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About this Publication
Managing teams to be focused enough to remain committed to the project objectives, and yet agile enough to adapt and respond to a change of scope if, eg the market changes or regulatory requirements come into play, requires a very specialist and strong skill set.
Although good project managers are often hard to come by, and research shows that a large number of companies do struggle to make teams work effectively, it is possible to learn effective project management skills.
In essence, there are three main aspects to managing development teams, and hence using people to bring projects to a successful conclusion.
- Team charter. Having in place clear and achievable objectives brings to the project a focus and an aim. It will set out key milestones from which the team, and the organization, will be able to tell whether or not it is on track to deliver its objectives, on time and on budget.
- Team structure. Whether this is the core team-extended team methodology or utilizing the specialist skill sets of off-shore teams and vendors depends on the project and the host organization, but getting this right is key to successful project management.
- Communication. There are a multitude of methods of communication, from daily stand-up co-ordination meetings, monthly focus groups, to online collaboration tools. However, teams are guaranteed to fail if team embers do not have up to date and big picture details of the project.
Table of Content
Viewpoint
Cross Functional Team working is well recognised as an essential element of rapid and effective new product development. Yet, despite decades of ‘practice’ many companies still struggle to get it right. Moreover, team working complexity is growing for many as they undertake more and more collaborations with overseas division or partners.
Internal and External Collaborations in Product Development
The Why, The What, and The How
New product development teams need to bring together the right combination of skills and knowledge from different functions, different divisions, and increasingly different companies. To be effective, these teams have to be more than just ‘talking shops’; they must get the different people communicating effectively and efficiently, and critically must break down organizational barriers in terms of both management hierarchy and ‘mindset’ ...
Case Study: Managing Multi-site ‘un’collaboration.
Making the necessary changes when a project hits the wall
The project, a $25 million, five-year, new product platform program that involved three divisions of a European-based medical device manufacturer, started with good intentions, and also some good decisions. However, some key strategic mistakes were also made that soon came back to haunt those involved. Overall, this projects highlights the disrupting effect ...
Key Components of Managing Project Teams:
Putting in place the right tools for the successful conclusion of a project
Achieving effective team working can prove very difficult, and research has shown that most organizations are not using teams as effectively and as efficiently as they could. If teams are not working as expected, then companies should look at the way they are being led, staffed and supported, and not at the project concept itself ...
Tapping into Specialist Resources As and When they are Needed:
Achieving a win-win situation for the host organization and the "off-shore" team
Rather than hosting all development teams in-house, many companies now recognize the tactical benefits of freeing limited resources and the strategic potential of being able to tap into specialist resources as and when required. BT is one such company. Its Customer Centricity Program make use of external vendors to deliver specific improvements ...
Streamlining Product Development and Reducing Time to Market
Overcome people barriers for the timely delivery of products
Ensuring that a development team delivers its products on time and on budget is the goal of every project manager. Insights from Nektar Therapeutics show that there are some clear management methods that can prove critical in achieving this goal: These include sharing information widely across the team, adopting a fail-fast mentality, rewarding good decisions ...
New Team Working Demands Require New Team Working Training and Skills Development.
Developing people for NPD teams, today and tomorrow
If businesses are to make the most of process changes and new best practices, and get the maximum team based effort for their product development projects, they need to actively develop people to work effectively in today’s new product development teams. In doing so, they must consider the hurdles presented by outdated organizational approaches and widening ‘generational’ cultural differences.
Audio Conference Summary
Global R&D Challenges and Observations
When it comes to developing cross-site co-operation it is often necessary and most effective to start by tackling the hardest projects – the full joint projects – as it is here that the valuable relationships will be developed. Once developed, these relationships naturally spread to being used effectively for the other “easier” activities, ie having established relationships, it then becomes possible just to pick up the phone and ask for some information or help with a problem.
Executive Summary
Summary of Key Insights
References and Further Reading
Key Insights
This Trends and Best Practices delivers to readers real insider knowledge of managing successful product development teams as, along with four expert interviews from practitioners in four very different companies, it also includes:
- a case study describing a project team's failure and the subsequent turnaround
- comment and opinion from Pure Insight's in-house editorial team
- an overview of managing internal collaborations
- a summary of Pure Insight's recent webinar session on effective collaborations.
If your company is struggling to implement the principle of cross-functional core teams, or is simply failing to employ teams as effectively and efficiently as it should, then this Trends and Best Practices will set you back on the right path.
