This paper presents a three-phase team management plan for developing a Microsoft Windows-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application. Drawing on research in project team performance, the plan addresses motivational foundations, team cohesion, and interpersonal trust. Phase one establishes autonomy, mastery, and purpose as motivational cornerstones. Phase two focuses on inclusion, belonging, shared accountability, and communication. Phase three cultivates a team culture of mutual respect and latitude, moving away from forced conformity toward shared accomplishment. Together, the three phases provide a progressive framework for aligning a cross-functional engineering team around challenging software development goals.
Developing new enterprise software applications built on the Microsoft Windows operating system requires an intensive level of commitment, communication, collaboration, and shared task ownership across all team members. Every member of the group has a unique role to play in creating the best possible enterprise software application on the Windows platform. In order for this ambitious project to succeed, however, the team needs to concentrate on making each of their unique strengths deliver daily value toward the fulfillment of this objective. This plan defines how to create greater levels of team motivation, satisfaction, and performance, while also addressing the differences in attitudes, emotions, personalities, and values. All of these factors together serve as a strong catalyst for the accomplishment of challenging, complex goals — ultimately leading to the Windows-based enterprise software application being completed and launched on schedule.
The team of developers working on the initial phases of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) project on the Microsoft platform are currently collaborating on defining the initial sets of features and functional requirements. In reviewing their work and meetings, it is apparent that they need greater inclusiveness and ownership over their overall project. Several key developers are willing to contribute more than the current direction of meetings allows.
It is critically important for every member of a team to have a strong foundation of autonomy, mastery, and purpose in their roles within an organization, as these are the catalysts of long-term learning and motivation (Ramsey, 2010). The project teams demonstrate this attribute across different program and project leads to varying degrees. What is needed is a more equal distribution of autonomy, mastery, and purpose throughout the work teams to further ensure that the challenging goals ahead can be met. Bringing greater levels of these qualities into each team will also set the foundation for greater motivation, satisfaction, and high performance going forward. The first phase of the plan must therefore solidify the development teams around the core concepts of autonomy, mastery, and purpose as the basis for future growth.
The engineering teams currently show varying levels of cross-functional task ownership, with just ten engineers committed full time to this development effort. These engineers must simultaneously attain certifications in Microsoft software development tools while also completing the initial coding of the new application. These overlapping demands are at times causing the cohesiveness and performance of the team to suffer. What is needed is a greater focus on how to unify the team and keep the entire group moving in the same direction, continually contributing new programming ideas.
It is apparent that key members of the team are struggling to stay aligned with the overall direction of the project. This can be attributed to how they are pulled from one project to another based on the matrixed organizational reporting lines currently in place. This is a common problem on large-scale engineering projects, as documented in Leadership, Team Building, and Team Member Characteristics in High Performance Project Teams (Ammeter & Dukerich, 2002). In that study, the researchers found that 71% of respondents placed the highest value on team orientation and the sense of belonging to a team, in addition to frequent team meetings and open communication (61%) (Ammeter & Dukerich, 2002).
Employees frequently seek the opportunity to find meaning in their work, and the foundation of that meaning lies in the ability to make a difference on projects. The greatest challenge in building a new CRM application on Microsoft Windows is the need to create and sustain a strong team mindset — one in which every person feels critical to the accomplishment of challenging goals and objectives. Achieving this level of team identification is essential for the long-term growth of the team and will help overcome collective challenges related to data integration and customer record management. The second phase of the project plan must therefore concentrate on inclusion and delivering a strong sense of belonging, team communication, task ownership, and shared accountability so that the team becomes and remains cohesive (Ammeter & Dukerich, 2002).
"Phase three: building trust and reducing interpersonal friction"
The most effective organizational changes are processive in nature, as they become engrained into the fabric of an organization over time (De Meuse & Liebowitz, 1981). This is exactly what the team today needs to concentrate on, anchored by the three phases defined in this recommendation. Phase one focuses on solidifying the development teams around the core concepts of autonomy, mastery, and purpose to ensure future growth. The second phase concentrates on creating a project environment that ensures inclusion and delivers a strong sense of belonging to existing and future team members, grounded in team communication, task ownership, and shared accountability. The third phase focuses on cultivating a team culture in which each member is willing to listen to and respect others' positions on both simple and complex areas of the CRM development project.
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