The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

9.3. Measuring Project Team Performance

"A castle is only as strong as the people who defend it." This Chinese proverb also applies to the business enterprise. Organizations are only as effective as their unified team efforts. However, team performance is difficult to measure.

9.3.1. Project Performance Measures

Despite cultural and philosophical differences among organizations, managers surveyed (Thamhain and Wilemon, 1997) agreed on measures of overall project performance that are driven by specific project team characteristics conducive to project performance. In this survey, about 1000 product managers and project leaders were asked to list and rank-order factors that are critical to the success of their new product developments. On average, each respondent listed five measures. The first number shows the percentile of managers or team leaders that ranked the measure among the top four factors on their list of critical factors. The second number points to the percentile of respondents that included the measure on their list:

Table 9.3. VIRTUAL TEAMS.

Definition: A group of project team members, linked via the Internet or media channels to each other and various project partners, such as contractors, customers, and regulators. Although physically separated, technology links these individuals so they can share information and operate as a unified project team. The number of elements in a virtual team and their permanency can vary, depending on need and feasibility. An example ...