Project Team: Develop vs Manage for PMP Exam

In Project Resource Management, there are two processes related to Human Resources, namely, Develop Team and Manage Team. These two are somewhat confusing as they both are related to the management of the project team in our everyday language.

Develop Team vs Manage Team

• Develop Team: Develop Team is a process under Project Resource Management in which the project manager tries to improve the competencies, environment and interaction of team member interaction with a view to enhance project performance.
  • The core aim of this process is to provide the suitable training and environment for the team member to flourish.
  • Major tools and techniques to be employed include:
    • training
    • colocation
    • reward scheme
    • team building (note: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning)
    • ground rules
  • A performing team can be expected when the project manager is doing a good job in Develop Project Team.
• Manage Team: Manage Team is a process under Project Resource Management in which the project manager tries to track the team member performance, provide feedback and resolve issues with a view to to optimize project performance.
  • The core aim of manage project team is to track performance, resolve issues and conflicts (e.g. performance issues and interpersonal conflicts).
  • Major tools and techniques to be employed include:
    • performance tracking
    • appraisals
    • conflict management
    • conversation and dialogue
  • If soft skills are not useful, disciplinary actions (including termination of employment) may need to be taken to control the damage to the overall performance of the team.
  • Manage Team is more difficult than Develop Team as the project manager is required to deal with the most difficult factor of project success — i.e. human. The interpersonal soft skill of the project manager is put to test when dealing with conflicts and issues.

Mock Exam Question

1. You are now working on a project to create a new software as a service (SaaS) platform as the project manager. There are 10 analyst programmers working in the project team. However, one programmer is always late for work and taking sick leaves often. His behaviour affects the morale of other team members and the performance of the whole project team suffers. You need to talk with him in the hope of resolving the issue. You are working in the process of:
   1. Acquire Resources
   2. Manage Team
   3. Develop Team
   4. Control Resources
   Solution: B
   Through the meeting with the programmer, you aim to resolve the issue of underperforming (owing to not being punctual to work/often taking sick leaves) with him. This is considered “Manage Team”.

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Summary

After acquiring the project team, the project manager is responsible for both develop and manage the project team:

• Develop is to bring out the best of the team (as a team and individually) through training and better environment;
• Manage is to resolve issues and conflicts that impede the performance of the team through interpersonal skills and appraisals.

Additional FREE PMP resources: 47+ Commonly Confused Term Pairs with detailed explanations. If you found this article useful, you may wish to reference other Commonly Confused Term articles.