Chapter 13 – Leading and Managing Project Teams
TRUE/FALSE
1. The value of engaging a subject matter expert early in a project should be balanced against the
potentially significant cost of paying for his or her expertise.
2. The ideal time to on-board core team members is to include them in the chartering process.
3. All project teams progress uniformly through five stages of team development.
4. Project manager strategies to promote organization, project and team member needs may vary from
one stage of team development to another.
5. Project managers can further team development by securing agreement on common goals and
objectives for the project.
6. High-performing project teams will typically persevere despite challenges, produce high quality results
and consistently meet or exceed stakeholder expectations.
7. Great team synergy can make a team’s capability better than the individual members’ capabilities.
8. The “relationship” topics within team ground rules, such as protect confidentiality and avoid
misunderstandings, should eliminate the need for conflict management techniques.
9. Leadership within a project team should be demonstrated only by the project manager.
10. Proactive project managers realize that conducting clear, succinct, one-way communication is a major
key to their team’s success.
11. A project manager leads by placing the demands of the parent organization and the project above the
needs of the project team members.
12. One important way to build team capacity is to create a desirable team identity.
13. The adoption of specific ground rules that specify acceptable and unacceptable behaviors can help
prevent potential problems and improve working relationships, effectiveness, and communication.
14. The standard approach to making decisions on a project is to clearly and consistently vest decision
making authority in the project manager.
15. When a decision needs to be made quickly or requires significant authority it is often useful to delegate
the decision to one or two team members.
16. When many members of the project team disagree, then it may be best to delay the decision, gather
more data, or agree to let one or two team members investigate and recommend a strategy for the
whole team.
17. When a project team member is not performing, rewards may not prove as effective as a coercive
approach that threatens the team member with undesired consequences.
18. Information is power. Withholding or distorting project information is a viable and potentially useful
approach to increase power for the project manager.
19. Conflict over ideas on how to proceed with a project can lead to more creative approaches.
20. Many conflicts on projects have multiple causes.
21. The negotiation process involves several steps such as: preparing for negotiation; knowing your
walk-away point; and working towards a common goal.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. All of the following are advantages associated with assigning both core team members and subject
matter experts to the project as soon as possible EXCEPT:
a.
implementers are more motivated when they help create the plan
b.
early assignment of SMEs to the project saves money
c.
early assignment helps ensure team members are available when needed
d.
plans are more realistic when those who will perform the work are involved in the
planning
2. The process of improving the competencies, team interaction, and the overall team environment to
enhance project performance is known as:
a.
Acquire project team
b.
Develop project team
c.
Connect project team
d.
Manage project team interactions
3. All of the following are among the activities a project manager should undertake to develop a highly
effective team EXCEPT:
a.
assess sponsor capability
b.
assess project team capability
c.
establish team ground rules
d.
assess individual member capability
4. It is argued that project teams progress through five stages of team development. Which of the
following sequences best represents this progression?
a.
forming, norming, storming, performing, reforming
b.
forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning
c.
forming, storming, norming, performing, reforming
d.
forming, performing, reforming, norming, adjourning
5. During which stage of team development do team members attempt to jockey for power, ask many
questions and establish dubious goals?
a.
forming
b.
storming
c.
norming
d.
performing
6. High-performing teams include members who typically hold which of the following values?
a.
a high need for achievement
b.
a strict adherence to their personal points of view
c.
a commitment to self-promotion
d.
a strong need for authority
7. The personal values of team members on high-performing teams can be enhanced through which of
the following team behavior practices?
a.
independent efforts and emphasis on the individual
b.
constant focus on improvement
c.
unilateral initiatives and personal competition
d.
adherence to formal procedures
8. The personal values of team members on high-performing teams can be enhanced through all of the
following beneficial communication practices EXCEPT:
a.
free sharing of information within and beyond the team
b.
open discussion of all important topics
c.
proactive reporting of potential problems
d.
encouragement of personal conflict
9. All of the following are among the types of capabilities that are useful for project team members
EXCEPT:
a.
activity-specific knowledge and skills
b.
personal learning
c.
insensitivity towards others
d.
organizational understanding
10. Assembling the right quantity and variety of skills and experience for the project team can be quite
challenging. One strategy is to staff the project with a combination of experienced and less
experienced workers. All of the following are benefits associated with this approach EXCEPT:
a.
It often costs less to use an inexperienced person.
b.
The project manager can dominate the more junior team members
c.
Mentoring within the team helps to achieve organizational learning.
d.
The more experienced person can help to mentor the more junior person.
11. Which of the following is among the widely accepted project team success factors?
a.
effective communication including performance feedback
b.
emphasis on the quality of project deliverables, without regard to cost
c.
extreme risk taking strategies to maximize project gains
d.
use of coercion to resolve conflicts and problems
12. All of the following are among the methods project managers can use to develop individual and team
capabilities EXCEPT:
a.
teach personal responsibility
b.
demand situational leadership
c.
utilize coercive powers
d.
demonstrate personal leadership
13. Project teams often adopt ground rules to address which of the following relationship topics?
a.
manage sponsors and senior leaders
b.
manage customers and clients
c.
protect confidentiality
d.
protect the project sponsor
14. Project teams often adopt ground rules to address which of the following process topics?
a.
manage customer’s expectations
b.
manage the firm’s project management process
c.
manage the firm’s project reporting process
d.
manage meetings
15. All of the following are among ground rules that have proven widely useful to project teams EXCEPT:
a.
avoid conflict at all costs
b.
consider at alternative by considering at least two approaches before proceeding
c.
develop trust by doing work as promised and being truthful
d.
use data when possible and gather facts rather than arguing over opinions
16. All of the following represent common methods for making decisions on contemporary project teams
EXCEPT:
a.
The project manager makes the decision.
b.
One or two team members make the decision.
c.
The project team votes to make the decision.
d.
The sponsor is asked to make all of the decisions
17. Frequently, project managers lack legitimate power based upon position and instead resort to
persuading others based upon personal relationships. This type of power is known as:
a.
coercive power
b.
referent power
c.
connection power
d.
positional power
18. Reward power relies upon persuading others based upon giving them some form of reward. It is most
appropriately used when:
a.
a team member performs well.
b.
when working with project sponsors.
c.
others respect the project manager’s opinion and expertise.
d.
a team member is not performing
19. Which of the following styles of handling conflict is most appropriate whenever there is enough time,
trust can be established, the issue is important to both sides and buy-in is needed?
a.
forcing / competing
b.
smoothing / accommodating
c.
compromising
d.
collaborating / problem solving
20. All of the following are among the common task-related sources of project conflict EXCEPT:
a.
schedule
b.
project priorities
c.
technical approach
d.
personalities
21. All of the following are among the steps of the negotiation process EXCEPT:
a.
clarify both parties interests
b.
work toward a common goal
c.
use “good cop / bad cop” technique
d.
clarify and confirm agreements
1. Describe at least three approaches that project managers can use to develop individuals and teams.
2. Identify and describe five characteristics of a high-performing project team.
3. Describe the beneficial aspects of conflict on a project and identify at least three of the six step conflict
resolution process that a project manager can use.
4. Describe at least three alternative approaches to decision making on a project team and describe when
each is most appropriate.
