There are several sorts of teams. A functional team is a permanent team established to conduct operational activities for a specific portion of the organization, such as finance, sales, marketing. There is no specified time limit on operational teams as they are required to keep the company running. A project team is brought together for a different time period to achieve a specified goal. At the conclusion of the project the team is disbanded.
Project teams are often matrix in character, staffed by members obtained from diverse functional teams to be able to accomplish the project goal. When the Project Manager has a high level of authority this is called a powerful matrix when Functional Managers possess stronger authority that is referred to as a weak matrix. In most organizational structures, there are lots of ‘teams within teams’.
- Me and the Entire team
- Me and every individual in my management group
- Me and All my management team
- My peers at other departments
- Every management team person and their direct reports
All These teams need nurturing if a job is to be successful. In a matrix environment, allegiance to the job is not created by the construction itself, but instead as a consequence of the relationships that are developed within the project group. Relationships in most groups are important for success, but on matrix groups, especially weak matrix groups, in which the project manager might have little ability, they are particularly significant.
Team Building Techniques
Team building activities are conducted in order to develop Loyalty and trust that are a vital foundation for getting the best results from a matrix project staff. Team building is not only about creating fun events, even though that is part of it in communicating with influence. It is also not only about understanding team members through personality evaluations, although again, that is part of it. The very best team building involves combining many different tools and techniques.
Kick off meetings – a new project should be initiated using a Kick off meeting so the intention of the project, roles and responsibilities and how the job fits into the organization’s overall goals could be understood. This technique can be used in all types of teams, but in a matrix project team that is come together with staff from multiple unique sources it is especially significant as the team does not have any established context for the job.
On these groups, relationships are more challenging to establish, are more delicate, and can be easily destroyed. Maintaining a diverse group of people together in a matrix group is dependent on building trust and loyalty.