Developing an effective project

Two of the most challenging and significant components involved in realizing projects that succeed are planning the project and assembling the team, components which directly affect each other but which are generally perceived as contrary elements, as hard (project planning) and soft (team-building). This article examines a proposed process for integrating project planning and project team building, a process informed by the author's survey of project management practices in 137 different types of organizations. In doing so, it overviews the nature of both project management and the project manager's role as well as the significance of project planning and team-building activities; it describes the challenges involved in defining project success and in building project teams, explaining the key activities in the four-stage team-building process of forming, norming, storming, and performing, particularly as these relate to project planning and control (PP&C).