Effective Management of Specialists in Cross-Functional Teams

Organizations require many types of cross-functional teams that operate within project management structures. Often these teams are staffed by highly specialized and technically trained individuals who may not have been trained in managerial accountabilities or managing people. Richard B. D. Brown, an experienced human resource executive, describes the management muddle he commonly has encountered in project management and specialist team settings, and recommends application of principles as a dependable path toward appropriate managerial behaviors and increased project successes. Interestingly, he notes, the sorting out of the complex role relationships were first detailed over forty years ago by Wilfred Brown and Elliott Jaques in their development of the “co-manager” concept. Brown details how he sorted out these complex relationships in one project management situation.