Chapter 5 – Project Life Cycle, Scope, Charters, Proposals
5.7. Evaluations of Individuals and Teams
Project Team Evaluation – Individuals
Performance management is important in the Planning Phase to encourage team success and project success. Human Resources would develop the performance plans for each team member and the Project Manager. The monitoring would take place regularly to ensure all team members and the Project Manager are performing continuously to the expectations of the roles assigned.
At the end of the project, Human Resources will want to support the team’s individual career development. The HR Specialist would set up a meeting with each team member to review the performance plan. They would measure the success against the criteria that was established at the beginning of the project. Given the project’s expectations, standards, organizational support and limitations, an effective performance review can be conducted.
Following the individual team member review, the exit strategy would be discussed with the employee. Post-project the employee may return to their regular job, or if a consultant, they are released from the organization. Oftentimes, project employees seek promotions or are offered promotions within the company. Human Resources would support any of these transitions.
Project Team Evaluation – Team
Most often team evaluation is omitted at the end of project. This is unfortunate for the team members. It ought to be an important step in Closure of projects. Human Resources could work with the team on evaluating the team’s problem-solving steps and processes, the team’s decision-making steps and processes, team unity, trust between team members and between the team and the Project Manager, and communication between and among the team. Project success depends on all these factors as the quality of the product/service is dependent on the team.
This evaluation could be through a survey administered by the HR Specialist. The survey may be only offered to the team and Project Manager, or to other stakeholders who had a vested interest in the project. Following the submission and analysis of the survey, the HR Specialist would meet with the team to review the results. These results would be used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the team, lessons learned, and the development of the team overtime. This information is helpful for future teams and projects to communicate better, and, may offer better approaches to team development. The HR Specialist would prepare the report, distribute the reports to the stakeholders, and archive the documents.
Think!
Many of us have been part of a team. In College, you are part of a team/group. You work on group projects together. When all things are equal, and everyone does their “part,” the team will be successful in earning great marks. If this does not happen, sometimes, some team members take on larger portions than others in the team. However, everyone earns the same grade.
Do you prefer group work? Do you prefer individual work? Why?
How would you reward a team working on a project, if some team members told you they “did more work” than other team members?
Project Manager Evaluation
If Project Managers were hired with the competencies, skills, leadership and management skills set out by Human Resources, the performance review ought to be positive. If they did a good job of producing a quality product/service to the customer, the performance will be applauded by all concerned. Similar to the team members, if the expectations, standards, support from the organization, and limitations were reviewed, post-project reviews ought to be admirable. In many cases, the same type of performance review would be completed with the Project Manager as the team members.
However, a popular evaluation today is 360-degree review. It is a process where an employee would receive anonymous feedback from stakeholders based on performance. Trained Human Resources Specialists can conduct the 360-degree review. This method is for personal and professional growth. It is not intended to affect an employee’s position or pay. Three rules apply:
- It is completed confidentially by the identified stakeholders (could be team, customer, functional department managers, the Project Manager themselves, and others deemed and agreed upon).
- The participation is anonymous and the performance feedback will only go to the Human Resources Specialist, who in turn, will critique the Project Manager based on the results.
- The review is only based on the time the project began until it finished.
The Human Resources Specialist would ensure the three rules were followed. The HR Specialist would review the report with the Project Manager. A career plan could be created for future career development. A more in-depth review of 360-dgree Feedback Model can be reviewed in section 9.9.
Think!
As an employee, would you want to have a 360-degree evaluation? Why? Who not?
