Project Teams that Work

Introduction
Enterprises are under increasing pressure tore-engineer their business processes to become more cost-effective and efficient. Consequently, the demand to improve the process of developing and implementing advanced information technologies, such as AM/FM/GIS, continues to grow. While the use of project management tools and associated “best practices” covers part of the utility business spectrum, personnel issues will most often be the key factor that make or break a project.

This paper addresses the personnel issues by submitting that cooperative vendor and client teamwork will enhance work processes that continually support the dynamic AM/FM/GIS business, from planning through the execution of a project. The challenge ahead is to structure and manage the project team so that we can effectively deliver results to the client and benefits to the company and team.

Team Building
The entire definition and direction of an AM/FM/GIS project will come from the project team. With such significant responsibility, selecting the team members carefully becomes critical.

When evaluating the original idea for the project (planning phase), the groups of people who would potentially benefit from or be affected by the idea are identified. To ensure the project meets everyone’s needs, representatives from each group should participate in the project; but to get anything done, you cannot effectively work with that many people. To include everyone yet keep the team small enough to collaborate effectively, establish a full team with full representation, then establish a core team to do the day-to-day work of the project. The core team should not have more than five or six people on it at a time. If the project is very large, it should be broken into smaller pieces with one small core team assigned to each functional area.

In this respect, the project team is much like a sports team. The success of the season depends on all members of the team. However, only a limited number of core players can be on the field at any one time. Using this technique prevents chaos on the field.