Assembling Project Teams: What to Do and What to Avoid

February 27, 2025

A successful project requires a team of members with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Need help getting started? In this article, we’ll go over the roles that need to be covered in a team and offer advice on how to assign them.

Let’s go over the purpose of a project team.

1-1. A Temporary Group for Project Execution

A project team is a temporary group of members who are formed specifically to solve a problem or achieve a goal within a set timeframe.

Members of a project team can be from various departments. Once the object is achieved, the team disbands. Because the team is composed of specialists, it is designed to excel at problem-solving.

1-2. Why Assemble a Project Team?

A project team allows a company to tackle problems and adapt to changing circumstances in a way that wouldn’t be possible with a completely fixed organizational structure.

In addition to their regular duties, members on a project team work to promote business development and transformation. Keep in mind that the purpose of the project team is to handle situations that demand greater flexibility and adaptability.

Now we will go over the basic roles on a project team.

2-1. Project Owner

The project owner views the project from a management perspective and makes decisions accordingly. As the initiator of the project, they set a clear vision, develop plans, and oversee the project in alignment with organizational strategy.

If the project is initiated by an external company, the project owner will be someone from the external company.

2-2. Project Manager (PM)

The project manager oversees the entire project. The PM is at the center of the project: managing progress, cost, scheduling, quality, staffing, and risk.

The project manager is also responsible for reporting to the project owner and the management. This requires a strong understanding of how the project is progressing, which demands a high level of knowledge and skill.

2-3. Project Leader (PL)

The project leader is the person in charge on the ground. The PL’s main tasks are to delegate work and offer support. The project leader needs to be able to quickly identify small changes and problems and make sure team members are moving in the right direction.

2-4. Project Team Members

Of course, it’s essential to have team members who carry out the tasks required to complete the project.

These members are selected based on their skills, expertise, and ability to complete assigned tasks. Members must understand the overall project while collaborating effectively to ensure their individual contributions align with broader objectives.

Next, we will explain how to put together a project team.

3-1. Setting Goals and Creating a Plan

At the beginning, the project manager sets the goal or purpose of the project and creates a work plan. The following are some of the things which should be clearly defined at this stage:

• What are the successful outcomes?
• What is the duration and budget?
• What is the capital and supply of materials?
• What are the risks?

3-2. Project Team Organization Chart

Next, an organization chart needs to be drawn up. The project manager determines the number of required personnel, the reporting structure, and an outline of each role.

An organization chart helps get all the members of the team on the same page about who should be doing what. It’s an essential part of making sure the project gets off to a smooth start.

3-3. Setting Roles and Responsibilities

Once the project team is ready to start working, it’s time to divide up the tasks and assign roles for members to carry out.

Because each member on the team is following the same overall project schedule, the content of all tasks should be able to be seen by everyone. It is important to establish cooperative relationships to ensure efficient problem-solving in case of issues.

Now, we’ll introduce some of the common pitfalls on a project.

4-1. Vague Goals or Objectives

Whether a project has just started or is already underway, it’s fairly common for its goals or objectives to be unclear.

However, having a vague goal or objective leads to decreased motivation for the team. It also becomes hard to judge which tasks should take priority. In order to prevent this, the goals and objectives of a project should be clearly set in place and shared with members before it starts.

4-2. Unclear Roles

There are also cases of projects where members have unclear roles.

When that happens, it becomes hard to tell what team members are doing and issues can’t be properly addressed when they come up. This can have a major impact on project management. It will be unclear who is responsible for what, and there will be delays with reporting and communication.

When members understand their roles, they can focus on their own tasks. This helps avoid duplicated work and allows for various tasks to occur in parallel. Productivity is increased on the project as a whole.

Also, by clearly defining roles, members can do their work with an understanding of their responsibilities. Because of this, they can feel a sense of achievement when completing tasks, which helps increase motivation.

Next, we will go over some tips for assigning roles.

5-1. Ensure Members Understand Their Roles

When assigning roles to team members, make sure that each person is fully aware of what their role is.

By explaining how each role contributes to the project, members will be more likely to take ownership of their tasks and feel a responsibility for achieving project outcomes. Failure to understand the importance of their role can lead to poor job performance.

A good way to improve understanding of roles is to request progress reports at a regularly scheduled meeting. This helps members to better understand how their work contributes to the project.

5-2. Project Manager vs Project Leader

The distinction between a project manager and a project leader is also important.

It’s common for these two roles to get mixed up. This can throw a project into confusion with duplicated work, miscommunication, and incorrectly conveyed directions.

Here is the key difference between the two roles:

• Project Manager: Manages the project as a whole.
• Project Leader: Leads the team working within the project.

5-3. Address Talent Gaps Through Outsourcing

If the team lacks necessary personnel, consider outsourcing to fill the gap. Outsourcing can reduce recruitment and training costs while providing access to experienced professionals who can contribute valuable expertise.

When starting a project, ensure that every member has a clear role. The success of a project depends greatly on members having defined tasks and responsibilities.

If you are currently involved in a project which needs additional IT engineers, ISF NET can help with our IT engineer staffing services.

ISF NET is one of the largest IT infrastructure specialists in Japan. A key point of distinction is that the engineers we provide are full-time employees of ISF NET. We have strong training systems and programs in place to support our staff. Contact us and we can provide the perfect engineer for your project needs.

Return to the page of Managed Service of the bilingual help desk and onsite | ISF NET, INC.