STEP 1 - IDENTIFY THE PROJECT OWNER TEAM

General
Projects are not done in isolation. The Project Manager usually works to a business owner, sponsor or client who establishes the project goal and deliverables.

Often the project is a key component of implementing the corporate plan. In many cases, more than one person has a stake in the successful achievement of the project goal and deliverables.

Project Owner Team
It is important to identify the Business Owner of the project and the key people outside the project who can directly influence the project's success. This group plus the Project Manager form the Project Owner Team or Project Board or Steering Group that monitors progress, manages the external environment, removes obstacles and ensures the project has access to adequate resources.

The Project Owner Team members need to be kept informed of project progress and any issues that will adversely affect the project. This team needs to resolve any issues outside the Project Manager's control so the project is not delayed.

Matrix Management
Most private and public sector organisations run projects to introduce initiatives or manage changes. Generally members of project teams have to contribute to both the project and ongoing tasks. This creates a situation where line (functional) managers have an interest in the project through their staff members' involvement in the project. This requires a special type of management. The example below shows how complex relationships can be managed in Matrix Management.

In a matrix management situation the project owner team needs to include the Project Owner, the Project Manager and line managers who contribute personnel to the project.

Project Brief
The Project Brief details the business case for the project. Key elements of the brief are the project scope (defined by the task breakdown), project goal and Project Owner Team membership.

Team Structure
Project work is done by teams. In projects most personnel are members of more than one team. Teams can include one or more of the following teams: Project Owner Team, Project Management team, Task team or Action team (see Annex A). This membership of many teams creates a network of relationships throughout the project.

The graphic below shows a simple example of how teams are linked through people who are members of more than one task. Unfortunately the real world is significantly more complex than this graphic, so individuals cannot keep track of team relationships. However TASKey TEAM software keeps track of both tasks and teams.

Each task is completed by a team (or in some cases, an individual). Consequently linking teams also links tasks to create a project team's structure. If there are missing links in the teams' structure there will also be gaps in the project task structure leading to project failure.

The owner team is linked to the management team through the Project Manager, who is a member of both teams. The management team is linked to task teams that are linked to the action teams doing the work to complete tasks.

Team linkages not only show task dependencies, but also they show them in a way that relates to how work is actually being done. Where an individual is a member of two task teams, the member can easily see how a delay in one task will impact on the other task.