Question

Explain how personality traits might help a project manager to design a team structure. Why, for example, might it be challenging to manage a team with too many “DRIVER” personalities in the team? Or, too many “ANALYTICAL” personalities? How would you go about training a team to understand personality traits and to use them to improve their team working capabilities?

Answer 1

Project managers must have a comprehensive understanding of how to apply and integrate the processes as well as how to select tools and techniques sufficient for project success.However, it takes more than knowledge and performance; it also takes interpersonal skills.Therefore, project managers must possess interpersonal skills along with technical management skills to achieve the project’s time, scope, cost, and quality objectives.Such skills include the leadership and personality traits essential for influencing key stakeholders and motivating project team members.the project manager should have a solid understanding of the different personalities attending the meeting or involved with the conflict to successfully lead the project to success.

when project managers do not possess proper interpersonal skills, or when they take these skills for granted, they soon find themselves associated with project failure related to people issues because of inappropriate leadership style and/or personality.it is essential to have project managers with the proper interpersonal skills leading projects to success.

A project manager’s analytics personality includes:

1. Client-orientation: Take the time to understand your customer’s needs and push your team to provide a product that exceeds the client’s expectations.
2. Authority: Don’t rely on your title to command respect.
3. Organization: Project managers need more than just vision to lead a project to success—they need to be able to create a plan to achieve that vision.
4. Strong communication skills: Even when project managers know where a project needs to go, they need to be able to clearly communicate their ideas and receive feedback from their team.
5. Foresight: Anticipate problems and head them off before they compromise deadlines and budgets.
6. Modesty: Project managers need to be able to reevaluate the project processes without an invasive ego.
7. Pragmatism: Use what resources are available to you. Prioritize staying within scope and budget.
8. Empathy: Project managers would be pretty unsuccessful without a team. Take your employee’s concerns seriously and commit to grappling with them.

CHALLENGES TO MANAGE WITH TEAM

1. Keeping Teams on The Same Page
2. Poorly Defining the Goals And Objectives
3. Unrealistic Deadlines
4. Finding The Right Project Management Software
5. Scope Creep is Insidious And Creepy
6. Insufficient Team Skills
7. Miscommunication Cause Conflicts
8. Risk Management
9. Challenges of Teamwork
10. Lack of Accountability

WAYS TO IMPROVE THEIR TEAM WORKING CAPABILITIES

The Project Manager must believe:

• a team is a highly effective way of producing defined results.
• a team can keep growing in its effectiveness and efficiency in the future and if it progresses to a mature and self directed team then the efficiencies will continue to grow and produce astounding results.
• sometimes an indirect approach can work. For example, a larger team with a mixture of goals can work on advanced mission statements, current reality and an envisioned future as well as asides to current work status.
• a leader is best when that leader truly believes in the benefit of a team to the success and happiness of its participants. People at work feel good with solid success that is measurable. They feel good working together and solving problems as compared to running in circles, delays and decisions from above without consideration of their input. If we are to work why not be good at it instead of miserable in our silos?