Team performance management - Organizing around team strengths

Learning Outcomes

After studying this article, you will be able to explain the concept of organizing project teams around strengths, differentiate between skill types, and identify best practices to utilize team capabilities for project success. You will recognize how effective task allocation, awareness of individual abilities, and alignment of responsibilities to strengths relate to PMP exam scenarios.

PMP Syllabus

For PMP, you are required to understand how to assemble and manage project teams that maximize performance and value through use of individual and collective strengths. Key revision areas include:

• Appraising team members’ skills and competencies for project roles.
• Defining clear roles and responsibilities based on strengths.
• Differentiating between I-shaped (specialists) and T-shaped (generalizing specialists) team members.
• Building self-organizing, cross-functional project teams for agile and predictive environments.
• Best practices for assigning tasks and supporting team members.
• Encouraging knowledge sharing, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Recognizing implications of poorly matched roles and ineffective delegation.
• Supporting team development through well-structured team agreements and ground rules.

Test Your Knowledge

Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, remember to look more closely at that area during your revision.

1. What is the primary benefit of organizing project teams around team members' strengths?
   1. Increases project costs
   2. Maximizes individual motivation and performance
   3. Reduces quality requirements
   4. Eliminates the need for team agreements
2. Which of the following best describes a "T-shaped" team member?
   1. Someone highly specialized but unable to assist in other areas
   2. A team member with in-depth knowledge in one area and some breadth in others
   3. A newcomer who requires extensive training
   4. A team member who prefers to work alone
3. When assigning tasks in an agile team, what is the recommended approach?
   1. The sponsor allocates all work
   2. The team self-assigns tasks according to strengths and interest
   3. The project manager decides every individual task
   4. All team members are forced to rotate roles regularly

Introduction

Effective team performance management requires more than assembling skilled individuals. High-performing project teams capitalize on each member’s strengths, abilities, experience, and preferred working styles. Organizing teams to match work with those best equipped to deliver maximizes performance, supports job satisfaction, and increases the likelihood of project success. This article explains how to identify, map, and utilize team strengths in both predictive and agile environments, and why this is fundamental to PMP exam questions.

Why Organize Around Team Strengths?

When a team’s structure, roles, and assignments are defined to fit members’ genuine strengths, motivation rises and the probability of on-time, quality delivery increases. By contrast, mismatched roles or ineffective use of available skills strains morale, incurs unnecessary training costs, and risks missed deadlines or poor results.

Key Term: Team Strengths
The accumulated abilities, experience, knowledge, motivation, and preferred working styles of individual team members that can be applied to achieve superior project performance.

Skill Types: I-shaped and T-shaped

A key concept in organizing around strengths is understanding the differences among team member skill profiles:

Key Term: I-shaped
A team member who is highly specialized in a single discipline, with in-depth knowledge but limited ability to contribute outside their specialty.

Key Term: T-shaped
A team member with both in-depth knowledge in at least one domain AND the ability (or willingness) to contribute across multiple areas, supporting other roles or functions as needed.

T-shaped team members are essential in agile and adaptive projects due to their flexibility and ability to collaborate and fill skills gaps as work evolves.

Assessing and Mapping Team Strengths

To organize effectively, start with a systematic assessment:

1. Identify the project’s technical, domain-specific, and soft skill requirements for all critical activities.
2. Evaluate the actual skills, certifications, past experiences, and interests of each team member.
3. Discuss with the team members their preferred ways to contribute and their future growth goals.
4. Use a matrix or chart to visualize strengths and possible gaps.

Assigning Roles and Responsibilities Based on Strengths

Matching work responsibilities to genuine strengths is essential for both predictive and agile teams.

• In predictive projects, the project manager uses a responsibility assignment matrix (e.g., RACI) or resource breakdown structure to allocate work packages to those best able and motivated to deliver.
• In agile projects, the team self-organizes, meaning team members collectively assign tasks to themselves or each other, guided by a common understanding of skills, task requirements, and sprint/cycle goals.

Key Term: Self-organizing Team
A project team that collectively determines how work will be assigned and performed, usually maximizing strengths and interests rather than relying solely on manager direction.

Supporting Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing

Organizing around strengths does not mean team members operate in silos. Rather, teams should encourage knowledge transfer, peer coaching, and paired work (e.g., pair programming) to develop broad capacity and address urgent needs quickly. Regular team retrospectives and stand-ups offer chances to reassess roles, unblock obstacles, and refine how strengths are used.

Worked Example 1.1

A construction project includes planning, groundwork, structural, and management tasks. The team is made up of a groundwork specialist (deep experience, limited interest in overall project planning), a civil engineer (broad experience but less depth), and a project planner with architectural background.

Question: How should the project manager organize key tasks to maximize strengths?

Answer: The groundwork specialist assumes all groundwork-related tasks, the civil engineer assists in both structural and groundwork as backup, and the planner leads coordination, reporting, and design review. The manager ensures regular check-ins for collaboration and knowledge sharing, so no important element is isolated or overlooked.

Effective Task Assignment in Practice

• Enable team members to volunteer for or self-assign tasks matching their specialties and goals.
• Ensure no one is forced into a role that does not fit their strengths, unless necessary to meet project needs (and with support).
• Document responsibilities clearly in a team charter or ground rules.
• Update assignments as needs shift, team members join or leave, or as skills are developed.

Worked Example 1.2

On an agile software team, one member is a database expert but also shows interest and potential in frontend development. The team needs quick support on both data and UI work.

Question: How should the team structure its work?

Answer: The database expert initially handles core database tasks but also pairs with a frontend developer to expand skills. When time permits, she takes on small frontend assignments and receives supportive feedback. This builds overall capacity and encourages engagement beyond traditional boundaries.

Exam Warning

Failure to allocate tasks according to true strengths regularly leads to missed deadlines, rework, and demotivation. The PMP exam tests your understanding of why effective skill mapping and responsibility alignment matter for both agile and traditional teams. Watch for scenarios where poor task fit causes problems.

Encouraging Growth and Flexibility

While roles are matched to current strengths, high-performing teams regularly reassess and encourage skill expansion, coaching, and cross-training. Providing opportunities to stretch into new areas (while maintaining quality) supports career development, improves risk management, and prepares the team for attrition or unexpected needs.

Worked Example 1.3

In a marketing project, an experienced designer wants to gain skills in digital content but has little experience with analytics or reporting.

Question: How should the project lead assign her work?

Answer: The project lead matches her initially to key design outputs while encouraging her to shadow or support analytics tasks. As she becomes comfortable, she is given small analytics responsibilities with coaching, improving both her skillset and the project’s flexibility.

Summary

Organizing around team strengths ensures each member’s abilities contribute directly to project objectives. This maximizes quality, minimizes wasted effort, and drives team satisfaction and results. In agile teams, self-organization and shared accountability are key, while predictive projects benefit from clear assignment matrices. Regular skills reviews, pairing, and open communication help the team adjust as work evolves.

Key Point Checklist

This article has covered the following key knowledge points:

• Team performance is maximized by aligning roles to members’ actual strengths and skills.
• Understanding the difference between I-shaped (specialist) and T-shaped (generalizing specialist) profiles is essential for building adaptable teams.
• Self-organizing teams (especially in agile) assign tasks based on genuine abilities and collective agreement.
• Collaboration, knowledge sharing, and cross-training strengthen teams’ flexibility.
• Effective skill mapping and transparent role assignment reduce project risks and improve morale.
• Continuous growth and reassessment of strengths ensure the team remains high-performing as needs change.

Key Terms and Concepts

• Team Strengths
• I-shaped
• T-shaped
• Self-organizing Team