Creating Effective Project Teams Using Personality Models
creating effective project teams using personality models
Ki Young Jeong, Ph.D., MBA., University of Houston-Clear Lake
Ipek Bozkurt, Ph.D. P.E., University of Houston-Clear Lake
Surya T. Sunkara, University of Houston-Clear Lake
Hassan, Haider A., Fairway Medical Technologies
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Abstract
Human resources and team formation are important issues in any project success. However, very little research was conducted in project team formation with consideration of diverse characteristics of human resources. Generally, human resources were assigned to project teams based on their availability and technical skills by a project leader. In this research, we considered personalities of human resources as an important factor in creating teams to maximize the team performance and/or to minimize the conflict within teams. For this, three personality models – Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) and Kolbe Conative Index (KCI) – were discussed in the context of project team formation, and we concluded that both FIRO-B and KCI have advantages over MBTI in terms of project team formation since both models provide quantitative performance metrics while the MBTI just indicates types of personality. Finally, we presented a mathematical model to form effective teams using the results from the FIRO-B with a numerical example.
Introduction
Forming effective project teams has been an interesting topic for many researchers and practitioners since human resources were considered one of the most important factors in affecting the performance of project teams. Traditionally, human resources have been assigned to project teams based on their availability and technical skills, and the interaction and personality aspects of team members have been often ignored or managed by project manager’s experience during
Ki Young Jeong, Ph.D., MBA., University of Houston-Clear Lake
Ipek Bozkurt, Ph.D. P.E., University of Houston-Clear Lake
Surya T. Sunkara, University of Houston-Clear Lake
Hassan, Haider A., Fairway Medical Technologies
____________________________________________________________
________________________________
Abstract
Human resources and team formation are important issues in any project success. However, very little research was conducted in project team formation with consideration of diverse characteristics of human resources. Generally, human resources were assigned to project teams based on their availability and technical skills by a project leader. In this research, we considered personalities of human resources as an important factor in creating teams to maximize the team performance and/or to minimize the conflict within teams. For this, three personality models – Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) and Kolbe Conative Index (KCI) – were discussed in the context of project team formation, and we concluded that both FIRO-B and KCI have advantages over MBTI in terms of project team formation since both models provide quantitative performance metrics while the MBTI just indicates types of personality. Finally, we presented a mathematical model to form effective teams using the results from the FIRO-B with a numerical example.
Introduction
Forming effective project teams has been an interesting topic for many researchers and practitioners since human resources were considered one of the most important factors in affecting the performance of project teams. Traditionally, human resources have been assigned to project teams based on their availability and technical skills, and the interaction and personality aspects of team members have been often ignored or managed by project manager’s experience during