Project Management: The Team Approach

Successful projects are the result of good time and cost control management, and effective relationships with team members and other key players. Both are achieved by using a team approach in planning, monitoring and conducting the work of projects. Technical project management tools are combined with the interpersonal team processes needed to ensure that the tools work.

The concepts presented in this workshop apply to projects of all sizes and types, from physical construction to softer projects such as changing the work-process in a department, or designing a new training program.

This session is a workshop - wherever appropriate, learning takes place through experience. Teams of four to six participants are formed early in the course as part of the team development process and will work together throughout the course. Near the end of the workshop each team will prepare a project plan, making use of the processes learned. This provides the opportunity for participants to experience a collaborative planning process and see its effectiveness first-hand.

On completion of the program, participants will:

• Understand the importance of relationships in projects
• Understand the principles of developing and building effective project teams
• Understand the principles and application of Relationship Awareness^® Theory
• Understand techniques for planning projects, establishing positive project practices and procedures, monitoring progress
• Be able to use a collaborative process for planning and monitoring projects
• Have a personal action plan for improving their effectiveness on projects
• If the workshop is internal to an organization, have agreement among all participants on new practices to implement at work to improve project management.

• Introduction to project management
• Forming new teams - learning from past experience and leveraging the skills and needs of team members
• Building project teams using the Strength Deployment Inventory^®
• Increasing project team effectiveness
• Principles of project planning
• Collaborative planning process (start) - a guided tour through the benefits of planning as a team

Day Two

• Collaborative planning process (continued)
• Planning of resources: demands and balancing
• Monitoring progress: executing effectively on the plan
• Relationship expectations - the process and benefits of managing expectations throughout a project
• Team feedback: demonstrating the growth of the team over the length of the course
• Conclusions and action planning