Members Work Teams: Composition, Challenges, and High-Performance Enablers

PMBOK v8 Definition

The project team is a set of individuals who are performing the project’s work and are directly responsible for achieving project objectives. In a global economy, the project team may comprise internal organizational staff, contracted contributors, volunteers, or external third parties. Some project team members may also be brought in for a short term to work on a specific deliverable.

Why It Matters for the Exam

This concept appears frequently in situational questions about team formation, stakeholder engagement, and conflict management. The PMI exam tests your understanding of how diverse team compositions (internal staff, contractors, volunteers, external parties) create unique challenges that require specific leadership approaches, particularly regarding trust building, collaboration, and process definition.

Key Points to Remember (for the exam)

• Team Composition: Project teams can include internal organizational staff, contracted contributors, volunteers, or external third parties – all are legitimate project team members
• Short-term Members: Team members may be brought in temporarily for a specific deliverable, creating integration challenges
• Core Challenge: Incorporating diverse members into a project team presents challenges that must be proactively managed
• Solution Approach: Cultivate a team environment that honors diversity and seeks to harness it constructively – this fosters efficient conflict management
• Process Definition: Project teams should define processes that enable completion of tasks and work assignments
• Stakeholder Engagement: Teams must engage other stakeholders to understand, consider, communicate, and respond to their interests, needs, and opinions
• High-Performance Enablers: Trust, collaboration, adaptability, resilience, empowerment, delegation, and autonomy are key characteristics of effective teams

Typical PMI Exam Example

A project manager is assigned to a global software development project. The team consists of five internal employees, three contractors from a vendor organization, and two volunteers from a partner company. Two contractors will leave after completing a specific module in three months. What should the project manager do FIRST to ensure team effectiveness?

Correct approach: Define processes for task completion and cultivate a team environment that honors diversity to manage conflicts efficiently.

PMI Exam Traps

• Trap: Assuming all team members must be full-time employees of the same organization

  • Reality: PMBOK v8 explicitly includes contracted contributors, volunteers, and external third parties as valid team members

• Trap: Treating short-term members as less important or separate from the core team

  • Reality: Short-term members are still part of the project team; their integration requires deliberate effort

• Trap: Focusing only on technical skills when forming the project team

  • Reality: Team culture maturity, trust, collaboration, and adaptability are equally critical for success

• Trap: Believing conflict is always negative and should be eliminated

  • Reality: A team environment that harnesses diversity constructively can manage conflicts efficiently – conflict can be productive

Important PMI Connections

Quick Review Questions

1. A project team includes internal staff, external contractors, and volunteers. What is the FIRST action the project manager should take to address the challenges of this diverse composition?

2. Two team members from different organizations disagree on the approach for a deliverable. According to PMBOK v8, what should the project manager have established to manage this situation efficiently?

3. A contractor is brought in for three months to complete a specific module. How should the project manager treat this individual in terms of team integration?

4. What are five characteristics of high-performing project teams according to PMBOK v8?

5. When project teams form across different organizations based on a contract, what additional up-front work is typically required?

PMBOK v8 Reference

Section 2.3.7 – Members Work Teams (Project Team definition, composition, and characteristics)