Team management solution

Project team management is a system of managerial tools and methods that allow administering, directing and controlling all the processes taking place within a project workgroup. In order to reach the most effective team management style it is necessary to study existing approaches and attitudes and then to implement a continual all-embracing plan of making qualitative improvements. First of all it is necessary to design an appropriate team management model reasoning from the major conditions and tasks that the team is supposed to carry out. Then it is necessary to select and implement appropriate business tools to facilitate and promote the accepted model.

Team management models include the following examples:

• Remote team management – this model refers to conception of virtual teams where people are working in different distanced locations while using modern communicational means to collaborate with each others. This type is a customary thing in IT industry where outsourcing is widely used.
• Creative team management – this model refers to flexible and agile approach meaning that there are no strictly defined team roles while people agree on their responsibilities on-the-fly. When team is small and poorly formalized it is normal that people may assume several roles and responsibilities and, as project progresses, they may take new duties according to situation.
• Cross functional team management – this model is about temporal teams organized over heterogeneous collectives of organizations. They are used when organization wants to create a group consisted of people contributing different expertise and skills in order to undertake certain project.
• Traditional team management – this model is the most usual one referring to organizing a long-term staff that works according to stable patterns of collaboration and managerial relations. This classic model is the most predictable and steady, and it is used as a basic one in all companies and organizations.

The core of all possible team management concepts is style of allocation and delegation of powers and authority. According to team’s tasks, functions, hierarchy of roles, system of seniority, and some other factors the appropriate team management techniques should be selected, so that people can be properly informed of what they should produce, when and how they need to deliver results, who and how will measure and control their performance, etc.

Team management principles:

Team management principles pursue the best possible manner of team organization and collaboration. In other words it is all about reaching advantageous and productive balance between responsibilities and competences of all the team members. Practically these principles include the following points:

• All the responsibilities assigned to workgroup specialists are fully covered by managerial authority and credentials provided to them.
• Managerial powers are properly and reasonably allocated among different levels of managerial hierarchy.
• There are no roles possessing too much of authority, so that the most of decisions are made via discussion and reaching a consensus of different views.
• There are no authority conflicts and responsibility duplication.
• Each person gets responsibilities and authorities suiting his skills and talents in the best manner.

Good example of team management solution:

Team management practice can be streamlined and improved through using computer-based solutions. Good example is VIP Task Manager that is a multi-user software product created to plan, control, effectuate and report tasks in a team. Successful team management solution should include the following capabilities:

• Team management roles – team members need to be assigned to appropriate roles that represent their titles, duties and tasks. With a help of VIP Task Manager you can create any number of roles along with giving them possibilities for planning, assigning and supervising project team tasks.

• Team management responsibilities – every team member should be assigned to appropriate workloads to perform them according to schedule. With a help of VIP Task Manager you can plan, schedule, assign and control tasks in terms of time, costs, priorities and other parameters.
• Team management objectives – in order to make people working purposefully it is necessary to set up and explain managerial goals for them. With a help of VIP Task Manager you can explain (quantitatively and qualitatively) and share business goals of every individual, so that each person can see what and when he is supposed to deliver.

VIP Task Manager is an easy-to-use tool that can be used for traditional, cross-functional or virtual team management without making difference between these types as this program provides rich capabilities for planning and controlling workflow in terms of multiple parameters and attributes.