A team implies a number of people working together to achieve results, while a group of people does not. A group implies a collection of individuals who, although they may be working on the same project, do not necessarily interact with one another. This is the key point. It is part of the project manager's job to pull together a team to ensure that the team works with a unity of purpose.

Project managers need the skills of planning, scheduling and controlling to run a project successfully. But, more than this, they need skills of team management. This skill is decisive, research has shown that projects fail when the project manager does not build a strong team. Before we look at more issues surrounding project teams let us look at how project management differs from normal functional work.

Difference between project and functional leadership
In a project or leadership environment the project management becomes a partner or facilitator with the project team to accomplish the work in hand. The project manager motivates the team, with hopefully vision and positive team working, to ensure the team accomplishes the work successfully.

Excerpts from The University of Sunderland BA (Honours) Business Management, courtesy Resource Development International (RDI) Jamaica. www.rdijamaica.com