Project Management Plan for Ensuring Team Work and Positive Workplace Culture

This paper presents a project management plan for ensuring team work and positive workplace culture. It elaborates on techniques for improving team work, fostering positive workplace culture and evaluating a project in the workplace.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN
Project management plan
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive Summary
This paper is going to develop a management plan in a simulated environment as well
as present a plan in the form of a report to the stakeholders of the project. It would further
demonstrate how one would ensure collaboration of all the relevant stakeholders in the
business projects. This paper has elaborated on answering the questions based on the subject
of ensuring team work, fostering positive workplace culture and evaluating a project in the
workplace.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................3
Characteristics of an effective project team...........................................................................3
Positive Synergy and two techniques for ensuring positive synergy.....................................4
Negative synergy and two causes of negative synergy..........................................................5
Six steps for rapport development and ensuring cooperation................................................5
Part 2..........................................................................................................................................7
Two major theories of workplace culture..............................................................................7
Two positive impacts and any two negative consequences of workplace culture.................8
Impact of any four techniques for developing positive workplace culture..........................10
Four strategies for ensure effective team engagement.........................................................11
Task 3.......................................................................................................................................11
Importance of project review after completion and assistance in future projects................11
Critical learning outcomes through project reviews............................................................12
Importance of any four critical stakeholders’ feedback.......................................................13
Review for the project that you and our group carried out in an Assessment 1 of this
module, incorporating the points:-.......................................................................................14
Conclusion................................................................................................................................15
References:...............................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
This report will develop a project management plan which will be based on a
simulated environment and will be presented to the stakeholders of the organization. There
are three aspect to this project management plan such as improving team work within the
workforce, developing workforce culture that is positive and evaluation of the existing
project. The report will describe the various techniques required for improving team work
and developing workplace culture that is positive.
Task 1
Characteristics of an effective project team
The characteristics of an effective project management team are as follows:
 The project goals and roles should be clearly defined which means that defining the
project scope in an effective way is essential.
 The communication between the team members is essential for the success of the
project and without effective communication there are high chances of risk factors in
scope creep and delay in project schedule.
 The number of members within a project team has to be selected based on the scope
of the project, too many members in the project gives rise to risk and increase in cost
due to use of excessive resources. Similarly, the use of less resources increases the
time span of the project and increases the difficulty of effective managing the project.
 Effective participation, decision making and cooperation among the team members
are key to developing an effective project team. The team member should have to be
cooperative and participate in problem solving drills. The project manager should
have to be good at making decisions and effective using all the available resources.

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The leader should also have the ability to manage conflict within the team as it is a
common phenomenon.
Positive Synergy and two techniques for ensuring positive synergy
As stated by Hu & Liden (2015), positive synergy is more than just working together
and is the principle of systematically performing with collaborative effort especially in
unpredictable situations based on the performance of the individuals. Therefore, the synergy
between the team members resulting in better performance of the project and team can be
defined as positive synergy. In case of positive synergy the collective effort is more than the
sum of the individual efforts. Mathematically positive synergy can be represented as
1+1+1+1+1=10 which shows that the end result is much higher than the sum of their
individual effort due to their collective effort.
The two techniques for ensuring positive synergy within the organization are as
follows:
 Communication is essential for improving the level of synergy between the team
members. Therefore, team members will have to use direct, consistent and clear
communication. This means that indirection, distortion and incongruence should be
highly avoided while communicating with other team members. Therefore, including
a third party with the communication is not viable as the message and tone of the
message gest displaced. This leads to distortion as the third party may not be able to
understand or perceive the expression. Moreover, indirect communication leads to
inconsistency in the message that is being communicated.
 The effective use of resources is another factor which leads to positive synergy among
the team members (Lacerenza et al., 2018). This means that the project team will have
to identify the individual skills and expertise of each of the team members and uses
those skills effectively for problem solving. The skills of the project manager is a key

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in this respect as the project should be able to identify the compatibility among the
different team members and relevancy of a skill to a given task or activity.
Negative synergy and two causes of negative synergy
As stated by Aga, Noorderhaven & Vallejo (2016), negative synergy results in a
negative or same output as the sum of the individual capabilities of the team members.
Therefore, in case of the negative synergy the mathematical expression is 1+1+1+1+1+1=2,
which shows that there is no team work and collaboration between the team members which
results in negative output.
The two causes of negative output in project management are as follows:
 Lack of communication between the team members results in negative synergy. The
project team ought to develop an effective communication plan where the different
issues and activities have to be discussed. The communication is also required to
develop an understanding of the project status where the baselines will be discussed
along with the current progress. The lack of a communication plan will increase
probability of the risk factors and the delay in different activities which will result in
the change in the overall project timeline.
 Lack of effective use of the different resources will be result in negative outcome. The
project manager should be able to identify the capabilities of the team members so it
can be utilized according to the varying needs of the project. This will also consist of
providing authority to different tea member in decision making and execution of
different project phase.
Six steps for rapport development and ensuring cooperation
The six steps for rapport development and ensuring cooperation are as follows:

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 The development of the effective team is the first step towards building a rapport and
cooperation (Gilson et al., 2015). The project manager should bring together people
having similar goals and objective in order to increase their effectiveness. A group of
people working together does not constitute a team and developing collective effort
between the members and establishing collaboration between the team where one can
substitute the work done by the other team is essential for team development.
 The next step is development of effective communication between the team members.
The communication between the different teams will have to be open and direct so
that they are able to value each other’s role within the organization. There are
different aspect to the project and it is vital for each member to recognize the ability
and importance of the other team members for effective team bonding.
 The next step is encouraging collaboration between the team members which will
result in creative solutions, personal growth and faster work rate.
 The next step is acceptance and management of all the problems and issues faced
while executing the project. Conflict management is an essential part to it where the
project manager should be able to manage conflict in an effective way even if the
problem cannot be solved. This can be done by effectively accepting the problems and
develop relevant solutions to it.
 Reward and recognition is the penultimate step to developing rapport and cooperation
with a team where the team members will have to be appreciated for the work they
have been doing and providing them with monetary benefits along with the other
benefits.
 The final step of developing rapport and cooperation is developing an effective
communication plan where the project status and other aspects will have to be

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discussed. This open discussion platform ensures better bonding among the teams
members and increases productivity.
Part 2
Two major theories of workplace culture
There are two categories to organizational culture and they are dimensional approach
and interrelated structural approach. The dimension approach consist of theories such as
Hofstede’s cultural dimension and the structural approach Schein’s theory. The dimensional
approach is one of the most prominent approach to construct in culture. The interrelated
structure approach has been characterized by bidirectional link between the domains of the
model.
Hofstede’s cultural Dimension identifies the culture that is prevalent with an
organization and consist of six dimensions (Campos et al., 2015). They are power distance,
individualism versus collectivism (IDV), and masculinity versus femininity (MAS),
pragmatic versus normative (PRA), indulgence versus restraint (IVR) and uncertainty
avoidance index (UAI). These factors have individually captured the essence of culture of
each of the organizations based on their geographic location and culture prevalent in the
society. The power distance index identifies the degree of inequality that is the difference in
power between the higher level and the lower employees (Taratuhina, Markaryan & Bezus,
2017). IDV defines the relationship between the community as a whole and a high score
defines weak interpersonal relationship and industry is more focused on individualism. MAS
defines the distribution in roles among the women and men in the organization where low
overlaps means there is a great deal of distinction between the male and women roles

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whereas in feminist society the overlapping of roles between men and women is high. TUAI
deals with the ability of the general population about dealing with uncertainty. PRA defines
the long term orientation of the society where pragmatic society consist of humble population
and normative society is characterized by strong convictions and overselling of their own
skills. IVR defines the encouragement of free gratification according to their personal
emotions and drives. Therefore, population with indulgence are optimistic and are focused on
their own happiness and high restraint signifies pessimistic and rigid behavior from the
society.
The steins theory of organizational culture focuses on the culture within the
organization (Ang & Van Dyne, 2015). According to the theory, the prime source of
resistance to change is organizational culture. There are three level to organizational culture
in accordance to the stein’s theory which are artifact, basic assumptions and espoused values.
The theory has also analyzed group dynamics where it suggest that groups operates in a
similar way as that of the organizational culture. The informal groups are divided into three
classifications such as vertical cliques, vertical cliques and mixed cliques (Ozieranski &
King, 2016). The horizontal cliques defines the groups working in close proximity to each
other, vertical cliques consists of groups where employees of different ranks work within the
team and mixed group consists of both.
Two positive impacts and any two negative consequences of workplace culture
The two positive impacts of workplace culture are as follows:
 Effective workplace culture increases the productivity of the team as a whole as they
have better grasp of the goals and objectives of the organization. Moreover, they are
able to understand the current needs of the project in a better due to the understanding
they have developed with the project manager, fellow team members and other key

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stakeholders. This increases their level of commitment towards the project which
increases the chances of success.
 Workplace culture also facilitates in reducing the risk attached to the project as the
level of unity between the employees of the organization has been increased
significantly. The management and team are unified as the team acquire the shared
belief of the management and the organization. Therefore, positive workplace culture
unifies the team and they move towards accomplishing collective goals instead of
thinking about their personal goals and most of them, are bale to align their personal
goals along with the goals of the organization.
The negative consequences of workplace culture are as follows:
 The lack in effective workplace culture results in the lack of sharing in knowledge
at all levels of hierarchy (Giorgi, Leon-Perez & Arenas, 2015). In order to solve
the competitive issues and issues related to a particular project knowledge sharing
is a key and lack of sharing makes it difficult for the different teams to work in
synergy to the project. This results in negative synergy and the output of the
project is of low quality with high scope creep which increases the cost and
timeline of the project. Therefore, a dysfunctional workplace culture leads to
barrier in sharing of knowledge.
 The lack of effective culture may result in the development of subcultures within
the organization where they may be influenced by a different set of organizational
culture within an organization. This is a result of less interaction between the
people working under the same organization but to different groups or have
different roles. Plurality of workplace culture results in ineffectiveness with the
project and the team as it results in the failure of the projects. The success rate of
projects within the organization is less when compared to the rate of failure. This

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is a result of conflicting values among the people working in the organization.
This may even result in invisibility at different levels within the organization
where there may be no traces of organizational culture.
Impact of any four techniques for developing positive workplace culture
The different techniques used for developing a positive workplace culture are as
follows:
 Firstly, the organization will have to develop a vision statement which has clarity in it.
The employees always wants to know whether they are making a difference or not. A
clear picture of the organization goals enables the employees to understand to
different projects which resulted in the growth of the organization.
 Secondly, developing an open door policy will result in open communication where
the managers will be easily accessible to the employees and they can communicate
their opinions to them. The project managers will have to deal with the team members
patiently and positively. This improves team bonding and productive work
environment.
 Thirdly, increasing employee engagement is an effective way of developing a positive
work culture. The employees should be included into the activities and day to day
operations of the organization. This will help them realize that they are an essential
part of the company and provide with encouragement to work even harder to achieve
the company goals. This also makes the team members hopeful about the future of the
organization and their respective future in the organization.
 Finally, performance management is one of the significant important way of
improving the culture of the organization. This will consist of providing the
employees with rewards and recognition which is essential for appreciating the work
do. This will increase the level of motivation among the employees and develop a

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work culture where the team members will be highly satisfied. This will increase the
overall productivity of the projects and performance of the organization.
Four strategies for ensure effective team engagement
The best strategies for employee engagement are as follows:
 The organization will have to focus on thinking from bottom and not top down. The
workforce is the bedrock for any organization for project and the company need to
interact with the employees to identify the real issues they have been facing while
working in the organization. The managers will have to use surveys and
questionnaires and design them in a such a way that they are bound to provide some
clue or significant answers regarding the feelings of the issues within the
organization. This will consist of arranging informal meetings where senior level of
management will discuss with the lower level employees about the issues faced by
them.
Task 3
Importance of project review after completion and assistance in future projects
For getting the most out of a project, it is very valuable to undergo the process of post
project review. It is one of the most important methods for the project teams for enhancing
and improving their performances and skills (Gocer, Hua & Gocer, 2015). This process offers
the members of the team a mechanism for helping them trigger a continuous improvement
within the members and improve the team morale. Furthermore, the project review after the
completion of the project is very helpful for the involved candidates or project members to
take right and appropriate decisions and plans for ensuring that their future projects runs
better. Also, the post project review assists in clearing out the understanding as well as the
other factors and problems which would work as an obstacle in the successful completion of
the next projects. Hence, it can be said that the process of PPR or Post Project Review helps

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in avoiding the phenomenon of repeating the same mistakes with the future projects and
learning how to run the future projects in a better way.
Critical learning outcomes through project reviews
 Firstly, it is to determine how well the project was run all through the time. The PPR
assists in determining the same. If there are occurrence of any things that could be
utilized or that could be improved, the review of the project help in identifying the
same very easily (Aerts, Dooms & Haezendonck, 2017).
 Secondly, it is to learn the important lessons that needs to be taken into consideration
in the future projects by the project team and the manager. Whether it is a successful
or an unsuccessful one, each and every project has something new to teach the
members of it. Like for example, there might be some contents that needs to be
improved and enhanced in the project such as any future modification, any abnormal
events or any performance procedure of the methods and tools in the project. All these
things must be noted down after the project completion.
 Thirdly, it is to assess that whether or not the main objectives of the project are
achieved. Reviewing the project after its completion can help the project members to
make sure that all the objectives which were set before the beginning of the project
are met to the points (Todorovic et al., 2015). It helps them to identify if there is any
issue still prevailing in the project, which they could rectify there itself or would take
into consideration in their next future projects.
 Fourthly, it is to assess whether both the organization and team could get the highest
possible benefits from the project. It helps in assessing the potential of the project to
benefit the organization as well as the team objectives and goals (Bennet, 1983). In
other words, it can be said that, it helps in assessing the factors that could result as a
beneficial factor.

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Importance of any four critical stakeholders’ feedback
 Firstly, it is the project manager who defines what the project would achieve and then
ensures that the project team has met all those set goals. Therefore, his feedback on
the completion of the project is very crucial as it is him who understands the actual
objective of the entire project.
 Secondly, it is the Senior Management team, as because of the fact that they are the
highest most level of management in every organization as well as it is also to state
that they have the day to day tasks of managing the organization (Kerzner & Kerzner,
2017). Hence, their feedbacks on the project completion is very crucial as they hold
an executive power assigned by the director board. Therefore, right before finally
delivering the whole project to their client, taking their approval as well as feedback
on the same are very important. If there are any lacking, both the project team and
project manager could consider it and make the required changes.
 Thirdly, it is the project team. Project team is the most crucial element of a project. It
is because of the fact that in absence of their assistance and contribution, it is
impossible to complete any project (Todorovic et al., 2015). They work independently
as well as collectively for achieving the objectives and goals of the project. Therefore,
it is also important to value their feedbacks in PPR. It is crucial for their own growth
and development. In future tasks, they would be then more attentive in providing
similar or even better input to gain similar or more effective outputs.
 Fourthly, it is the project board. Their feedback are important because of the fact that
they could effectively enhance and improve the performance of the project team and
also could uncover the useful insights.

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Review for the project that you and our group carried out in an Assessment 1 of this
module, incorporating the points:-
Scope Review- The objective of the project mentioned in Assessment I was to execute the
project in a manner so that it could satisfy all the stakeholders who are involved in the
project. The main goal of the project is that it meet the assigned time, set standard and quality
and the planned budget for its completion. There were several sub phases in the project and
they were inclusive of team coordination, initiation, execution, planning and finally
finalization. The resources provided were workers, capital and the required material goods.
The time scheduled for the completion of the project was 15 days.
Cost Review- The people working on the project as well as their hourly rate that was charged
for every member were classified. The estimated number of hours worked by the personnel
were also set and maintained throughout the process of project execution.
Execution Review- Values were created in the discussion process held with the project team
members. There was a three day analyzing process as well as the site visit practice that have
helped to develop the project members as well as the other stakeholders included. Along with
this, apart from construction and engineering, much attention was paid on the change
management control, operational readiness, contractor management and risk management
process etc.
Risk Management Review- It is to note that the project team has made use of team
brainstorming for triggering the ideas. Both the internal as well as the external risks were
analyzed throughout the process. With the same, the project team had a mutual understanding
of the risk events that were likely to take place.
Deliverables Review- The activities that are been carried out in the making of the project
were renovation, project portal, inception report consisting of cost statements, the kick off
meetings and global quality management plan.

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Conclusion
This paper has addressed some of the vital aspects of project management such as
positive and negative synergy, their importance and their consequences; the importance of
project review; different theories on workplace culture and the reviews on scope, cost,
execution, risk management and deliverables that have been carried out on in Assessment 1.
Furthermore, it has also elaborated on the various different strategies to be used for making
an effective project team as well as their importance.
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