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Master of Science in Project Management
Module 3: Execution and Control with Risk
Module learning outcomes
• Implement the project plan by authorising the execution of project activities required to produce project deliverables;
• Manage project progress by applying performance reporting, analysis, and progress measurement techniques to ensure that activities are executed as planned;
• Communicate project progress to project team members and other stakeholders;
• Implement quality assurance measures and corrective action plans, if required;
• Understand the importance of effective development, leading, and management of project teams (covered in detail in the ‘Organisation and Behavioural Management’ module);
• Measure and monitor project performance by gathering accurate information and comparing results to the baseline plan;
• Manage project scope changes and identify needs for corrective actions, obtain approvals, perform appropriate actions, and evaluate effectiveness;
• Reassess and update project control plans and practices to ensure effectiveness;
• Recognise and respond to risk events and issues; • Obtain final acceptance of deliverables from appropriate
stakeholders and facilitate administrative and financial closure; • Preserve essential project records to adhere to legal and other
requirements as well as document the lessons learned; • Ensure that the project has been transitioned to operation, if
applicable.
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Week 4: Developing, leading, and managing the project team
Learning objectives for Week 4
• Developing competencies of team members • Managing interaction among team members • Resolving conflicts among team members • Coordinating changes • Tracking performance of team members • Providing feedback to team members
Introduction This week, you will learn how to develop the competencies of your team members, how to manage interactions among them, and how to resolve issues and conflicts that arise among them. You will explore how coordinating changes in a project affects team management because the changes might lead to a shift in the team members’ responsibilities or a change in the focus of the project. You will also study how to monitor the performance of your team members and provide feedback to them. The recorded lecture begins by introducing you to the ways used to develop the competencies of team members. The week concludes with a discussion on providing feedback to team members. You can play each section as many times as you like and also read the text version. The textbook readings cover the key learning objectives at a reasonably challenging level. The PowerPoint slides at the end of the week provide useful diagrams and summaries to help you review the main points that you have covered during the week. For the Assessment, you will discuss a question online. There is no Hand-in Assignment this week, but you will be required to submit the proposal for your Final Project.
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Reading
Textbook
Sanghera, P. (2010) PMP® in depth: project management professional study guide for the PMP® exam. 2nd ed. Boston: Course Technology/Cengage Learning. Meola, A.T. (2009) 90 days to success as a manager, University of Liverpool [Online]. Available from: http://www.liv.ac.uk/library/ohecampus/search/ebooks.htm (Accessed: 11 December 2009). Hindle, T. (2008) Guide to management ideas and gurus, University of Liverpool [Online]. Available from: http://www.liv.ac.uk/library/ohecampus/search/ebooks.htm (Accessed: 16 December 2009)
(Please note that the references to these readings can be found in the Lecture Notes text under the headings of the topics to which they relate.)
• Developing competencies of team members
Pages 261–267 in Chapter 8 of Sanghera’s book provide a broad view of acquiring and developing a project team. Pages 269–271 provide information on the various methods for developing a project team and the five progressive stages of team development as given by the Tuckman model.
• Managing interaction among team members
Pages 267–268 in Chapter 8 of Sanghera’s book discuss the ways to manage interactions among team members. You will learn about interpersonal and general management skills for effectively managing team interactions.
• Resolving conflicts among team members
Pages 274–275 in Chapter 8 of Sanghera’s book provide information regarding the factors that influence the choice of conflict resolution styles and the different conflict management strategies.
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• Coordinating changes
Pages 62–80 in Chapter 3 of Meola’s book describe the reasons why people resist change, the need for making team members aware of changes, modelling and reviewing changes, and implementing changes.
• Tracking performance of team members
Page 274 in Chapter 8 of Sanghera’s book briefly discusses means to stay in touch with team members and monitor their performance. Pages 123–124 of Hindle’s book describe the concept of ‘Management by Walking About’.
• Providing feedback to team members
Page 276 in Chapter 8 of Sanghera’s book briefly discusses the objectives for conducting project performance appraisals and the maintenance of issue log in a project.
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Week 4: Developing, leading, and managing the project team
- Lecture Notes
Week 4 introduction Executing a project requires a team where each member is assigned responsibilities to achieve a common goal. A team functions interdependently, that is, the role and responsibilities of each team member complement the role and responsibilities of other team members, and individual progress depends on the support and input of others. Therefore, for a team to be successful, it is critical each member effectively complete his or her tasks and the interaction among the members be constructive. To ensure this, a project manager needs to continually develop, lead, and manage the team. This week, you will study the important elements of developing, leading, and managing a project team. You will explore details related to developing competencies of team members. You will also learn how to manage interactions and resolve issues among team members. One reason for issues arising among team members may be change. This week, you will examine how to coordinate changes occurring during project execution to effectively curb or manage conflicts among team members. In addition, you will examine how to track the performance of team members and provide feedback to them. Developing competencies of team members Textbook reading (Sanghera: pp. 261–271) As a project manager, it is important to identify the skills and competencies needed by the project team members and determine whether resources with these skills and competencies are available within the organisation. If the resources are not directly accessible, you should conduct a gap analysis by comparing the current level of competencies with the required level. The gap, or shortfall, can be filled in three ways: training team members, obtaining additional internal resources with the required competencies, and hiring contractors with the required competencies. Training is preferred in situations when it can help team members acquire the necessary skills to execute project tasks successfully. If resource allocation can be scheduled and coordinated with other projects, additional resources can be obtained from within the organisation to fulfil project requirements. Hiring a contractor may be desirable for the organisation when the gap is significant, long-term
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investment in training is required, or the acquired skills are not likely to be used in future projects. Depending on the need of the project, you may decide to have specific team members or the entire team trained. The textbook (Sanghera, 2010, p.268) lists the following methods of training:
• Coaching • Mentoring • On-the-job training (OJT) • Online training • Instructor-led classroom training
Coaching involves one-to-one discussions on specific issues or areas, with the aim of developing a team member’s skills and improving his or her performance. Coaching is similar to mentoring, which also involves one-to- one discussions. However, coaching focuses on an individual’s tasks and performance improvement, while mentoring focuses on career and personal development. Coaching is useful for individuals who are already trained to perform project tasks but require some encouragement and direction to enhance their job performance. Through coaching, individuals apply their learning from the training in situations they may face as part of their jobs. OJT is the method most often used by organisations executing small projects. The process involves experienced and skilled employees, such as managers or supervisors, training other employees. For example, in an online course development project, which has a short development life cycle, an experienced team member provides OJT to a team member unfamiliar with the process how to upload the final course on the client’s learning management system (LMS). The employee learns the new task while working on the job. OJT is usually conducted in an informal manner for an individual or a small group. Online training involves the delivery of training and learning material over the Internet, on the organisation’s intranet, or from CD ROMs or DVDs. Training sessions are self-paced, available 24/7, and accessible to trainees at any of the organisation’s prescribed locations. Trainees interact and obtain feedback online through discussion forums, blogs, or other similar collaboration tools, and they may rarely or never meet each other or the instructor. Online training can be useful for building auxiliary skills—skills not immediately required for the job but that broaden the team member’s vision and capabilities within the organisation. For example, while working on project tasks, a team member who aspires to be a project manager might be taking an online course in negotiating skills that are useful during contracting and procurement.
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Instructor-led classroom training is a face-to-face delivery method of training by an instructor to trainees. Unlike online training, instructor-led classroom training gives trainees and the instructor a chance to interact, allowing for real-time feedback, questions, and answers. The instructor can also manipulate the delivery of the training in a real-time environment to suit the needs of the trainees. Instructor-led classroom training requires greater investment of time and money. However, the investment can be justified because the trainees benefit by building skills required not just for a project, but also for the organisation’s strategic direction. For instance, if your organisation specialises in Web site creation and design, and a new and coding language becomes available, the investment for instructor-led classroom training would allow full use of the new language at the end of the training by your team, thus providing a direct return on the invested time and money. As a project manager, you can evaluate the current capabilities of each team member and choose from coaching and mentoring, OJT, online training, or instructor-led classroom training for improving the level of competency in the team to that required for the project. You may also choose a combination of the stated training types. The same training programme may not be appropriate for all team members, so you may design a customised training programme for each team member. In addition to the five methods discussed earlier, training can be done in several other ways:
• Training seminars can be used when training on a particular topic is unavailable within your organisation. You might consider sending only one team member to the seminar, with the understanding that the team member will train the remaining team members after returning from the seminar. If the topic of the training seminar is about a new tool or technique that leads to increased productivity in a specific project, the benefits of the training can be seen immediately and the investment on the training recovered quickly.
• External trainers can be appointed to conduct training for all team members. If the need for learning a new skill is urgent, the cost of appointing a professional trainer may be justified. Typically, external trainers will come to the company in order to train team members.
• Books and manuals for the team members to read and gather the required information may also supplement standard training. Collaboration among team members while working through manuals can help to enhance learning. Although the cost of this approach is less, the time to reap the benefits will probably be much longer than
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with structured training. This is because team members require time for studying books and manuals followed by implementing the new skills acquired.
As a project manager, you need to determine which training method, or combination of methods, is most appropriate for ensuring your team has the skills needed to be successful in a project. Next, you will explore how to manage the way project team members interact with each other during the execution phase. Managing interaction among team members Textbook reading (Sanghera: pp. 267–268) A team comprised of individuals who possess the right skills is not a guarantee that the project will be completed successfully. For example, if well- trained and competent team members on a project do not cooperate with each other, or do not interact and communicate effectively with each other, it will be difficult for the project manager to successfully execute the project despite having a skilled team. Therefore, in addition to having a competent team, a project manager needs to ensure the team members interact with each other constructively and effectively. You can use several strategies for successfully managing and promoting regular team interaction:
• Ground rules stating clear expectations about team objectives and performance: Establish these fixed rules to ensure that each team member focuses on his or her role and responsibilities.
• Team-building activities: Use such activities to develop or strengthen interpersonal relationships. These activities should emphasise trust and respect among team members, foster awareness of team spirit, and reinforce commitment to the team's goals and objectives. Team- building activities are unrelated to project activities. The idea behind this type of activity is for team members to apply their team-building activity experience to executing project tasks when working as a team.
• Leadership roles: Encourage each team member to assume a leadership role in his or her area of strength. This can make the team members goal oriented, develop a sense of equality and cooperation among them, and build trust among the group.
• A cohesive team vision: Encourage team members to view themselves as contributing members of a cohesive team instead of focusing on individual strengths or weaknesses. This can help in building trust and make each member feel that other members respect and support them in their position.
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• Co-location: Physically locate all team members in the same area. You can use co-location to improve communication and collaboration. However, in modern economies, the existence of virtual teams working in a global context means that co-location as a strategy is difficult. Therefore, in promoting team interaction in a virtual team, a project manager faces the challenge of building trust among the team members when there is no direct interaction between them and getting individuals from different cultures to work together effectively.
• Status and progress reports: Use periodic team meetings for reporting the status and progress of the project to the team members. These meetings can also be used to discuss how the team can work better together. Such meetings reinforce commitment of the team members to the team's objectives and build a team spirit.
• An environment of openness: Promote an open environment where team members feel free to express their opinions if a problem arises. This can result in an atmosphere that enables team members to feel like an integral part of the project management process.
Despite the use of these strategies, there is a possibility of conflicts arising among project team members because each person is different, with his or her own viewpoints, knowledge bases, and skills. Next, you will learn how to resolve conflicts among project team members. Resolving conflicts among team members Textbook reading (Sanghera: pp. 274–275) Conflict among project team members is normal and inevitable because each team member is different in terms of power, experience, values, perceptions, and attitudes. In a team setting, conflict may arise because of several factors, including communication factors (such as insufficient sharing of information), structural factors (such as levels of interdependence among employees), and personal factors (such as self-esteem and personal goals). However, if a conflict is left unresolved, factions might develop within the team, affecting individual, team, and, ultimately, project performance. However, not all conflicts affect a project negatively. In fact, some conflicts may even be beneficial if handled appropriately. For example, two technically competent and self-assured individuals on a team may have different ideas about how a particular function should be performed. One way to handle this situation would be to ensure that the two understand each other’s viewpoints and to articulate the validity of each to the overall project goal. Keeping the discussion on a technical and professional level can lead to an idea that is better than either of the original ideas proposed.
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There are several reasons for conflict, such as different values, different communication styles, miscommunication, and perceptions or prejudices. People deal with conflict using a variety of strategies:
• Avoidance: Ignore the issue, and it will go away. • Accommodation: Try to please the other party at your own expense. • Compromise: Give in on some areas, with the idea that the other party
will give in on other areas. • Collaboration: Work together to find a solution that satisfies the needs
of both parties. • Competition or combative: Use any means to get your way, often at
the expense of the other party. Your textbook (Sanghera, 2010, p. 275) provides details about how and when to use these five strategies for managing conflict. It also describes a sixth strategy—confronting or problem solving. In this strategy, team members directly address the problem causing the conflict and work collaboratively to solve the issue. Confrontation does not have to be acrimonious. Team members must feel free to challenge something if they see it as a problem. In a healthy team environment, the response to a challenge should be, ‘Let’s get together to figure out something that will work for the entire team.’ Alternatively, you, the project manager, acting as a facilitator, can meet the team members at the same time to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution (if you think you need help, ask someone with facilitation skills to assist you). In the meeting, you should remain neutral or at least fair and open-minded. You can help resolve the conflict by using the following steps:
• Choose a neutral space and plan sufficient time for all team members to prepare for the meeting.
• Set the ground rules for the meeting; for example, there should be no interruptions when one person is talking.
• Clearly identify the issue by defining it as factually as possible. • Ensure that all team members practise active listening. Take
everyone’s concerns into account and, for clarification, repeat what you have understood.
• Encourage the team members to brainstorm for possible solutions and be open to all ideas.
• Evaluate the options and encourage the team members to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution.
• Provide support—resources or systems—if required so that the team members can work towards the solution.
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Conflicts can also arise due to changes in a project. The team members may differ in their perspectives regarding the change, which may cause problems during project execution. As a project manager, it is important to understand how to coordinate and manage changes within a project. Coordinating changes Online reading (Meola: pp. 62–80) As a project progresses through its different phases, a project manager may need to manage change requests received from stakeholders or they might discover ways in which the team can function better—for example, a shift in the team members’ responsibilities, different project processes, or improved ways of collaboration and communication. As discussed in the previous week, the project stakeholders need to agree to a change request before it is approved by a Change Control Board (CCB). Once a change request is approved, the project manager needs to clearly convey the change to the team. However, when a change is presented to a team, it can be expected there will be some resistance from the team members in implementing the change. There is a general tendency to resist change because people usually:
• Do not understand what the change is; • Do not understand the need for a change; • Lack the capability to make a change or adapt to a change by acquiring
new competencies or discarding old ways; • Are comfortable with doing things the same way; • Lack interest in the change because of other goals they want to
pursue; • Find it difficult to cope with the level or pace of the change; • Fear losing power, control, or status.
As a project manager, it is important to manage your team members’ resistance to change and ensure that they fully participate in any change and its implementation. You can achieve this by taking care of the following aspects:
• Awareness: Explain to the team members why a change is being made and what the change encompasses. The team members should also understand what is expected of them as a result of the change. The key to making the team aware of the different aspects of change is communication.
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• Capability: Ensure that the team is skilled and equipped with the essential skills and tools necessary to implement the change and that they are aware of the expected process to implement the change.
• Internalisation: Ensure that the team has internalised the change, which may take additional time from the project schedule. However, once team members understand the need for a change and the change process, the internalisation of the change becomes faster and the change becomes the normal way of performing.
After making sure your team members understand the need for change, you can use the following five steps to implement it:
1. Review the entire project process to understand the implications of the change.
2. Quantify the change. Identify exactly what will change and how the change will influence the project.
3. Test the change. Make sure that the desired result is achieved and no new problems occur as a result of the change.
4. Train the team members so that they understand what they need to do to implement the change.
5. Validate the change. After implementing the change, check it to ensure the desired result was obtained.
Regardless of the changes happening in a project, it is important for the project manager to be aware of the team’s progress towards meeting the project goals. For this, the project manager needs to track the performance of the team members. Tracking the performance of your team members is also important to provide them with timely help and guidance and to ensure the project is completed as planned. Tracking performance of team members Textbook reading (Sanghera: p. 274) Online reading (Hindle: pp. 123–124) Project goals are accomplished by team members successfully completing their assigned tasks. As a project manager, it is important to track the project status by evaluating the performance of each team member. Tracking the project team’s and each member’s performance provides information critical for ensuring the project is on the right track and is completed as planned. Tracking performance also helps to identify avenues where intervention might be required, such as training on a specific skill, resolving conflicts, providing relevant information or communication, or rewarding and recognising team members for their contribution.
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Some of the ways to monitor the performance of individual team members are as follows:
• Project performance reports: Project managers can evaluate team members’ performance on three project baselines: schedule, cost, and quality. Verify whether the work is being completed on time and within budget. If so, determine whether the work meets the quality targets specified in the project documentation. This type of information can often be collected during regular team meetings. If the work is falling behind, identify the cause and take measures to correct it. For example, a team member may be unable to perform project tasks or perform them efficiently, leading to delays. In this case, you may plan for the team member to attend a training session on how to perform specific tasks efficiently.
• Observation and conversation: Another way of monitoring team performance is through observation and conversation, sometimes referred to as ‘management by walking about’ (MBWA) (Hindle, 2008, pp.123–124). MBWA was a concept developed by executives at Hewlett-Packard in the 1970s and popularised by Tom Peters in the 1980s. Observation and conversation is a good way of determining how team members are working, and making yourself available for resolving the problems they might be facing. For example, if several team members are facing the same problem, it may mean they are not collaborating and sharing information. Those who first encountered the problem and created a solution should share the knowledge with the others so the project work is not hampered. When you, as a project manager, are open for informal discussions with your team members, they are likely to feel comfortable in sharing their problems with you.
The monitoring of performance must be carried out by providing feedback to team members. The next section will cover why providing feedback to project team members is important and how you can provide feedback to your project team.
Providing feedback to team members Textbook reading (Sanghera: p. 276) Providing feedback to team members is important to help identify what they are doing well, where they may need to improve, and how they can achieve improvement. Feedback also helps team members understand the impact of their actions on the performance of other team members and on the performance of the project as a whole. Feedback can provide the team
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members with the motivation to continue being successful and improve on the aspects where they are lacking. Most organisations have a formal process of providing feedback, which is through performance reviews usually presented as a matrix or a composite organisation. These reviews are normally the responsibility of the functional manager. Often, the functional manager asks the project manager for inputs during a formal performance review of an employee. However, as a project manager and a leader, you should not wait for the formal review process to provide feedback to your team members, because in most organisations, the formal review process happens annually or biannually and you need the individual’s performance to change immediately so the project can benefit from the improved action of the team member. Whether negative or positive, feedback should always be provided as soon as an issue is observed. Delayed negative feedback becomes meaningless because by then, the team member may have made more mistakes. Delayed positive feedback results in a lost opportunity for building the team member’s morale, because the impact is the maximum when the acknowledgment is immediate. A team member doing an excellent job must be congratulated at the earliest opportunity so as to encourage him or her to continue doing the good work. It is also important to provide feedback in a manner that has a positive impact on the team. The following are some tips for providing effective feedback:
• Praise team members in the presence of others. However, to convey feedback regarding performance problems or any other concerns, meet the team member privately. First, determine the cause of the problem; then, offer a solution, if possible. The cause could be something as simple as the absence of a skill or a complex issue such as problems in the family. Depending on the cause, you can offer either the required solution or support.
• Be clear about the aspects of the performance that do not meet standards, and provide specific, not generic, feedback.
Develop a correction plan and ensure that both you and the team member agree to it. Follow up with the team member to make sure that he or she is following the plan and the performance is improving. In a matrix or composite organisation, you can seek the help of the functional manager.
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Week 4 summary This week provided an overview of the main elements of developing, leading, and managing a project team, which include:
• Developing competencies of team members • Managing interaction among team members • Resolving issues among team members • Coordinating changes • Tracking the performance of team members • Providing feedback to team members
To meet project goals, project managers need to have a competent team. Team members can develop the necessary competencies for a project through various training methods such as: coaching, mentoring, OJT, online training, and instructor-led classroom training. Next, you gained an understanding that interactions between members need to be constructive. There are several strategies for managing team interactions effectively, such as establishing ground rules, using team-building activities, and encouraging each team member to assume a leadership role. Conflicts in a team are normal and inevitable, and if left unresolved, they can affect individual, team, and project performance. There are six potential strategies for resolving conflicts: avoidance, accommodation, compromise, collaboration, competition, and confrontation. In project management there are three aspects of change: awareness, capability, and internalisation. If your team members understand the need for change, are equipped to handle a change, and perform the expected actions, they may not only participate in the change but also lead the efforts to implement it. Next, you gained an understanding of how to track team members’ performance. Tracking performance is important because it provides information a project manager can use to develop and manage team members. Finally, feedback was explained and its importance to the success of project team members including the proper techniques to provide effective feedback.
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References Meola, A.T. (2009) 90 days to success as a manager, University of Liverpool [Online]. Available from: http://www.liv.ac.uk/library/ohecampus/search/ebooks.htm (Accessed: 11 December 2009). Hindle, T. (2008) Guide to management ideas and gurus, University of Liverpool [Online]. Available from: http://www.liv.ac.uk/library/ohecampus/search/ebooks.htm (Accessed: 11 December 2009)
Execution and Control with Risk
Week 4
De ve lop ing, le ad ing, and m anag ing the p roje c t te am
On completion of the module, students should be able to:
Implement the project plan by authorising the execution of project activities required to produce project deliverables;
Manage project progress by applying performance reporting, analysis, and progress measurement techniques to ensure that activities are executed as planned;
Communicate project progress to project team members and other stakeholders;
Implement quality assurance measures and corrective action plans, if required;
Understand the importance of effective development, leading, and management of project teams (covered in detail in the ‘Organisation and Behavioural Management’ module);
Measure and monitor project performance by gathering accurate information and comparing results to the baseline plan;
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On completion of the module, students should be able to (contd.):
Manage project scope changes and identify needs for corrective actions, obtain approvals, perform appropriate actions, and evaluate effectiveness;
Reassess and update project control plans and practices to ensure effectiveness;
Recognise and respond to risk events and issues;
Obtain final acceptance of deliverables from appropriate stakeholders and facilitate administrative and financial closure;
Preserve essential project records to adhere to legal and other requirements as well as document the lessons learned;
Ensure that the project has been transitioned to operation, if applicable.
Developing competencies of team members
Managing interaction among team members
Resolving conflicts among team members
Coordinating changes
Tracking performance of team members
Providing feedback to team members
This week’s topics are:
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Developing competencies of team members
Training methods:
Coaching
Mentoring
On‐the‐job training
Online training
Instructor‐led classroom training
Managing interaction among team members
Establish ground rules
Use team‐building activities
Encourage leadership
Encourage team spirit
Use co‐location
Ensure team meetings
Strategies for managing team interaction:
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Resolving conflicts among team members
Strategies for resolving issues:
Avoidance
Accommodation
Compromise
Collaboration
Competition
Coordinating changes
Spread awareness about the change
Ensure the capability to implement the change
Ensure internalisation of the change
Module 3: Execution and Control with Risk Copyright - Laureate Online Education © All rights reserved, 2000 – 2009, The module, in all its parts: syllabus, guidelines, lectures, discussion questions, technical notes, images and any additional material is copyrighted by Laureate Online Education B.V. Last update: February 10
20/21
Tracking performance of team members
Project performance reports
Observation and conversation
Commonly used ways to track team members’ performance:
Providing feedback to team members
Tips for providing effective feedback:
Praise team members publicly
Provide specific feedback
Develop a correction plan
Module 3: Execution and Control with Risk Copyright - Laureate Online Education © All rights reserved, 2000 – 2009, The module, in all its parts: syllabus, guidelines, lectures, discussion questions, technical notes, images and any additional material is copyrighted by Laureate Online Education B.V. Last update: February 10
21/21
- Master of Science in Project Management
- Module 3: Execution and Control with Risk
- Module learning outcomes
- Week 4: Developing, leading, and managing the project team
- Learning objectives for Week 4
- Reading
- Week 4: Developing, leading, and managing the project team - Lecture Notes

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