Developing your team is a difficult task as a project manager. The PMP Certification Exam will have questions about this process. Here are the two aspects to developing your team:
Developing team member competencies and skills
Developing the team as a whole by getting individuals to work together, thereby improving project performance
Develop Project Team. Improving the competencies, team member interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance project performance.
The intended outcomes of developing the project team and creating a team culture include
Improved feelings of trust
Higher morale
Lower conflict
Increased productivity
Collaboration
Higher cooperation
Sharing knowledge and experience
Leveraging cultural differences
The exam blueprint specifically mentions skills and knowledge in the areas of cultural sensitivity and diversity. The Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct states that project managers should inform themselves about the norms and customs of others and avoid engaging in behaviors that could be considered disrespectful.
A team performance assessment looks at how the team is performing. This is different than a team member performance assessment that measures how a specific team member is performing. The team performance assessment should measure both technical achievement and interpersonal competencies.
Technical achievement looks at the scope and quality that have been produced by the team as well as whether the project is on time and on budget. Interpersonal competencies look at the team’s ability to communicate effectively, how well members collaborate, how they are doing making decisions and resolving conflicts, and their overall morale.
Another aspect that you can look at is how well they work together and whether some team synergy is developing. You should document areas that need improvement and develop a strategy to improve underperforming areas.
The Develop Project Team process and the Manage Project Team process are the only processes that update the environmental factors. They update the skill sets of individual team members.