and the state of deliverables
Insufficient involvement on the part of senior management early in the life cycle
Central Concept - Innovation
Dominant Project Characteristics - Overlapping, Fewer boundaries
Main Thrust - Modifying and Adapting Demands
Metaphor - Designing
Means - Creativity, Higher Technology Ability

38. What is a project? (Cleland and Kerzner, 1985; Nicholas, 1990)
… a combination of human and nonhuman sources pulled together in a temporary organization to achieve a specified purpose.
Features
Definable purpose with established goals
Cost, time and performance requirements
Multiple resources across organizational lines
One-time activity
Element of risk
Temporary activity
Process with phases/ project life cycle 38

39. Performance, Cost, and Time Project Targets39

40. Project Success: Quadruple Constraint

41. Reflect on the session:
Session Summary
(Minute Paper)
Reflect on the session:
1. Most interesting, valuable, useful thing you learned.
2. Question/Topic/Issue you would like to have addressed.
3. Comments, suggestions, etc
Pace: Too slow Too fast
Relevance: Little Lots
Instructional Format: Ugh Ah 41