Theories and Models of Team Work in IT Project Management

This article discusses the theories and models of team work in IT project management, including the Balancing Acts theory and the Salas model. It also explores the problems encountered in team management and techniques for problem solving.

Running head: IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT
IT Project Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
1. Theories and models of Team Work...............................................................................2
2. Problems Encountered.....................................................................................................4
3. Techniques and Approaches of Problem Solving............................................................5
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................6
References............................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Team work is an important aspect of team management and management of the project.
Team work can be explained as a cumulative action of a group that ascertain efficient team work.
Team work can be explained as a co-operation between the different individuals who are
working within a project as a team. Teamwork can be well described by the willingness of a
group of people who are working as a team, with an aim of achieving a common goal. The report
aims in discussing the theories and models of team works, the problems encountered along with
the techniques and approaches of problem solving.
1. Theories and models of Team Work
Teamwork explains the approach that can be considered for developing a team.
Teamwork is powerful as it helps in connecting different individuals on a same page. A
teamwork theory can be organized in a way of explaining the circumstances, processes and
behaviours.
In this context, two theories of team building can be discussed. One is Balancing Acts of
team work and team building; while the other is the Salas model of teamwork. These two
theories of team work are defined to understand the effectiveness of the above identifies two
theories.
Balancing Acts Theory of Team Work: As indicated by Hoda, Noble and Marshall
(2012), Balancing Act theory of teamwork describes the process of self-organizing agile teams.
In this model of team work, the team members are given the freedom of decision-making. Along
with the freedom of decision-making, this model of team work assigns certain responsibilities to
the team members that helps in effective team balancing. In this model of team work, each team

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member of a team receives freedom and is needed to display responsibility thus balancing the
work of the team. This model of teamwork is effective as it helps in balancing cross-functionality
and specialization of the team members. The model further helps in balancing continuous
learning and pressure of iteration that is observed in agile teams.
Figure 1: Illustrating the Balancing Acts Theory of Team Work
(Source: Hoda, Noble & Marshall 2012)
Salas Model of Teamwork: Salas model is a model of teamwork mainly originates from
the need of developing a self-managing team (Salas et al., 2015). There are certain core
teamwork componenets, which are leadership within the team, mutual performance, monitoring
of the work of the team backup behaviour, adaptability within the team and team orientation. The
Salas model of teamwork is also known as team effectiveness model. It is related to
understanding of the strengths and the weakness of each team member.

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Figure 2: Illustrating the Model of Team Effectiveness
(Source: Salas et al., 2015)
The above two models of teamwork is effective in developing an efficient team and also
in managing a project. There are certain other models of teamwork, which include the
Hackman’s model, Lencioni models and others. However, out of all the models of teamwork, the
above identified two models are quite efficient in management of the team and also helps in
development of the self-organizing team. Following the above two models of team work helps in
analysis and addressing of the various problems encountered and also helps in effective problem
solving.
2. Problems Encountered
Management of a team and a project is linked with a number of problems that can be
experienced while setting up of the team and also for managing teamwork.

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I have experienced a number of issues and problems while working in my project. The
two theories of team work that are identified in the previous section, have however, helped me in
easy identification of the issues along with solving those problems (Aga, Noorderhaven &
Vallejo, 2016). The problems that I could identify in my team, are discussed as follows-
Unnecessary Conflicts and Tension: While working with the team, I have experienced
unnecessary conflicts among the team members (Dyer Jr, 2015). The conflicts were mostly lined
with decision making. It hampered the normal execution of the project tasks resulting in project
delays.
Lack of Transparency: This is another serious problem that is faced while management
of the team. Lack of transparency has largely hampered the normal execution of the project tasks
and therefore, this serious issue needed mitigation.
Low Engagement: Although the project team was built as per skills and the
competencies of the team members, a serious issue of low engagement is identified in the project
team. Team engagement is mainly crucial for business success and therefore, the issue of low
engagement that is faced is addressed.
The above three major problems are identified in the team, which were needed to be
addressed to ascertain successful project completion.
3. Techniques and Approaches of Problem Solving
Different approaches to problem solving has helped in identification of the undertaken
project in a proper manner. The use of different approaches to problem solving has helped in
better execution of the project.

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Meetings for discussing the issues faced by the team members were held with an aim of
solving problem of unnecessary conflicts and tension caused due to decision making. These
meetings can be basic discussion meeting that can enable the team members in discussing the
problems faced by them, so that it can be quickly solved by the efforts of other team members
(Lindsjørn et al., 2016). There will not be any specific lead in these meetings as agile teams give
freedom of decision-making to every team member.
The issues linked with the lack of transparency is mitigated by ascertain that the team
members communicate among the team (Cleden, 2017). Team communication is found to be one
of the effective techniques that can help in solving problems faced within the project team.
The issues of Low engagement can be addressed by investing in effective leadership and
motivation process (Mardani et al., 2015). Team motivation through incentives and recognition
is effective in addressing the problem and issue of low motivation that is faced in the project
team.
Conclusion
The report that is prepared has identified the main theories and models of team work in
workplace. The report has identified Balancing Work theory and teamwork theory by Salas as
effective theories of team building. The team of the undertaken project is built with the help of
these two theories. The application of the identified theories in team building has helped in
understanding the problems that are faced within the team. The report has further identified that
the processes that can be applied in effective management of the problems that are encountered
while management of the team. It is found out that motivation and team communication has the
capability of solving majority of the problems that are faced within the team.

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References
Aga, D. A., Noorderhaven, N., & Vallejo, B. (2016). Transformational leadership and project
success: The mediating role of team-building. International Journal of Project
Management, 34(5), 806-818.
Cleden, D. (2017). Managing project uncertainty. Routledge.
Dyer Jr, W. G. (2015). Team building. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1-2.
Hoda, R., Noble, J., & Marshall, S. (2012). Developing a grounded theory to explain the
practices of self-organizing Agile teams. Empirical Software Engineering, 17(6), 609-
639.
Lindsjørn, Y., Sjøberg, D. I., Dingsøyr, T., Bergersen, G. R., & Dybå, T. (2016). Teamwork
quality and project success in software development: A survey of agile development
teams. Journal of Systems and Software, 122, 274-286.
Mardani, A., Jusoh, A., Nor, K., Khalifah, Z., Zakwan, N., & Valipour, A. (2015). Multiple
criteria decision-making techniques and their applications–a review of the literature from
2000 to 2014. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 28(1), 516-571.
Salas, E., Shuffler, M. L., Thayer, A. L., Bedwell, W. L., & Lazzara, E. H. (2015).
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guide. Human Resource Management, 54(4), 599-622.