Introduction
A project is defined as a ‘series of related jobs usually directed towards some major
output and requiring a significant period of time to perform’ by Chase Jacobs and
Aquilano1. Project Management is used to define, plan, direct and control resources in
order to meet the constraints of the project. These are typically technical, costs and time.
For this Waste Management project cost is not a major factor as safety and public
awareness and opinion are far more important.
Objectives
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Provide sufficient planning and control to ensure the project is successful
Select an appropriate leader
Budget Management
Resource Management
Group Time Management
Control meetings to ensure efficient progress
Actions
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Belbin Team Analysis
Gantt Charts
 Critical Path Management
 dates
Microsoft Project
Statement of Work (dates, objectives etc)
Work Breakdown Structure
 Hierarchy of project tasks, sub tasks and work packages
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Resource Management
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People management
 Roles within group
 Role of Director
 Peer bonding
 Commitment
 Discipline
Availability
 Individual timetables
 Other work
 Holidays
 Locations
Other Resources
 Room booking
 Computer access
 Software
 MEng Project Budget
Gantt Charts for control and visual representation
Belbin Testing and Team Selection
Belbin tests were developed 20 years ago to enable easy classification of people’s
strengths, weaknesses and capabilities in relation to teamwork 9 categories of personality,
or attitude, are established, comprising of Chairman (CO); Resource Investigator (RI);
Completer-finisher (CF); Team-worker (TW); Monitor-evaluator (ME); Plant (PL),
Shaper (SH), Company worker (CW) and Specialist (SP).
Dr Meredith Belbin realised that current trends of selecting teams based on overall skill,
expertise and intelligence creates an unbalanced group with inherent instability. He
derived a system to select the most efficient team from available personnel. This
involves each available person filling out a carefully designed questionnaire concerning
their personal traits, and tallying scores in such a way as to point at the role they are most
suited to. The team is then selected so that a balance of personalities is represented.
The range of Belbin roles in the Waste Management Team is shown on the chart below.
This is taken from the top 3 scores of each member. Chart is imported from other project
for now
A Chart to Show the Belbin Scores
20
18
16
Belbin Score
14
Seb
12
Sakshi
10
James G
James M
8
Asim
6
4
2
0
CO
SH
PL
ME
IM
TW
RI
CF
SP
Type
The values for each member are shown in the following table:
Seb
Iain
Sam
Kevin
Tim
Carl
Nick
Danny
CO
0
7
9
3
6
5
SH
9
3
6
5
6
13
PL
11
6
6
0
8
3
ME
16
3
10
0
5
15
IM
12
12
13
17
15
15
TW
3
11
5
10
10
2
RI
13
3
9
10
6
11
CF
4
11
8
11
6
3
SP
2
14
2
14
7
3
The chart demonstrates the range of personalities present in the team. The actual scores
for each role are shown, as somebody may be very strong in one trait compared to
somebody else.
The role each member is to take is outlined in the following table. Each member also has
a secondary role within the group to help cover the areas left by primary roles. Primary
and secondary roles within the group are not necessarily based on rankings within
members’ Belbin scores, as people must sacrifice and adapt to benefit the group.
Team
Member
Seb
Iain
Sam
Kevin
Tim
Carl
Nick
Danny
Primary
Belbin Role
ME
SP
Secondary
Belbin Role
RI
IM
IM
IM
ME
SP
PL
IM
One important aspect of Belbin’s analysis of team roles is the ease of which fundamental
flaws in a team can be seen. If it is clear a team is missing a chairperson, extra effort
must be made to ensure somebody holds the judgement and vision, whilst remaining calm
to make decisions. If Plants are lacked, the team should make an additional effort to
brainstorm new ideas and conscientiously think ‘outside the box’.
Individually it helps to know both ones weaknesses and how one can be of most benefit
to the team. A Monitor-Evaluator should allow them to analyse other people’s
suggestions and query everything. Also, knowing ones peers weaknesses can help focus
attention in the right areas. Typically a ME will be hard-headed and often viewed as
aloof1. If the rest of the team are aware of this they can allow for it and not become
frustrated. This can help prevent friction.
The table below lists the various Belbin roles, along with keywords often used to describe
them.
Belbin Role
Description
Resource investigator
Extrovert, curious, enthusiastic, communicative, develops contacts
Completer
Orderly, conscientious, anxious, perfectionist, punctual
Team-worker
Social, mild, sensitive, promote team-spirit
Monitor-evaluator
Sober, strategic, calm, prudent, hard-headed
Plant
Individualistic, serious, unorthodox, intellect, imaginative
Shaper
Outgoing, dynamic, challenging, highly driven, highly strung
Chair/Coordinator
Self-confident, calm, controlled, good vision, mature, good
judgement
Company worker
Conservative, dutiful, predictable, common sense, self-disciplined
Specialist
Single minded, self-starting, dedicated.
1 - http://www.belbin.com/downloads/Belbin_Team_Role_Summary_Descriptions.pdf
Accessed 23/01/2007
Team Building
The life cycle of any project follows a set pattern.
Team Availability
To establish realistic project goals and a schedule for future work, it is necessary to
determine the amount of time each member of the team can contribute, and how this time
is distributed. To do this a timetable is created to outline periods where people are
unavailable.
The timetable is created at 2 levels; one weekly for establishing meeting times, and one
longer-term to incorporate deadlines for other pieces of work, holidays and planned
absences. This should prevent any sudden overloads as deadlines approach.
Providing a means for good group time management will also help individual time
management and distributing work more evenly should allow for a higher overall quality.
The weekly timetable for the group is shown below, with lecture times and extra
curricular activities highlighted as unavailable times. The group members are coded and
if the letter corresponding to the member is present in a time period they are unavailable.
Weeks 1-10
9-10
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
Weeks 11-20
9-10
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
10-11
11-12
12-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6
10-11
11-12
12-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6
It is clear that not every member will be able to be present in every meeting. Individual
participation will be monitored and discussed as appropriate.
The times for meetings will be discussed in the previous meeting and confirmed via email
and text message. This is discussed further shortly.
Meetings
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Establish meeting schedule (internal and external)
Minutes
Agendas
Establish communication methods
Personnel roles (Belbin)
Communication
Meeting Politics and Group Dynamics
If a member cannot make a meeting for a reason non-weekly they will provide an
explanation to the group and demonstrate their recent contributions. This helps avoid a
situation where a member misses a large amount of meetings, leading to a loss of
momentum in the project and a lack of understanding of recent progress.
Time Management
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Establish time parameters
Nirex input
Gantt Charts
 Major objectives
 Develop as sub tasks created
Critical Path Management (CPM) / Network Planning
Estimated task times
Budget Management
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Establish Nirex budget
Cost Analysis
Risk Analysis?
How to run a project (in 7 sexy steps)
1. Agree precise specification for the project.
2. Plan the project - time, team, activities, resources,
3.
4.
5.
6.
financials.
Communicate the project plan to your project team.
Agree and delegate project actions.
Manage, motivate, inform, encourage, enable the project
team.
Check, measure, review project progress; adjust project
plans, and inform the project team and others.
7. Complete project; review and report on project
performance; give praise and thanks to the project team