Manage the
Project Team
Employee Performance
management
Manage Project Execution
Employee
Performace Appraisal
integrate
with
motivate the project team
see also
Manage contracts with employees and and assign tasks
Guideline:
Measures
to make teams more performing
In order to successfully meet the needs of a
programme/project, it is important to have a
high-performing Project Team made up of individuals who are both technically
skilled and motivated to contribute to the project’s outcome. One of the many
responsibilities of a Project Manager is to enhance the ability of each Project
Team member to contribute to the project, while also fostering individual growth
and accomplishment. At the same time, each individual must be encouraged to
share ideas and work with others toward a common goal.
Through the evaluation of
the performance the manager will get the information she needs in order to
Ensure that the team has adequate
knowledge, Establish a
Positive Team Environment and a
Healthy Communication Climate, Work Properly and Ensure Accountability
(thereby fulfilling the basic requirement for an
employee empowering
organization).
Managing of the project team
includes appraisal of
employee
performance and
project performance!
The performace reports give the basis for managerial decisions on how to mange
the project team. So there is a reiforcing cycle between performance appraisal
and performance management of the same nature (but at a different level) of the
relationship between execution and evaluation of project (see the
cycle approach)
Employee performance includes the employee’s
work results such as
-
quality or quantity of outputs,
-
work behavior (such as punctuality)
-
job-related attributes (such as cooperation and initiative).
After conducting
employee
performace reviews managers should:
-
provide feedback to employees about how well they have performed on established goals.
-
provide feedback to employees about areas in which the subordinate is weak or could do
better.
-
take corrective action to address problems with employees
performing at or below the minimum expectations.
-
reward superior performers to encourage their continued
excellence.
Guideline:
Effective
communication skills for the appraisal interview
See
Varieties of
performance review:
Immediate-supervisor,
Self-review,
Peer review
Subordinate review ,
Appraisal by beneficiaries, 360º
performance appraisals
Guideline:
Measures
to make teams more performing
In order to successfully meet the needs of a project, it is important to have a
high-performing Project Team made up of individuals who are both technically
skilled and motivated to contribute to the project’s outcome. One of the many
responsibilities of a Project Manager is to enhance the ability of each Project
Team member to contribute to the project, while also fostering individual growth
and accomplishment. At the same time, each individual must be encouraged to
share ideas and work with others toward a common goal.
The Project Manager,
then, must be a leader, communicator, negotiator, influencer, and problem
solver! The level of skills and competencies to successfully fill these roles
helps distinguish good Project Managers from great ones. (see
Required characteristics of the
project manager)
See the 5 steps of
team creation
To maximize the successful performance of the Project Team, the Project Manager
must do the following:
-
Ensure that the team has adequate
knowledge. Even if there is no formal
Team Training Plan the PM should
should evaluate the skills of each team
member and determine whether he/she met the current and future needs of the
project and
raise the capacity of the human resources of the
organization to manage successfully their task and contribute to the
generation of a healthy communication climate within the organization and
with external stakeholders. (thereby fulfilling the basic requirement for
an
employee empowering
organization).
If new team
members have joined the project since the Training Plan was established, the
Project Manager must evaluate the skill level of the new members to determine if
additional training is needed. In all cases, training tasks must be added to or
removed from both the Training Plan and the Project Schedule, since they will
affect the end date of the project.
Identify the need and the scope to raise the capacity of
the human resources of the organization to manage successfully their task
and contribute to the generation of a healthy communication climate within
the organization and with external stakeholders. (see
Learning and Feedback)
-
Establish a
Positive Team Environment and a
Healthy Communication Climate Project Team members must learn to work together to achieve project goals. They
must recognize that there is more to teamwork than simply having team members
feel good about each other. High-performing Project Teams are disciplined. Team
members participate in all required meetings, are willing to suppress their egos
for the good of the group, take their assigned tasks seriously, and continuously
strive to improve their skills. High-performing Project Teams are either
empowered to make decisions or are included in decision-making processes. This
is the essence of project ownership. Project Managers must develop sufficient
management competencies to be able to create an environment that encourages team
members to excel. (See also
motivate the project team;
communication
climate).
While
there are many process functions in teams, three stand out as particularly important
– maximizing participation, managing influence styles, and handling conflict.
All three of these require a core skill --- listening. Listening includes giving
your undivided attention to others as they speak and not thinking about what you will say
when it is your turn to talk. It is also taking the time to check that you agree
that what they said is what you heard. Paraphrasing their comments, asking
clarifying questions, and giving individuals credit for the contributions verbally in the
group all demonstrate effective listening skill.
(See
Building a Climate of Trust;
Encouraging
Openness;
Team Conflict
Management;
Decision Making in
Groups.)
-
Work Properly and Ensure Accountability
A basic responsibility of the Project Manager is to assign work to the Project
Team and ensure that the work is completed according to the Project Schedule.
The Project Manager (or Team Leaders if the project is large) is responsible for
allocating tasks to appropriate team members at the appropriate times. A good
Project Manager establishes and maintains a Project Schedule that minimizes team
member down time. Along with the Team Leaders, the Project Manager must
continuously communicate to each member of the team what is required and by
when, and then manage the performance of each team member in meeting the
requirements. Since the Project Manager is ultimately responsible for the
success or failure of a project, he/she must direct Project Team endeavors and
encourage team members to be accountable for their work. Accountability should
be formally documented and measured through the use of team member Progress
Reports. (See Figure 4-4, the New York State Progress Report.) But the Project
Manager must also be willing to communicate face-toface with the Project Team.
Regular personal communication is one of the most effective ways to gather input
on the status of project activities, discuss issues and concerns, recognize good
work, encourage and provide support to team members who are struggling, and
build relationships. It is also one of the primary ways to discover and take
action to resolve team member. (see performance issues.
(see
Middle Management Capabilities, Empowerment and
Accountability)
Getting
work done in teams requires managing both the task (what we do) and the process
(how we do it). Some of the task related functions include
fair work
distribution. This is important because team members would like to think
the work is fairly shared. Because effective teams also share in the rewards, unfair
allocation of work will affect the team in a negative way.
Attention:
do not confuse reviewing
employee
performance with
project performance!
When monitoring and reporting
the employee performance
you are comparing
When monitoring and reporting
the project performance you are comparing:
-
what the
team
implementing
a project plan has achieved (in terms of reaching the expected
milestones and deliver the expected project outputs within the decided
schedule and budget definitions) and
-
the expected achievements
as stated in the
project plan document.
Communicating
within the Team
Internal communication within the project teams is to meet their
four major communication needs:
Responsibility
of each team member for different parts of the project
Coordination
information that enables team members to work together efficiently
Status
information tracking the progress, identifying problems and enabling team members to take
corrective action
Authorization
information - decisions made by beneficiaries, sponsors, and upper management - that relates
to the project and its project/programme purpose environment, and enables the team members to keep all
project decisions synchronized.
Internal
communications happen primarily through team meetings, memos, voice mail, and e-mail.
Project managers need to be able to write, speak, and listen well, lead meetings and
resolve conflicts effectively. See also
Project
communication management)
Give feed
backs
After cunducting
employee
performace reviews a fundamental step for Performance management is to providing feedback and
to coaching employees to higher levels of performance so they achieve their
potential. Besides written responses to written self evaluations (like monthly
performance report), it is opportune to hold
one-to-one meeting
to discuss the ‘3 P’s’– progress, priorities and problems on the basis of the
preioulsly submitted reports.
Some
managers and employees are ambivalent about the
performance appraisal interview and avoid providing negative feedback overtly.
Managers uncomfortable with providing criticism sometimes provide it between heavy doses
of positive feedback and make only vague comments. They also may bury in small talk
or humor, communicating negative feedback obliquely. The discomfort felt by the
evaluators manifests itself in avoidance behaviors that obscure the message and merely
skims the surface of performance appraisal.
When
receiving negative feedback, subordinates may become
defensive as they feel their
self-esteem threatened. They may try blaming their deficient performance
on others or on external factors. They may minimize the importance of the
appraisal, question the validity of the evaluation or may too readily agree to
the feedback while internally denying its accuracy.
The
solution to managing reactions is to train managers how to conduct constructive feedback
sessions. In an effective interview, the employee perceives the appraisal as fair,
the manager as sincere and the climate as constructive. Therefore, the employee is
more likely to leave the interview informed about his or her performance and how to
improve and determined to correct deficiencies. When providing feedback, managers
should focus on the employee’s behaviors, not personality. Summarizing an
employee’s performance by labeling him or her as “lazy,” for example, is
not helpful and will lead to defensiveness. It is more beneficial to focus on what a
person does rather than what that person seems to be.
Checklist for Identifying Performance Problems
After
reviewing the employee performance
a fundamental step for Performance management is to providing feedback and
to coaching employees to higher levels of performance so they achieve their
potential. Besides written responses to written self evaluations (like monthly
performance report), it is opportune to hold
one-to-one meeting
to discuss the ‘3 P’s’– progress, priorities and problems on the basis of the
previously submitted reports.
Guideline:
Effective
communication skills for the appraisal interview
Reactions to Performance Appraisals
Some
managers and employees are ambivalent about the
performance appraisal interview and avoid providing negative feedback overtly.
Managers uncomfortable with providing criticism sometimes provide it between heavy doses
of positive feedback and make only vague comments. They also may bury in small talk
or humor, communicating negative feedback obliquely. The discomfort felt by the
evaluators manifests itself in avoidance behaviors that obscure the message and merely
skims the surface of performance appraisal.
When
receiving negative feedback, subordinates may become
defensive as they feel their self-esteem
threatened. They may try blaming their deficient performance on others or on
external factors. They may minimize the importance of the appraisal, question the
validity of the evaluation or may too readily agree to the feedback while internally
denying its accuracy.
The
solution to managing reactions is to train managers how to conduct constructive feedback
sessions. In an effective interview, the employee perceives the appraisal as fair,
the manager as sincere and the climate as constructive. Therefore, the employee is
more likely to leave the interview informed about his or her performance and how to
improve and determined to correct deficiencies. When providing feedback, managers
should focus on the employee’s behaviors, not personality. Summarizing an
employee’s performance by labeling him or her as “lazy,” for example, is
not helpful and will lead to defensiveness. It is more beneficial to focus on what a
person does rather than what that person seems to be.
Exploring the cause
of performance problems
When
supervisors detect poor performance, they need to explore the causes of the
problems. Managers
should accurately identify the causes of poor performance because the determination
affects performance evaluations, can be a source of unspoken conflict and determines the
appropriate solution. A supervisor will evaluate an employee differently if the
supervisor realizes that poor performance in a specific instance resulted from the
employee not having the proper resources versus not trying hard enough. Furthermore,
tension can develop when employees and managers have significantly different perceptions
of why goals were not met. Managers
should consider ability, motivation and situational factors when determining why there
have been performance deficiencies. All three factors influence an employee’s
performance. Ability includes an employee’s talents and knowledge. And
situational factors are organizational characteristics such as training, resources and
information that can help or hinder performance.
Guideline:
Measures
to make teams more performing
Checklist for Identifying Performance Problems
See more in:
Underperforming Employees: Warning Signs and
Management Responses
Middle
Management Capabilities, Empowerment and Accountability -
Templates:
See also:
-
Evalationg
team performance
-
Employee Alignment and Education (Communicating with Internal Stakeholders)
-
Rewards
-
Project Management Introduction;
-
Required
characteristics of the project manager
;
-
Employee performance review;
-
Leading and Managing
-
Underperforming Employees: Warning Signs and
Management Responses
-
Middle
Management Capabilities, Empowerment and Accountability
-
Implement Quality Assurance and Quality Control Processes
-
Clarifying the relationship: Responsibilities of Project Managers and programme
Managers
-
Table showing management communication
actions
-
Project Documentation and
Records
-
Factors that may block the flow of information
-
Report Communication Performance
-
Visibility Room
-
Factors that may block
the flow of information
-
Tasks, tools and elements of communication
management
-
The project triangle
-
The 9 topic areas
of project management
knowledge: Integration,
Scope,
Time , Cost,
Quality,
Human Resources,
Communication ,
Risk, Procurement.
-
Using MS Outlook for assigning and reporting Tasks in the Project Team
Assignments
on performance evaluation
Introduction
Recruitment Getting the right people
- Selection
HR management
Team Building
-
Motivating the
Project Team
Characteristics of a
"learning organization"
Decision Making in
Groups
Manage the Team Task
Manage Team Process
Team Conflict
Management
Team Norms
Groupthink
How to avoid the risks of
"groupthink"
Leading and Managing -
Quotation on leading
From Lao Tzu -
Ethical Leadership Principles:
Communication in project based
Organizations
Decision
Making in Organizations
Evaluating Performance
-
Underperforming
Employees: Warning Signs and Management Responses
The
Knowledge-Based Organization: Managing Its Human Resources
Board of Directors Political
Positioning
Other resources:
The project team training
plan
Employee performance review
Checklists: