TABLE OF CONTENTS Good team management is imperative for maximum success and payback. Along with project management, covered in a separate chapter, team planning and management is helpful in aligning resources properly. It is very fitting for a topic labeled enterprise resource planning.
Teams are most efficiently managed when the membership is kept to a minimum. Depending on the complexity of the project, most teams can be run effectively with less than six members, often with four being an optimum number. Teams such as a setup reduction group can be effective with even fewer team members. Roles of the team members and support personnel are important and the right starting point for this discussion.
The sponsor of a team is the top manager who wants the task completed. A new product introduction project might be sponsored by the VP of operations. A setup reduction project, however, may be sponsored by the production manager responsible for the machine shop. The sponsor's job is to keep clarity around the objective, help with initial input on the goal, and sign off on the project scope written by the team. The sponsor's job ultimately is the success of the team (Figure 11.9). This means that if there are barriers to success, the sponsor may have to "carry water" for the team. This is not to say the sponsor is going to do the team members' work. Examples of needs supplied by the sponsor might include aid such as:
Picking the...
