The people in the project

1. The people in the project Terese Stenfors-Hayes

2. Agenda and objectives • Agenda: Creating and managing a project team. • Conflict management, motivation, group dynamics and some leadership theories • Objective: Basic understanding of theories for the topics above.

3. Limited time Only one objective Given competencies within the group Greater risks Rapid changes Greater risk of failure No formal staff responsibility Several objectives to prioritise between Staff needs competence development Greater distance to employees Greater formal power Needs to obey the rules and regulations of the organisation Project manager vs. functional/traditional manager

4. The manager’s different roles (Mintzberg) • Interpersonal • Team leader, ambassador and ceremonial leader • Informative • Listener, information giver and spokes person • Decision making • Visionary, problem solver, resurce allocator and negotiator

5. Leadership • The team paradox • Great person theory • Something you are born with • Great opportunity theory • Something you can learn • Ask what the leader does instead of who he is • The more complex a project, the more formal the style of management should be • The more technically uncertain a project, the more flexible the style of management should be

6. Leadership styles (Lewin & Lippit) • Authoritative • Democratic • Laissez-faire

7. Assumptions about humans (Schein) • Rational-economic assumptions • Related to theory X (McGregor) • Social assumptions • Self-actualisation assumptions • Maslow, theory Y (McGregor) • The complicated human

8. Power (French & Raven) • Legitimate • Reward • Coercive • Expert • Referent

9. How to create a team Four important aspects • Task • People • Context • Process

10. Task • What type of task is it? • Tactical • Problem solving • Creative • Autonomy? • Subjective or objective solution? • Task design for individuals

11. People • Number? • Competency? • Technical • Communicative • Problem solving • Roles? • Diversity? • Status system? • Norms? • Unity? • Cohesiveness? • Trust?

12. Context • Resurces • Leadership and structure • Feedback and rewards

13. Process • Aim • Objective • Confidence • Conflict management • Responsibility • Communication • Openness

14. Why work in groups? (Schein) • Affiliation needs • Sense of identity and maintaining our self-esteem • Establishing and testing social reality • Reducing insecurity, anxiety and sense of powerlessness • Problem-solving, task-accomplishing mechanism

15. Why is it so difficult? • The work is so temporary • Everyone is used to his/her ways   • Geographical diversity • Size  • Cultural diversity  • Lack of time

16. Group development • Forming • Storming • Norming • Performing • Adjourning

17. Characteristics of effective work groups (Mullins 2002) • A belief in shared aims and objectives • A sense of commitment to the group • Acceptance of group values and norms • A feeling of mutual trust and dependency • Full participation by all members and decision making by consensus • Free flow of information and communications • The open expression of feelings and disagreements • The resolution of conflict by the members themselves • A lower level of staff turnover, absenteeism, accidents, errors and complaints

18. Belbin’s 9 team roles • Specialist • Monitor/evaluator • Plant • Teamworker • Completer/finisher • Shaper • Coordinator • Implementer • Resource investigator

19. Social Loafing • Ways to avoid it: • Individual results • Fun jobs • Reward and evaluate individuals • Participation in goal creation • Etc… • …is only a problem when intrinsic motivation is low

20. Groupthink (Janis 1972) • The group feels invulnerable • Warnings are rationalised away • Unquestioned belief in the group’s morality • Opposers are ridiculed and stereotyped • Group pressure on opposers is high • Silence is taken as consent (a false sense of group unanimity) • Members censor themselves not to deviate from norms • The group is protected from information or individuals who would disrupt consensus

21. Why do we argue (Lee)? • Communication problems • Structural design • Personal differences

22. Types of conflics • Relationship conflicts • Task conflicts • Process conflicts • Conflicts can change from one type to another. • And in most cases the conflict is unnecessary

23. Dealing with conflicts • Five ways: • Accomodation • Confrontation • Compromise • Collaboration • Avoiding

24. Avoiding or changing conflicts • Strengthen the group identity • Acknowledge individual achievements • Good environment and surroundings • Identify a common goal • Practice conflict management • Separate people, tasks and other issues

25. Why is motivation important? • To increase employee’s interest in taking an active responsiblity for work tasks and stated goals • To decrease the number of conflicts, complaints, absence and staff turnover • To increase ability to handle change and misfortune • To increase chances to meet business objectives and improve results

26. Unfair treatment Little participation Unrealistic goals Faulty expectations Unclear work tasks, rules and goals Lack of challenges Bureaucracy Lack of trust for management Scandals and doubtful ethics Too much control and supervision Internal politics Too much or too little to do Favouring Uncertainty for the future Broken promises Threats Weak connection between reward and achievement Failing communication Limited responsibilities No feeling of control Kill motivation

27. Creating motivation • The daily work • Leadership • Personal development • Social relations • Status and image • Respect and recognition • Support for own ideas and initiatives • ”Speed” of work • Salary and benefits • New things happening at the workplace

28. A motivating manager… (Insight Lab AB 2003) • Self insight and a clear idea • Interest in other people • Active leadership • Clear delegation • Social relations and feeling of togetherness • Support employee’s personal development • Have a vision and be continuously improving

29. Hackman and Oldman’s work design model

30. How is it implemented? • Combine tasks • Publish results • Let people work in teams • Empower • Open feedback channels

31. Goals • Goals are a motivating force • Specificgoals lead to increased performance • Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher output than easy goals • Participation in setting the goals might motivate further • Set goals only, not the route to achieve it • Private and organisational goals might collide • Goals should be: • Few • Realistic • Agreed • Measured • Explicit • Specific, time restricted, not relative, positive • Goals need to be part of a vision • MBO is a motivational program based on goal setting

32. Employee recognition • Using different ways to reward behaviour and publicly recognize both individual and group accomplishment • Can be almost anything… • A note… • A picture… • A thank you… • Rewarding behavior with recognition immediately leads to its repetition • To maximize motivation potential, publicly communicate who and why is being recognized • Recognizing employee’s superior performance often costs little

33. Employee involvement • A participative process to encourage increased commitment to the organization's success • Involve workers in decisions that will affect them • Increase their autonomy and control over their work lives • Include techniques with a common core: • Employee participation • Participative management • Workplace democracy • Empowerment • Employee ownership

34. Reward programmes • Based on what an individual values • Timely and clearly linked to a behaviour • –always or sometimes • Who, why should be publicly and clearly stated

35. Always evaluate! • Learn for next time, both from mistakes and successes! • Evaluate the group • Conflict Management • How motivational strategies worked • The work task • The work process • Communication • Etc.

36. Recommended reading • Essentials of Organizational Behavior • Stephen Robbins