Project Team Management Analysis: Mark and Spencer Case Study Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of project team management, utilizing the Mark and Spencer case study to illustrate key concepts. It begins with an abstract defining project team management and its importance, followed by an introduction to the case study. The report then delves into a literature review, exploring various definitions of project management, team types (specifically functional teams), team roles, and work environments. It examines the characteristics of successful project teams, the structure of project teams (including forming, storming, norming, and performing stages), and the roles of team members. The report also discusses project team motivation strategies employed by Mark and Spencer. A critical analysis section follows, highlighting the essential elements of successful project management, such as interpersonal relations and collaboration. The report concludes with recommendations for effective project team management and references relevant literature.

Project Team
Management

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review...................................................................................................................4
Critical Analysis.....................................................................................................................9
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................15

ABSTRACT
Project team management can be defined as the process of managing a team which is
working on a particular project in an organisation. Management of a project team is necessary to
carry out a project effectively and efficiently. Members of a project team usually come from
various groups, departments and functions and are assigned the same project. This project team
can be diversified into sub- teams as per the needs. Basically project teams are used for a specific
period of time. It consist of members from various groups, cultures and areas and everyone have
their own way of looking into a particular thing. Because of these diversifications among
members, it is necessary that a proper administration or management should be there for project
teams so as to ensure smooth working of the project. Project team management is also necessary
to assign job or works to the team members according to their skills. It also helps in building
effective project team, will help in analysing the budget and needs of resources, to find out
sponsors of the project and to examine the status of the project whether the project is carried out
on the basis of defined objectives or not.

INTRODUCTION
This case study is based on the case of Mark and Spencer in which a project team is
formed for a particular project and the management of that team is done. Mark and Spencer is
retail company of UK, with 1380 store around the world. It operates in two segments that is UK,
which consist of franchisee and retail business and international, which consist of Mark and
Spencer owned business. In this case study the type of team, its characteristics, structure, role of
team members, environment of work will be analysed. Various team conflicts , culture of a team
and the way in which team communicates is also examined in this study, which will be helpful
for an organisation to manage its team properly so as to carry out a project in a proper manner
that will lead an organisation towards growth and success and will help to create goodwill of an
organisation.
TASK
Literature Review
According to the Scott-Young and Samson, (2008) project management is basically
defined as planning, initiating, executing, controlling the team work to achieve a particular goal
related to project and to meet particular criteria related to project. As per the view of Bourne and
Walker (2008) it is a group of several methods, processes, skills or knowledge that is being
carried out to achieve to specific goals and objectives of project . In Mark and Spencer., a project
that has been carried is of CSR activities and for the that a particular team is made to carry out
that project. If a team is made for a particular project than the management of that team is also
necessary for effective work out of project.
The type of project team which is working in Mark and Spencer., is functional team.
Functional team is a type of team in which there are workers from a same functional area or
department and which helps in the effective use of CSR activities. As per the view of Meredith,
Mantel Jr and Shafer, (2013), the types of resources that are needed to complete a project comes
from a single area or department only, and if the project is large and requirement of several
department is there ,than each department individually complete that work. By this the
completion of project is in more efficient and effective way because members work together and
are dedicated to work on a project. Functional teams are the most efficient and effective in which
little variation is required.

As a team member of a functional project team, basic role is to :
 Give functional expertise in a management process
 Work with different members and to ensure that the needs of the business is meeting with
project that is being carried out
 Analyse and make documentation of the process that are running currently or those that
will run in future.
 Map and identify the needs that are necessary for the project
 Analyse and define the requirements needed for interfacing, analysis of resources that are
necessary to carry out a project
 Assure quality and to develop a plan needed for quality assurance (Bredillet, 2008)
Work environment can be defined as the surrounding or environment in which a
employee is working, or which allows employees or members of a team to to focus on their
objectives and goals (Bourne and Walker, 2008). Work environment should be friendly, good,
clean, so that the employees can work effectively and efficiently. There are various types of
work environment to work in. In Mark and Spencer , there is a enterprising work environment. It
is a type of environment which creates a competitive environment in an organisation. This type
of environment influence leadership and status. In such type of work environment members are
energetic, ambitious and self confident.
As a team member of a project team in Mark and Spencer, the team in which I am
working is a functional kind of project team. In which there are several members working in a
group and each of them have a common function working for a common objective or a goal. Full
participation of every team member is there in a team and all members give their energy and
time to the project. Every member has trust on each other which helps in adding value in the
project. According to Pant and Baroudi, (2008), team also ensures quality, define clear roles and
is risk taking. Open communication should also carried out in a team so as to give or contribute
several ideas, to provide feedback, to provide updates and clarification on anything that is
confusing.
There are several characteristics of a project team that leads it to the success, some of the
characteristics are :
 Members of the team are team players, they are united and stay away from such people
who tries to diverse them

 Members of the team are self driven, they are always ready to take initiative
 They are influential and always stay motivated to work for effective project
 Members of the project team are responsible, reliable and accountable (Ika, 2009)
 They are creative, and always try to add new imagination in the ideas and plans so as to
make the project creative and good
 Members of the team are always supportive to an organisation or to each other. They
help others in understanding the difficulties of the project if they are facing any
 Members of the team communicate well with each other to share various opinions, ideas
and thoughts that are needed for a project
 The team members have various skills, talents that are necessary to carry out a project in
an organisation (Gido and Clements, 2008).
Project team consist of various members that are responsible to carry out a project in a
organisation. Members of project team in Mark and Spencer consist of :
 Project manager who is responsible for planning, monitoring, execution and control
 Product engineer who is responsible for testing, installation, production or corrective
action
 Quality controller who is responsible for the quality check of the product or for the
quality control
 Circulation manager who is responsible for drafting business plan, circulation of result of
project via website (Gido and Clements, 2008)
 Process engineer who is responsible for testing of machine
 Project controller who is responsible for the control of finance and resources
 R&D director who is responsible for the budgeting and timing of the project
 Sales and marketing manager who is responsible for the overall marketing of the product
and who manages the sale of particular product in different areas

(Source: Project Team Roles,2017)
Main purpose of a project team is to carry out defined goals and objectives carefully in a project
plan by implementing it effectively and efficiently. Project team is made to so that the members
of a project team works together for a single objective by having effective coordination among
various team members or departments. Project team is basically a group of members who work
invest their time and ideas to carry out a particular project (Bredillet, 2008).
Project team structure
Project team can be formation follows stages like forming, storming, norming and
performing. Forming: In this stage team leaders are polite and positive. Some are opposite as they
don't have idea of what work team will do. In this stage, leader role is played by the
manager to give clear roles and responsibilities (Ika, 2009) Storming: In this stage, team members start to go on outlines and boundaries that is
described in forming stage. It starts when there is conflict among team members. Norming: In this stage team members resolve their conflicts and differences that arrived
in the above two stages.
 Performing: In this stage team performs the work and achieve its goals according to the
guidelines. Development of the team members are also done in this stage.
Illustration 1: Project Team Role, 2017

(Source: Project Team Development,2017)
To have a particular structure of a project team is very necessary to carry out a particular project
in an organisation. Structure of a project team has a important role to manage functions of a
team. Project team structure has different characteristics of its own to carry out a project
(Wysocki, 2011).
(Source: Project team structure, 2017)
Structure of a project team consist of various people and they have several
responsibilities. A project team may consist of project sponsors who plays part of financial
Illustration 3: Project team structure, 2017
Illustration 2: Project Team Development, 2017

resources for a project in an organisation (Ajmal, Helo and Kekäle, 2010). They are the ultimate
provider of the several resources or financial resources that are needed in an organisation for a
project. There are several decision makers, who make important decisions regarding project
quality, scope, time, objectives and goals. Project manager is a important part of any project ,
who make significant plans, check status of a project and coordinate with the team of the project.
Then comes a team, which actually carry out the working of a project, and helps in the
completion of the project (Project Teams Structure. 2017).
Project team motivation
It is very necessary that a team of a project in a organisation should be motivated. Mark
and Spencer have carried out several steps to motivate its team, these steps are :
 They set realistic goals that can be achieved by the team easily and the work load will not
be there.
 Tools to measure performance is being set for then timely completion of task
 Success is being celebrated in an organisation to motivate employees and to celebrate
their achievement
 To motivate employees it is necessary to know them so as to discuss their problems and
to motivate them regularly.
Critical Analysis
According to Ika, (2009) in Modern business era, projects teams have become to essential
work components of the business enterprise. The ability to complete work with success is
depends upon the ability to complete a projects. Teamwork is helpful in working together to
achieving vision of the business organisation . The important ingredients in managing a projects
successfully are as follow:- Interpersonal relations, team spirit and collaboration. The mode, on
which a team is created of “Mark and Spencer.” is also plays an vital role in its success.
On the other hand Reed and Knight, (2010) the ability to direct work from individuals
accomplishment also increases the organisation growth. Only few workers of team can
understand the ability of effective team work, because it is also develops the performance of the
project. So we can say , that team work is also contributes in succession of a project. But it is
must to interaction of the team members, and their co ordination and corporatise is also involves
in team improvement.

As per the view of Wysocki, (2011) there are two critical elements that are completely
attached with project performance. These are following :- team leadership and team
environment. Every projects needs team approach in its compiling. Also Reed and Knight,
(2010) says that, there are so many national cultures of the country, that effects performance of
the projects as well as team also . Every individual of the team must have to involve in decision
making process by being influencing each other and sharing their responsibilities with their
innovates ideas. Self actualization of each individual also facilitates the team growth and
development.
Project team communication
In today's scenario,communication plays an important role in every business
environment. To communicative with lower level to senior level is compulsory for every
organisation, just to reduce the personal issues of the company, so that they ain't effects on
employees performance. So if Analytical Ltd. wants to high performance, then it will have to
create an effective communication with its team members. Communication entrenched to make
these kind of results as the company wants. Successful team members, often involves effective
communication skills in their projects. They listen issues of their employees, they act, and also
give feedback to employees. It also creates a foster compatibility among team members.
Communication barriers can be overcome by : Effective Speaking: Managers of the project team should be effective in delivering
guidelines and in speaking. They should speak in a way that members of the team get
motivated. Goals and objectives should be clear to the members of the team. Active Listening: Most of the problem arise when people don't listen properly, so the
active and proper listening is also necessary in the effective communication.
 Couching and Counselling: Training or coaching also plays an important part in the
effective communication process among project team. Proper training should be given to
employees and regular counselling sessions should be there.
Seemly, communication also increase to do team work together among its team members.
So it is also facilitates development of a team. Frequently communication, is also make easier to
keep away stakeholders. A project communication isn't easy as it looks, sometimes it creates
very big conflicts and arguments in an organisation. The team leader have to take some strictly
steps to stops all these conflicts . It occurs when some information is in and but doesn't go out.

So team managers have to supply time to time feedback, meeting notes, and project growth,
among other employees (Wysocki, 2011).
When an important information comes in to the organisation, communication plays an
essential role. An skilful manager knows very well, how to plan an festive communication
between employees so the chances of misinterpretation and arguments are reduces. The strategy
of every project based communication must be pre-planned.
Project team conflicts
There are some conflicts that are occur in the team members while they are performing
their operations in a group. Some of the issues that are faced by the group members are like
lateness of the members, their contribution, absenteeism and so on. Due to these conflicts, the
overall performance of the team is get affected and this will lead towards the high dissatisfaction
among all the workers. Along with this, when all teammates will not equally contribute then due
to the conflicts may arise so trust will not be established between the other members (Reed and
Knight, 2010).
When a team is formulate then at the time of formulation no one knows each others so it
will take some time to create a bond with each other. Due to this, they will not be able to ask
questions to each others and sometimes this will lead towards poor performance of the team
members. It is necessary to resolve a conflict among members of a project team. To resolve it it
is necessary that a resolution should be prepared in which conflict should be acknowledged and
its impact should be discussed. Situation should be understand and then the best action should be
carried out (Managing a Project Team. 2017).
Illustration 4: Project Team Conflict,
2017

(Source: Project Team Conflict, 2017)
Negotiations or/and influencing skills applied in project team management
The word negotiation, refers to a discussion is among two or more parties, that aimed is
same. Negotiation is a strategic communication Negotiation may be formal or informal, when it
places in projects and any function of business organisation. Formal negotiation are based on
agreeing a contract and informal are based on resolve arguments and conflicts or any other
personal discussion. The skills of good negotiation involves to set an organisation mental object
and limits, perception and emotional activity skills. In negotiation both side parties tries to
influencing with each other, by their skims, goals and their future plans. They are always trying
to stimulate each others, to agree his or her point of view (Cervone, 2011). There are four stages
of negotiation such as:- preparation, exchange information, bargaining and close & commitment.
Some of the negotiations principle are :
 Separation of people from the problem
 Mutual gain options should be invented
 Focus on people's interest and not on position
 Insist on criteria of objectives
On the time of negotiation a manager must have knowledge about when and how
negotiation will be closed. A project manager can negotiate effectively if he have such skills :-
he must be a good listener, he have an excellent communication skills, he focuses on values and
goals, and ability to ignore rigidity. Negotiation is helpful In high-grade bargain in organisation
projects. We can say that negotiation is a essential project management implement (Cervone,
2011)
When bidding negotiation goes on the far side acquiring reduced or higher prices of
projects. In day to day dealing of project activities with other resources , negotiation is a great
tool for project managers, during their employment. It is also helpful for project managers in
persuasive for the management, when someone is asking form other additive resources.
Influencing others is also a heart of a project manager, but it is not works for all times.
Sometimes it is very tough to influenced the third party. In this situation manager have take some
extra ordinary tricks to influence the other parties and make their deals lightly and trying to make
some personal relations, just to dealing in future.