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Selecting the Right Team for your Project

Introduction

It is useful to think of your team structure in 3 levels: stakeholders, core team, and extended team.

The stakeholders are key business leaders ultimately accountable for the success of the project. Their role is to provide high-level guidance to the team, help remove barriers, and provide funding. The core team is the group responsible for the design and implementation of the solution. Your extended team includes other people in the organization contributing to the project on an as-needed basis. These extended-team members include subject-matter experts.

Team Management Model

This tutorial addresses the core team, and how these team members are selected. Having the right core team can make or break a project. Take care when selecting your team members. The elements to consider include:

• overall team composition
• team selection criteria
• team size
• process for selecting team members

 

Team Composition

A well-rounded team includes a mix of people and skills. The team should include:

• some individuals who intimately understand the current process (experts – could be at any level in the organization)

• some individuals who actively use the process and work closely with customers (including union involvement when applicable)

• some technical wizards

• some individuals who are completely objective toward the process and outcome (consultants may fall into this category)

• customers of the process (when possible) and suppliers (those people who are involved with the process at the boundaries)

• some individuals who are not familiar with your process (someone who brings a fresh perspective and outlook to the team)

Team Selection Criteria

You need the "best and brightest" on your team, but even they must work well together for the project to succeed. When selecting team members, make sure that they are:

1. creative and open minded
2. good team players
3. well respected among peers, stakeholders, and other business leaders

If your stakeholders are helping select team members, share this criteria with them, and be clear on your expectations for the team.

Team Size Considerations

The recommended size for reengineering teams is 3 to 12 members. Smaller teams (3 or 4 members) work faster and tend to produce results more quickly. Teams greater than 7 or 8 members require additional facilitation and often require subteams to be formed in order for the team to operate effectively.

If you require more than 8 members, we recommend establishing a small core team of three to four people to manage the overall project, and then divide into subteams consisting of 2 to 4 members each.

The argument for larger teams is greater functional representation. This representation brings different business perspectives to the table, and a greater knowledge base. The trade-off is that larger teams move more slowly through the creative process, and, given resource constraints, the members are often part-time.

You may consider using fewer than 5 people for the design team, who report periodically to a larger representative group. This structure would enable the design team to move quickly, but they would benefit from the knowledge and insights of the larger group.

Suggested Core Team Roles

Team Leader

• taking accountability for the project outcome
• selecting the methodology
• planning the project
• interacting with the steering committee
• managing the budget
• leading the team

Project Manager (same as team leader for small teams)

• project scheduling and milestone tracking
• managing all subteam activities
• monitoring progress and identifying jeopardy items

Facilitator (not always required for small teams)

• facilitating team meetings
• staying objective
• bringing order and focus to meetings

Team Members

• learning from others,
• designing the overall solution,
• and implementing the design
  

Related Reengineering Resources

Reengineering Toolkits and Document Templates
Business Process Reengineering Methodologies

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