Project management requires team culture

In modern enterprises, hierarchical organizations are increasingly replaced by project teams. As a task unit, the project team can not only efficiently use limited human resources, but also help to enhance communication and collaboration between employees. For the success of the project team, an efficient team culture is an indispensable element.

I. project team culture

The project team culture is the Code of Conduct observed by the project team members and a beneficial supplement to the corporate culture of the project.

(1) Definition of project team culture
A team culture is a system that associates team members with things through common norms, beliefs, and values to produce a common understanding of things. The team culture reflects the personality of the team. Just like the personality of people, the team culture can help us predict the attitudes and behaviors of team members and distinguish them from other teams. People engage in project work. Team culture is the meaning of their work and the principles and standards they should follow when fulfilling their project responsibilities at work and life.

(2) content of the project team culture
1. The observed code of conduct when people interact, including the language in use, or similar ritual practices in order to express respect and attitude.
2. group norms: the general principle of teamwork.
3. dominant values: include core values that are similar to those believed in by product quality and price leaders.
4. Formal philosophy: includes the ideology that should be believed in when dealing with the relationship between a team and its stakeholders, such as shareholders, employees, and customers, and a philosophy that provides various policy guidance to the team.
5. game rules: game rules learned to survive in a team.
6. Team climate: the internal ethos and feelings of the team conveyed by the team members during their contact with external personnel.
7. Skills: includes the special abilities of team members when completing tasks, and the ability to handle major problems without relying on words.
8. thinking habits, mental models, and language models: Include the thought frameworks shared by team members.
9. Sharing means an understanding of the natural occurrence of team members in the interaction process.
10. Consistency symbols: the characteristics of team development, including creativity, feeling, and imagination, may not be fully recognized, but they will be reflected in the Team's documents and other material aspects of the team.

(3) Functions of the project team culture
1. The project team culture provides a sense of identity for its members. The clearer the team's common ideas and values are, the more people agree with their team, and the feeling of becoming an important component is stronger. A sense of identity inspires a sense of responsibility to the team and gives members reason to contribute their energy and loyalty to the team.

2. Culture helps to make the team's management system legal. Culture helps clarify power relations and explain why people are in a certain power status and why they respect their power. Moreover, culture helps people coordinate the inconsistency between ideals and actual actions.

3. Team culture clarified and strengthened behavioral standards. Culture helps determine which actions are permitted and which actions are inappropriate. These standards involve a large number of behaviors, from working hours to challenging the judgment of superiors and collaboration with other departments.

4. Culture helps to establish social order within the team. If Members do not have similar norms, beliefs, and values, the team may be confused. The customs, norms, and concepts presented by the Team culture are conducive to the stability and predictability of behavior. This is very important for an effective team.

2. Cultural Characteristics of efficient project teams

Culture is water, and projects are boat. In a project culture beneficial to the project management team, the completion of the Project is like a boat: do not need to work hard, the natural strength of the river will make the project forward to the target.

(1) share a common project vision
Simply put, the project vision is the value created by the project team. There are many forms of it. A slogan and a symbol can capture them.

The Project VISION plays an extremely important role. First, it can motivate members to make the best effort to combine professionals of different backgrounds to achieve a unified desire. Secondly, it encourages members to do things that are most beneficial to the project. Once again, the Vision provides a focus and increases invisible communication, which helps members make proper judgments. Finally, the vision of the project fosters the long-term commitment of team members to ensure the quality of the project.

The project vision has four important properties. First, it must be able to communicate with each other. If the vision is just in your mind, it is worthless. Second, it must have a strategic awareness and take into account the objectives, constraints, resources and opportunities of the project. The project vision is challenging, but practical. Third, the project manager must trust the vision. Passion is an important factor in the formation of an effective vision. Finally, it should be the source of inspiration for others.

The project vision is often hidden in the scope and objectives of the project. It is an exciting vision to take the lead in bringing new technologies to the market or solving problems that threaten enterprises. A good vision can be achieved by talking to various people involved in the project and learning about their project's highlights. For some people, if the work is better than the previous project, or when the project ends, the customer satisfaction is higher than the previous project, they will be satisfied. In addition, many visions are aimed at competitors. For example, the Kodak team responsible for developing one-time camera access is motivated to defeat the vision of the Fuji project team.

(2) excellent team leaders
In 1993, Katzenbach and Smith proposed six principles for outstanding team leadership, or, more accurately, they were expected to achieve six points:
1. Good team leaders always help the team clarify their goals and values, and ensure that the behavior process of team members does not deviate from their goals and values.

2. Strive to establish the identity and trust of each team member and the entire team. They are good at seizing the opportunity to show how the team works actively, encourage others to evaluate their abilities and technologies, and express their appreciation when they work hard for their goals. In this way, the personal actions of team members are consistent with the overall actions of the team, and responsibilities and autonomy are established.

3. persistently strengthen the overall technical level of the team. If the required technology is different from the technology in possession, no team will succeed. Team leaders should always evaluate the performance of team members and point out development opportunities.

4. manage relationships with the outside world and eliminate obstacles on the team's path. The project leader is responsible for the relationship between the Team and the outside world. He needs to protect team members to avoid unreasonable criticism or reduce the management pressure on the team's quality of work.

5. Create opportunities for others. Team leaders should put the team above themselves. By backing back and letting team members take responsibility or learn how to execute new tasks, team leaders create development opportunities for each team member.

6. team leaders should also do practical work. Team leaders should ensure that each person in the team, including themselves, contributes roughly to the team. In addition, they must take the initiative to undertake difficult or hard work, and show a responsible attitude to the team. By doing so, team leaders prove that they believe in the team and are ready to do their best.

(3) effective team members
Members of an excellent project team must be productive. They show that team members are willing to or even insist on taking greater responsibilities for their own work and the team as a whole, and truly participate in team management, including plan formulation and implementation, incentives, leadership and control; team members give advice based on their individual performance: The team may suggest expelling members who do not meet the team's requirements; learn new knowledge, develop new skills, change ideas, and become the willingness of team members to accept and recognize them. Have a common vision for the team and its goals, and be aware of the importance of competition; committed to continuous improvement of the entire team; clear the management process, Master interpersonal skills, and understand the situation of project owners; Be able to speak bluntly, speak freely, and dare to question the current system and decision-making; it is not waiting for problems and opportunities, but actively seeking for problems and opportunities; it plays an important role in reform and does not resist changes; I believe that other Members can complete tasks on time and with high quality without affecting the work of other members; actively communicate with other team members and project managers in a clear and timely manner, and provide constructive feedback; feel the responsibility to detect potential problems as early as possible, instead of blaming other members, customers, or project managers for the problems that arise; try to create a non-conflict, active, and established In a rational project environment, project success is more important than individual success.

(4) full communication
1. Develop a communication plan
The communication plan is to determine the information exchange and communication requirements of the stakeholders of the project. Simply put, that is, who needs the information, when and how to hand it over to them. Although all projects need to exchange project information, the information requirements and release methods are not the same. Identifying the information requirements of stakeholders and determining the means to meet these requirements are an important guarantee for project success.

2. Information processing and communication implementation
Execute the Communication Management Plan and reasonably collect, store, search, analyze and distribute the information generated during the project process to improve the decision-making and communication during the project life cycle, promptly respond to unexpected information needs. Establish and maintain formal or informal communication networks between stakeholders to ensure effective communication between members at all levels during the life cycle of the project, allow stakeholders to have a clear understanding of the project's needs and objectives, so that conflicts and conflicts can be resolved or mitigated in a timely manner.

3. Execution report
Project implementation information is an important project management information, which shows the progress of the project in all aspects, such as the project status report describes the current position of the project in the development; the progress report describes the implementation of the project progress and the activities planned. The prediction report describes the future development, progress, and cost of the project. The implementation report should cover the project scope, resources, costs, progress, quality, procurement, risks, and other aspects. It can be comprehensive or emphasize a specific report.

(5) Management philosophy of "consistency and satisfaction"
The "consistency and satisfaction" concept comes from Cleland, D. I. Team Strategy Management. The book says that the modern enterprise management philosophy should be changed from "command and control" to "consistency and satisfaction ". This concept also has important strategic significance for the cultural construction of the project team. Specifically, the concept of "consistency and satisfaction" means that project leaders are responsible for promoting, not being responsible, rather than being responsible. decisions should be determined by all project members through negotiation; project leaders must assign certain powers to team members. management functions should be implemented by the entire team. They advocate the "y" theory, that is, they think that people are self-motivated and willing to work, in addition, if he is put in an appropriate position, he will work diligently in a non-high-pressure environment; give full play to the influence of core team members; follow the participatory management approach, that is, all team members participate in management. Team members are motivated by themselves, that is, they can motivate themselves.