RT Vol X: Ch. 8: Augmenting Government and Commercial Business Strategies: Effectively Leading Diverse Teams Compositions Concurrently

From the Book: The Refractive Thinker® Vol X: Effective Business Strategies For the Defense Industry Sector

Summary

Fortune 500 companies, small firms, and government agencies, including military and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) use project teams for optimizing business goals and objectives (Wagner & Barkley, 2010). The competitive nature of multinational infrastructure projects along with volatile markets indicates an increase in collaboration between governments (Hambley, Neill, & Kline, 2007). As a result, project teams adapted to meet future changes and cope with the global economy and shifting business priorities (Douglas & Craig, 2011). To offset resource challenges project managers undergirded the responsibility of managing diverse types of projects and teams simultaneously (Allen, 2015). The diverse types of project team compositions included traditional (co-located team members), virtual (members interface virtually), and hybrid (team consist of traditional and virtual) (Allen, 2015). This problem of managing projects is more acute when 62% of projects in large companies reported cost overruns and 37% were finally cancelled (Standish Group Report, 2014). Correspondingly, Allen (2015) reported 80% of 475 survey participants of project managers or team leaders acknowledged exceeding project budget and schedule. Projects that exceed budget and schedule equates to cost overruns. Effectively managing multi types of teams concurrently calls for a closer look in two arenas: Evolvability strategy and enhance skillset for project team managers or leaders. Evolvability strategy specifies the qualities of a final design that is both affordable and robust to cope economically with changes in requirements. Enhanced skillset required to support project managers, leaders, and team members’ agility in working with multi-types of projects and teams concurrently.