How to Master Project Team Management Skills

Who Is Involved in the Project? A Few Words about the Importance of Team Roles in the Project Team Management 

The first element of an effective project team and team management is knowing your team structure. This is essential to properly plan resources and distribute tasks, and take implement processes that are most effective for the needs of different roles. The basic roles in a full project management team, are:

Project manager 

Independently whether we talk about IT project management, or marketing resource management, the role of the leader is the same. This is the lead role on the project, focused on decision-making, allocating tasks, checking progress, transferring information between the client, management, and team members, and making sure the project meets its objectives and scope. If the team was an orchestra, the project manager would be its conductor. 

In the small businesses and the bigger ones, software are an irreplaceable part of the journey with project team management

It is the person who bears the biggest responsibility and has to make sure that everything is as it should be. The necessity to take care of so many aspects of the project would not be possible without proper support, which is why the work management software which helps to have control over the project life cycle, calendar, tasks, and progress is a must.

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Team leader 

It is difficult to manage simultaneously every aspect of a very complex project, therefore people who work on it are usually divided into teams. Each team takes care of some part of the product and while the project manager is responsible for the big picture, it is the team leaders who oversee the parts. 

This is a very important role as the team leader is directly involved in the whole process and participates in it together with other team members. This person participates in the daily meetings and project or resource planning, is the first contact in case of problems, and acts as an intermediary between the team and the project manager. It gives the teams more fluidity and autonomy, avoiding micro-management and situations where all decisions depend on one person. 

The team leader is of great importance in building a sense of belonging and maintaining high morale even in crisis situations. Sufficient team management strategies, which we will discuss later in this article, will be a valuable support in a leader’s daily work. 

Team member 

Team members are the core of the project responsible for the execution part of the work. They are specialists in various fields: developers, designers, writers, and testers, whose task is to implement particular aspects of the product. Their expert knowledge and experience allow the application or software to be created. 

Each of them has different competencies and specializations, therefore they have to cooperate to achieve the intended goal. Good team management allows full use of their potential, and poor is a source of frustration and burnout. 

Resource manager

A resource manager is a person responsible for the allocation of resources in the company. works closely with the project manager and the HR department. RS knows project requirements and employee competencies, thanks to which he/she/they can skillfully build project teams and report recruitment needs. The resource management software is a daily work tool for this position. 

Often responsibilities of the resource manager are divided between the project manager and the HR department, however, in the case of bigger companies and more advanced projects separate position support is invaluable. 

Business analyst 

This expert is responsible for defining the project plan’s business potential, its profitability assessment, and market position analysis, including demand and competition. He also helps in budget optimization for project activities.

Stakeholder

A stakeholder is a person who will be in some way affected by a project. It can be a target user, customer partner company, investor, employee, or supplier. Even if stakeholders are not decision-makers or executives, their voice is very important in the process of creating a product to perform. 

Client 

Often the client is seen as an outsider and not part of the team. However, if there was no client, there would also be no project, because it is the client who makes the demand, defines the goals, and gives the money. 

In the project success and the development process, all parties involved, therefore, you have to consider the client or product owner as an important part of the team, who participates in meetings and decides what is needed. The nature of this collaboration is, of course, different than between employees of the same organization, but you can be sure that including the client in a project lifecycle and a development process and building good relations will make your cooperation better.

A successful team is a group of many hands and one mind.”
Bill Bethel

To Rule or to Lead? Project Team Management Styles in a Project

You can manage a team in different ways. These ways are called management styles or leadership styles. They are a combination of factors such as hierarchy in the organization, increasing motivation, division of responsibility, communication, and a general approach to the rules of cooperation. As only 48% of employees view their company’s leadership as “high quality” (Zippia, 2022), adopting an effective style is very important for the whole workflow and team management. There are several main management styles. 

1. Autocratic, which means “you will do what I say”

In this style, there is the boss, not the leader. Communication goes one way, from the supervisor to the employees. The hierarchy in the team is very clearly marked, there is no such thing as a flat structure. The course of work is tightly controlled, and employees are held accountable primarily for results and performance. 

In this style, team members are not encouraged to ask questions, come up with initiatives, or communicate their doubts – they are doers rather than decision-makers or creative entities. The domain of this style is micromanagement; the boss rules every element of the job and employees are not given trust or ownership. 

This management style can be useful in places where discipline and strict procedures are paramount, such as if you are a surgeon running an operation. Or you train recruits in the military. But in a development team? Think twice about that. Or don’t think about it at all. 

Pros

• Quick decision-making
• Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
• Unskilled or novice employees have precisely defined responsibilities and it may be easier for them to carry them out
• Increased productivity, but only in the presence of a manager

Cons

• Lack of satisfaction and higher employee turnover
• Growing frustration
• lack of verification of decisions made and looking for optimal solutions
• employees’ potential is not used
• greater risk of burnout
• Decision-making bottleneck 

2. Laissez-faire or “you do what you want”

In this approach, a manager does not really...manage. The team has full control over decisions related to introducing solutions and solving problems because the leader trusts in their competence and experience. Ownership is the motto of this style. 

The manager’s role is to coordinate and distribute tasks, inspire and create the vision, and motivate and check if the project is progressing, but the whole execution part also lies on the shoulders of the team. 

The manager is involved when the team needs his help or support but otherwise does not interfere in the creative process. Because he is not as active, he can be involved in more projects at once. This style allows for a truly flat structure and works well when the team is experienced, independent, and knowledgeable.

Pros

• Support of creativity and innovation
• Development of teamwork, when employees have to cooperate to solve a problem
• Building a sense of responsibility for the project and ownership
• Greater satisfaction after performing the task independently
• Enabling the development of employees who want more autonomy

Cons

• Productivity may decrease if employees are not motivated
• Employees are under more pressure
• A lack of clear structure can lead to conflicts between employees
• Longer decision-making process 
• Less independent and experienced employees may feel lost without guidance
• Potential for chaos in crises

3. Democratic, meaning “we do what we think is best”

This style is something between autocratic and laissez-faire. The manager asks the team members for feedback, counts on their opinion, and encourages their involvement and suggestion of ideas. Although, the leader makes the decisions and is responsible for the final result. 

The manager does not rule every aspect of work; he or she gives guidelines and distributes tasks, but employees have a certain level of ownership and perform tasks independently. The manager coordinates the work, controls the stages of the project, and plans the strategy and project schedule. In this way, work has some structure and hierarchy, but there is also some space for creativity and initiative. 

Pros

• The team has impact and control
• The bond and sense of cooperation are strengthened
• Brainstorming sessions and discussions lead to finding the best solutions
• Satisfaction and sense of influence increases
• Employees have the feeling of independence and at the same time safety as someone is watching over everything

Cons

• The process of making decisions and looking for solutions can be time-consuming
• If employees’ feedback is not taken into account, frustration may grow
• Decrease in motivation and resistance if the manager does not have authority among the team
• A sense of favoritism can arise if one person’s ideas are accepted and others rejected
• If the manager does not have excellent organizational skills, the whole structure may fall apart

Project Team Management Techniques

Team management is a skill, but also an art. 86% of employees in leadership positions blame lack of collaboration as the top reason for workplace failures (Zippia, 2022). 

A well-motivated group of people who can work together, are happy, and feel a sense of belonging to the company can achieve anything and accomplish goals faster, more efficiently, and better than a poorly managed team. 

The question is how to find the perfect balance, match the management style to the nature of the team, and not be overwhelmed by an overload of information and responsibilities. We have some techniques that will make team management a piece of cake for you. 

1. Know your team

There is no one-size-fits-all solution. When you’re planning a marketing strategy, you consider the client’s goals, the market situation, the competition, the budget, and the target audience. Likewise when you create a product roadmap. 

The approach depends on the variables. And it’s the same with team management – you need data to do it well. And this data is information about who the employees are, what skills they have, their work style, their relations with each other, what they like to do, and what irritates them. While it’s not always possible to find a solution that works for everyone, knowing about your team will help you find the best possible solution. 

1. Recruit wisely

A team is a dynamic structure. Projects change and with them the demand for specific competencies. Recruitment is therefore a key element of project team management. The right one will allow you to develop your potential and work more efficiently, while the wrong one may lead to frustration and crisis. 

Finding the perfect candidate is primarily in the interest of team leaders and managers, so get involved in the process. Conduct a 1-on-1 interview, set up a meeting with other team members, give a recruitment assignment, and talk to the candidate about their experience, but also about their values, needs, aspirations, strengths, and weaknesses. Even the best recruiter and HR professional don’t know your team better than you do, so make the hiring process one of your priorities. 

2. Set realistic goals

It’s good to have aspirations. It’s good to set ambitious goals that reveal people’s deepest layers of potential and talent – it’s a great motivation. BUT unrealistic goals work in just the opposite way – they show people that the work never ends and no matter how much effort they put in, it will never be enough. 

So divide big goals into smaller steps, and those steps – into individual tasks and subtasks. A work scheduling tool will work great here, where you can break down tasks and set milestones, the completion of which will be an opportunity for celebration and a team-building meeting.

3. Match tasks to skills

People in the same positions may have different skill sets. This is especially visible in a flat organization structure, where instead of juniors, mids, and seniors, you simply have specialists who are experienced in other fields of work. 

One of the most important elements of good team management is therefore assigning the right tasks to the right people. Developers know different programming languages and specialize in different products, copywriters may feel more comfortable with articles, social media content, documentation or web writing. To optimize your work, develop the potential of your team. 

Use a work or resource scheduling software where you complete each employee’s profile with information about their competencies. This way, you can be sure that work will go to the employee who does it best. 

4. Respect work-life balance

Just because your people are working longer doesn’t mean they are more effective. On the contrary, overload and overtime result in decreased motivation and productivity, poorer focus, increased frustration, and even turnover. Make sure your team has the space to take a break from work and have some rest. Use timesheets and time tracking to monitor whether your employees have too many tasks and need support. The leave management system will also be very useful. This way you will make sure that everyone can take a well-deserved vacation and at the same time keep the workflow going by allocating resources wisely. 

5. Improve the quality of communication

A huge number of misunderstandings and mistakes in the team come from poor communication. People are not properly acknowledged with the process, they have incomplete information, so they can perform tasks incorrectly or even work on the same thing simultaneously. 

Improving communication is especially important in times of remote work when sharing information and insights is harder. Make sure you have the right system, such as a structured, shared drive and slack channel that everyone checks regularly. 

6. Treat your team as a partner, not as a contractor

Modern team management is about trust and ownership. Your people are not robots who are supposed to follow orders, but qualified specialists who know their job and are your most important business partners. Give them the feeling that they have their part in the decision-making process. Have brainstorming sessions and meetings where you look for the best solutions. 

Also, ask them about inspirations and interesting projects they have seen – maybe one of them will turn out to be valuable for your work? You can be sure that the motivation and satisfaction of your team will increase when they feel that you appreciate and respect them. 

7. Give and receive feedback

Imagine working in a company where you never know if you did something right or wrong or if someone has a problem with your attitude or would prefer you to do something differently. You don’t know it, but you feel it because the atmosphere or your relationship with others changes. This situation leads to confusion and makes you unable to progress because you don’t know which direction is right. 

This is why feedback is such an important part of team management. By talking to your employees about their performance, observations, and impressions, you give them confidence. Employees who receive feedback can improve, do their job more effectively, and better understand what you expect of them. 

This is a very important process to create transparent communication and avoid misunderstandings. For example, if a team member suddenly starts working worse, is late for meetings, and makes mistakes, your first reaction will probably be discontent. You may become more critical, lose confidence in a person, and even begin to consider firing this employee. 

On the other hand, if you give the feedback right away, you may find out that he/she has a difficult personal situation, feels overworked and it affects his/her work. In this situation, you can together look for a solution and strengthen mutual trust, and in the long run, even improve the quality of work.

Remember that feedback does not work one way. Your employees should also have the opportunity to tell you openly if they do not like something and express their needs and opinions.

8. Appreciate

Speaking of feedback, it doesn’t have to be always about something bad. Unfortunately, the association with one-on-one meetings with a team leader is often negative. People get stressed, expect criticism, and are afraid to speak openly. It is very important to show the other team members communicate and that you appreciate their commitment and work. Give positive feedback individually, but also as a group. A simple “Well done team, thank you for your efforts lately, we got it done!” fosters a sense of belonging, success metrics and teamwork.

When working remotely, many people in the company feel anonymous. And yet they are doing important and necessary things! Use company meetings as an opportunity to tell what your team has done and praise them in front of everyone.

9. Develop potential

An employee comes to a company with some skill set that is sufficient for their position. But after all, a job isn’t just about doing the things you already know how to do. It’s an opportunity for people to develop their skills and learn new ones. 

Ask employees what they would like to learn and assign them tasks that will allow them to spread their wings. This will also be an opportunity to deepen the bonds within the team, as employees can support each other in developing competencies and exchanging knowledge. It is also a good idea to create a development budget that your employees can use for interesting training, conferences, courses, programs, and books.

10. Be supportive

Even in the best job, there are crises and difficult moments. However, remember that your role as a team leader is to support the team and show that there is no such problem that you cannot handle. 

At this point, it is very important to maintain a balance between honesty and coolness. If a difficult situation happens, talk to your team about it, tell them what happened and what you can do. Involve them in the process of finding a solution, but also give them a sense of security. People need to know that there is a solution somewhere – you just have to find it. 

11. Use a good team management tool

Modern organizations are so complex structures and managing them requires the support of digital tools, especially project management tools. Many projects, each of which is divided into stages, tasks, and subtasks, hundreds of employees and freelancers with different competencies and availability, days off, meetings, and resources – this is a huge amount of information and variables that affect decisions and workflows. 

To optimize your team management, you will need a system that will make your processes simple and transparent. Think about what you need and choose the perfect tool to make your team management efficient.

How Does Teamdeck Supports Project Team Management?

At this point, allow us a little self-promotion. 😉 We’d like to show you how our software supports team leaders in managing their work. Teamdeck is a resource management software developed by a product design and software development company house with the needs of even the most complex organizations in mind, where all elements must work together. 

Our goal is to make your work easier, not to add another tool that you’ll have to struggle with, which is why we put great emphasis on a friendly and intuitive interface. We believe that more is not always better, which is why in Teamdeck you will find only the truly useful functionalities, instead of dozens of unnecessary additions that only complicate navigation through the system. 

Teamdeck as project team management software key features

• Resource scheduling – assign the right people to the right projects based on their availability, job position, skills, and your own defined attributes. Thanks to the integration with Slack, your employees will be notified about new tasks right away.
• Calendar – manage the workload and capacity of your team. Monitor resource utilization, schedule meetings, and add tasks based on availability. Teamdeck will automatically warn you about overbooking and scheduling conflicts. You can also see who is underbooked to assign them new tasks.
• Resource forecasting – by analyzing your workflow, you can plan people and time requirements for future projects.
• Timesheets and time tracking – monitor your team’s performance with transparent timesheets. Evaluate the profitability of projects and optimize the budget by checking which tasks are the most time-consuming and costly.
• Custom attributes – assign people to tasks based on custom tags such as contract type, seniority, team, or whatever you need.
• Leave management – keep an eye on your team’s hourly availability with insight into leaves and days off. Assign public holidays to people from different countries. 
• Custom reporting – create custom reports with the analysis you need. You can profile them for different departments and teams, for example, Product, HR, Marketing, Finance. etc.
• Mobile version – manage your work comfortably and from anywhere with the Teamdeck mobile application. 
• Data security system – be sure that your data is safe with our bulletproof security system.
• Integrations – use Teamdeck with your favorite apps like Google Calendar, Slack, Podio, SageHR, Zapier, REST API, and more!
• Low price – Teamdeck will cost you only $0.9 – $3.9 per member monthly (depending on the package). 
• Free trial – don’t take our word for it, see how Teamdeck can improve your team management with a 7- day free trial.

To Master Your Project Team Management is to Accept a Real Challenge...

...but it’s definitely worth it because the stakes are high. Increased productivity, better team relationships, happier employees, saving time and money, improving your organizational and leadership skills yourself, and empowering yourself as a leader, not a boss – are just some of the benefits of excellent team management. And they are already more than enough reasons to do it!