Establish Integrated Teams

The teams within the selected and satisfactory integrated team structure are established. This process encompasses the choosing of team leaders and the assignment of planned responsibilities and requirements for each team. It also involves providing the resources required to accomplish the tasks assigned to the team.

The integrated team structure is a dynamic entity that must be able to adjust to changes in people, requirements, and the nature of tasks, and to tackle many difficulties. The integrated team structure should be continuously monitored to detect malfunctions, mismanaged interfaces, and mismatches of the work to the staff. Corrective action should be taken when performance does not meet expectations.

• Choose integrated team leaders. Integrated team leaders are selected who can achieve the expectations of the product in the context of organizational limitations (project priority and the needs of other projects). Integrated teams need a great deal of autonomy to faithfully implement IPPD. That autonomy is at risk if project or organizational leadership does not have confidence in the leader. The extent of organizational and project direction in selecting the leader is often a function of product risk and complexity. It can also be related to an organization’s need to “grow” new leaders.
• Allocate responsibilities and requirements to each integrated team. The planned responsibilities and requirements are issued to the integrated team. These items are discussed with the team to encourage collaborative buy-in. Some adjustments may be made at this time.
• Allocate resources to each integrated team. The people and other resources are allocated to each integrated team. These items are discussed with the team to ensure that the resources are adequate and that the people are adequate to carry out the tasks and are compatible with other members of the team.
• Create each integrated team. For each integrated team in the selected structure, create a team that has a shared vision, charter, and operating principles as described in the Integrated Teaming process area. Creating the integrated team is a collaborative effort of the team sponsor and the members of the team. Other relevant stakeholders may be involved in accordance with the plan for stakeholder involvement. The teams that interface with the target team should be involved to ensure that the specified interfaces are honored.
• Integrated team composition and structures are periodically evaluated and modified to best reflect project needs. Changes in team structure could include:
  • Retiring a team for a period of time (e.g., while long duration manufacturing or verifications are done)
  • Disbanding a team when it is no longer cost effective in serving the project
  • Combining teams to achieve operating efficiencies
  • Adding teams as new product components are identified for development
• When a change of team leader or a significant change of membership of the team occurs, review the integrated team composition and its place in the integrated team structure. A change of this kind may significantly affect the ability of the team to accomplish its objectives. A review of the match between the new composition and the current responsibilities should be made. If the match is not satisfactory, the team composition should be changed or the team’s responsibility should be modified. One complication of changed responsibility is that other teams may have to adjust and add tasks to cover the change. This fact may cause a domino effect in the team structure. Such a change should be undertaken carefully.
• When a change in team responsibility occurs, review the team composition and its tasking. These changes often occur as the project moves from one phase to the next. For example, less design expertise on teams may be needed when detailed design is completed and fabrication and integration of product components begins.
• Manage the overall performance of the teams.