The successful team formula TM2 + 4C

Every organization is heavily dependable on its project teams. Projects and, to a greater degree, business depends upon the ability of teams to work together effectively.

Effective teams can achieve outstanding results. 

And every PM knows that team development is not an easy task, and that is so easy to fail.

Every PM and PMO especially want to have metrics in every segment, including assessment of a team’s maturity. 

Team Maturity Model ie TM2 is a tool that will help with an effective assessment of a team’s maturity. The team’s maturity is not a linear function since, during project execution, different factors can impact maturity positively or negatively (for example, change in a team membership).

There are four discrete components in this model:

• Commitment
• Cooperation
• Communication
• Consideration

And within each of those components, a team member must display responsibilities to:

• People - other team members and leadership
• Processes - project processes and methods
• Product - the end product or solution

TM2 defines four levels of teams maturity:

Level 1: the Cautious team

Characteristics:

• Uncertainty: Most members of a newly formed team anticipate that comfort will be replaced by discomfort and that the clarity of their previous experiences will be replaced by the ambiguity of this new one.
• Wide-ranging Attitudes: Some members of the team may be eager and excited about what this change will mean to them. Others will have less than positive feelings about it.
• Polite Formality: with still not established norms and not defined expectations in the group, most team members will be polite and formal
• Early Cliquing: since people find comfort with those similar to them, first cliques are formed

Hints for a PM:

• Express that you are pleased to have team’s talents
• Share that you recognize the value of their effort and that this effort will largely decide if the project will deliver success of it will fail
• Have in mind that yet the long path remains in building a successful team, the foundation laid in level one will set the pace for building the successful team

Level 2: the Challenged team

Characteristics:

• A Perceived or Realized lack of progress: there are not many tangible deliverables in levels 1 and 2; teams spend time in onboarding, initial analysis, and assessments, planning. A project must always start with discussion, decisions, and documentation.
• Frustration and Impatience: This lack of materialized progress brings frustration and impatience; frustration is loaded with the necessity of getting familiar with the personalities and work behavior of other team members.
• Individualized Focus and Positioning: most of the members push strongly and individually to perform (what’s important for the project’s success by their personal opinion)  without concern how this will impact others in the team; 
• Conflict: teams in any of the levels have conflicts. However, the team in level 2 does not see conflict as something positive. The PM's role here is to identify what’s the source of conflict and ‘assist’ in conflict resolution.

Hints for a PM:

• Have in mind that it’s possible that team members stay in level 2 during entire project execution (this will impact timelines, budget and potentially success at the end)
• Consider the fact of having a team in level 2 as an opportunity to grow team; there is no effective path to bypass level 2 and reach level 3 in the maturity of a team
• The result of inadequate PM’s support with challenges at this level will result in a team that neither respect each other, nor leadership.
• Use early opportunities to achieve and create wins together by starting with the low hanging fruit

Level 3: The Congruent team

Characteristics:

• United toward common goals: a team has a strong focus on what must be delivered at the end; however, the intermediate goals and milestones can be foggy for them
• Dependent upon procedures: a team strongly relies upon processes and procedures to keep them productive; sometimes team members may point out that procedures as the reason why something can’t be achieved.
• Accommodating others’ needs: team members are more open to cooperate with others within a team; sometimes they are not able to effectively anticipate the most efficient act of support
• Productive: with reduced hostility and opportunities for conflict, the team members are focused to productivity, and their output beats teams in level 1 and 2

Hints for a PM:

• PM role in this level needs to be shifted from more directive  (focused to build a team’s identity and the ability for effective work in levels 1 and 2) to more supportive (establish interim goals, regular method assessments, team recognition, etc)
• For short term projects, it’s possible never to reach level 4 of the maturity.
• Reaching level 4 usually requires strong personal and professional maturity of its members i.e. 'people with interpersonal maturity’, and sometimes project teams are assembled of members who are still growing as individuals. 
• Level 3 is an accomplishment 

Level 4: The Constructive Team

Characteristics:

• Efficient: a team does not allow processes to slow down their ability to produce; they are focused on deliverables
• Trusting: team members trust others in the team as well as their leadership
• Intuitive: team members have an ability to understand what is needed for success, both micro view and macro view of the solution; they demonstrate proactive responsibility 
• Dynamic and Flexible Working Methods: PM should be aware that initially defined roles and responsibilities become more fluid and slightly changed

Hints for a PM:

• A team in level 4 does not require much operational support from their PM
• PM will spend the majority of his time to assist the team in building their own solutions and overcoming challenges during this journey
• Major characteristics of the PMs activities are: supportive, high coaching/low direction management, flexible leadership
• The biggest challenge for a PM is not to stifle the team’s ability to manage itself

There are 16 elements:

• C1: Commitment to the team
• C2: Commitment to Leadership
• C3: Commitment to Process
• C4: Commitment to Product
• C5: Cooperation with Team
• C6: Cooperation with Leadership
• C7: Cooperation with Process
• C8: Cooperation with Product
• C9: Communication to the Team
• C10: Communication  to the Leadership
• C11: Communication and Process
• C12: Communication about Product
• C13: Consideration of Team
• C14: Consideration of Leadership
• C15: Consideration of Process
• C16: Consideration of Product

The assessment process:

1. Complete questionnaire

2. Transfer scores from the questionnaire to the scoring grid

3. Create an Action Plan

• 12 of 16 plot points are on the same level? 

If so, this is the current overall level of your team’s maturity

• All 16 plots are evenly dispersed between 2 levels? 

Seems your team is evolving to a higher level of maturity. Support it

• There are few points at lower levels than the operating maturity?

Find those points and support the team to overcome challenges related to those C-points.

In the end, a result of the TM2 analysis should be something like this

In this example, it’s clear that the team stands strongly on level 2, showing some signs of moving to level 3. It’s important to act immediately upon challenges (C14 - Consideration and Leadership). This challenge needs to be addressed by the PM.

Sounds interesting? 

Do your math!