The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

9.2. What We Know About Project-Oriented Teamwork

Vitually all product managers recognize the critical importance of effective teamwork to project performance. In fact, the basic concepts of organizing and managing teams go back to biblical times. However, it was not before the discovery of important social phenomena in the classic Hawthorne studies in 1939 that a theoretical framework of the work group emerged.

9.2.1. Redefining the Process

In today's complex multinational and technologically sophisticated environment, the self-directed team has become the project team (Fisher, 1993; Nurick, 1993; Thamhain and Wilemon, 1999; Kruglianskas and Thamhain 2000).

Team-building takes a collection of individuals with different needs, backgrounds, and expertise and transforms them into an integrated, effective work unit. In this transformation process, the goals and energies of individual contributors merge and focus on specific objectives. When describing an effective project team, managers stress that high performance depends on the reasons graphically summarized in Figure 9.1. Team-building is a constant process that requires leadership skills and an understanding of the organization, its boundaries, authority, power, and motivation.

9.2.2. Team Life Cycle

The life cycle of a project team spans across the complete product development project, not just a particular phase. For example, the team responsible for creating a new search engine for Yahoo!, integrates activities ranging from ...