Project group

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Project meeting of a group

Under a project group is a working group to understand that the processing of a new, complex, time-limited project ( project is dedicated), which requires an interdisciplinary collaboration between several disciplines and professionals due to the complexity of the task. In terms of structure and tasks, a distinction must be made between a project group in the economic sector and one in the educational sector.

history

At the educational level , project groups can already be identified for Italy in the 16th century and France in the 18th century. It is about the constitution of project groups that architecture students invented in the context of so-called progetti or 'projets' for planning building projects. With John Dewey and his student William Heard Kilpatrick , the way of working was increasingly established under the name project method since 1915 as part of a socio-politically motivated educational renewal of the school system. It has been rediscovered since the 1970s and brought up to date with scientific knowledge in "de-ideologized" forms. Since then, project groups have been working on all levels of education, from elementary school to university teaching, at different levels of aspiration.

In the economic sector , the first project groups in the form of teams were set up in the 1950s to solve specific problems or tasks. During this time, however, the formation of such small groups did not include the production level, but only management and white-collar areas. Gradually groups emerged whose members also or exclusively came from the lower operational level. The reason for this development lies in the objectives of the project groups. After initially solving problems was the primary task of the group, the goals are now increasingly geared towards promoting acceptance and participation. This results in the two variants of the project groups, which are characterized by their objectives: On the one hand, the project group, which is mainly formed to develop objective, functional problem solutions and, on the other hand, the project group, which is created through the participation of users and those affected Improve solutions and create acceptance for restructuring or new technical concepts.

features

According to Heinz-Kurt E. Wahren, project groups in the economic sector are characterized by the following features:

  • You have the task of working on predefined, novel (non-routine), complex tasks.
  • They have a clear target set by management and are limited in time by a usually fixed deadline.
  • You only have limited time, financial and human resources .
  • On the one hand you have a high degree of autonomy with regard to the design of the work processes and on the other hand you are dependent on the preferences of the client.
  • They are made up of heterogeneous experts from different areas of work, who usually do not work together and who come together exclusively to carry out team tasks. The project staff are either partially or fully released from their regular work. The selection of the individual members takes place on the basis of their skills (technical and social skills) by a person who is higher in the hierarchy and who is not a member of the project group. Participation in the project group results from a work assignment and is therefore not or only partially voluntary for the selected members. After completing the work, the group dissolves again.

According to Warwitz / Rudolf, project groups in the education sector are characterized by the following features:

  • They come together on a voluntary basis as part of a training program.
  • You work on a complex, demanding problem area that cannot be solved within a single subject area in interdisciplinary cooperation between several subjects and subject matter experts.
  • You make all important decisions on a democratic basis.
  • They work as inquiring and discovering learners who are breaking new ground and want to find solutions there.
  • You practice multidimensional learning , i. that is, they are holistic in their intellectual, emotional, physical, volitive, technical, social u. a. specific performance potential required by the respective project task.
  • They share responsibility for the success of the project.
  • You work product- and process-oriented, i. In other words, the intention of the project work is equally geared towards achieving the set project goal as it is towards reflecting on and coping with the group dynamic events that arise .
  • They only meet for a limited period of time (until the end of the project).

structure

The project group formed in the interests of business is usually created by assigning a task specified by the management , which is assigned to a number of employees from different company departments and hierarchical levels. The project group is introduced as a supplement to the company's regular work organization . Individual company areas are only affected by the introduction of the project group when the project group members come from these areas. The project group members may not be available to their regular departments for the duration of the project, which can mean additional work for the other employees . The composition of a project group is usually dependent on the nature of the project task. The project group members, selected according to their specialist skills , usually work full-time on the tasks assigned to them in extensive project tasks and are only reassigned to their regular departments or take a new position in the primary organization after the project has ended . In the case of less complex projects, the group members are only assigned part-time to the project by their regular departments (matrix project organization). Depending on the project task, additional experts can be temporarily added to the project group or sub-groups can be formed during the project execution . The experts usually only work partially in the project group. Since the group members represent different departments, different hierarchical levels and different levels of knowledge, project groups are subject to an internal structure. This structure is reflected in the clear distribution of roles and tasks. As a rule, each project group has a project manager to whom the members report. This person has the authority to manage the project and is responsible for fulfilling the project task as well as for compliance with the financial, time and human resources .

The project group , formed from a didactic point of view, is usually made up of voluntary lecturers, students, teachers and pupils interested in the specific topic within the framework of the curriculum of the respective training direction. It is about teaching and learning processes in the form of project teaching , in which several sub-groups work on an overall task. The preparation of the project and the tender, and thus the lead management, is usually carried out by a project-experienced university professor or teacher , who does not see himself as a " project manager " with authority, but as a " moderator " of the learning processes. This task can also be taken over by a committee . The participants come from different subjects and bring with them the necessary skills for the task or should acquire these in the course of the project. The project takes the form of a socially integrative lesson in which not hierarchical, but democratic decision-making processes determine the processes. The didactic project is a demanding form of teaching and learning, which in turn must be learned methodically and organizationally by all participants, including the teachers, in small steps through simple projects.

The cooperation of each project group ends with the solution of the task, the product presentation and the retrospective reflection of the jointly designed project.

Advantages and disadvantages

Economic sector :

The introduction of a project group has advantages and disadvantages both for the people involved and for the organization or company as a whole. Ford and Randolph (1992, pp. 275-278) describe the most important for the group process in a literature analysis.

A project group improves the communication within an organization and also increases the frequency of communication, since the creation of lateral communication channels leads to leadership without authority. As a result, information can be better managed in an organization. In addition, employees are generally more motivated and satisfied with their work by being involved in operational problems. In addition, the employees feel an obligation to the company, which makes them more willing to develop personally. Due to the greater problem-solving efficiency due to the concentration of the diverse specialist knowledge of the project group members, excellent services can also be achieved more easily. In principle, operational resources such as personnel or capital can be allocated flexibly, since the organizational structure of a company does not have to be changed by a project group.

The introduction of a project group can, however, also lead to conflicts within the organization: If employees become part of a project group within the framework of a matrix project organization, they are bound to their project manager in addition to their actual department head . As a result, organizational conflicts can arise because department heads in particular have to accept reduced autonomy . Since a project group is made up of experts from different work areas, conflicts can arise between employees who have different backgrounds, work perspectives, time horizons and goals. In addition, uncertainties about resources, technical problems, payment and personal assignments can arise. In some cases, the project groups also have insufficient decision-making powers, because ultimately the final project decisions are made by management . Overall, a project group entails additional costs for an organization: more meetings, delayed decision-making processes and more complex information processing are usually the cause. If necessary, personal costs can arise for those involved in the project due to role ambiguity as well as additional stress and conflicts.

advantages disadvantage
Improved communication Organizational conflicts between department head - project manager
Leadership without authority Group heterogeneity
Increased employee motivation and job satisfaction
through involvement in operational problems		 Inadequate decision-making skills
Concentration of expertise Additional costs
Flexible use of operational resources

Education area :

Project teaching is a demanding didactic form of communication and work, the theory and practice of which must be learned by both the teacher and the student.

The teachers have to learn to hand over competences, to delegate tasks, to regulate group dynamic processes, sometimes to allow themselves to be overruled by the group will if their arguments have not led to an objective conviction of the group. You do not have to experience yourself as a member of a higher ranking, but only an equal member of a democratically structured group, who cannot influence the learning process and decisions by virtue of an office, an authority or an older age, but only through accepted arguments. The opportunity is to be involved in the group not only as a teacher, but also as a learner at the same time, which is usually not the case in the usual forms of communication such as lectures , seminars or teacher-centered school lessons due to the considerable difference in knowledge and experience.

The learners have to accept that knowledge, skills and problem solutions do not simply and quickly need to be presented to them in bite-size form and only need to be taken over, but that they themselves have to laboriously work through lengthy detours and wrong turns. For the group, project work is exhausting, time-consuming, conflict-laden, but also activating and socially rewarding. This is part of the essence of project work. Problems should not be excluded, rationalized away, solved by the teacher, but rather negotiated with one another in realistic discussions. This requires the realization that not only the desired product result, but also the social processes leading to it or preventing it are decisive and must be managed by consensus.

Since project teaching is considerably more time-consuming, more difficult and accordingly more conflict-prone than the routine forms of teaching with hierarchical structures, a longer learning process is required for all those involved, which is about small projects with cooperation of only two or three subjects or about project-oriented teaching that combines one subject with a neighboring subject opens, can lead. Group competence with communication and cooperation skills should be carefully developed through successful partner work, groups of three and age-appropriate small groups.

See also

literature

  • Antoni, Conny H. / Schmitt, Vivien (2001): Project groups as a management tool: possibilities and limits using the example of a restructuring project , pp. 45–48. In: Fisch, Rudolf / Beck, Dieter / Englich, Birte (Hrsg.): Project groups in organizations. Practical experience and results of research , Göttingen: Hogrefe 2001, pp. 45–60. ISBN 978-3801713119
  • Becker-Beck, Ulrike / Fisch, Rudolf (2001): Success of project groups in organizations: Income from social science research . Pp. 24-25. In: Fisch, Rudolf / Beck, Dieter / Englich, Birte (Hrsg.): Project groups in organizations. Practical experience and results of research , Göttingen: Hogrefe, pp. 19–42. ISBN 978-3801713119
  • Bühner, Rolf: Business Organization , 10th edition, Oldenbourg, Munich 2004, ISBN 978-3486275001 , p. 215.
  • Ford, Robert C. / Randolph, W. Alan: Cross-functional structures: A review and integration of matrix organization and project management . In: "Journal of Management.", 18, 1992, pp. 267-294.
  • Grap, Rolf: Business Management for Engineers: Assess - Decide - Design , Hanser, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3446412569 , p. 197 f.
  • Herbert Gudjons: Action-oriented teaching and learning, project teaching and student activity. 6th edition. Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn 2001, ISBN 3-7815-0441-7 .
  • Jüngling, Christiane: Politics, power and decisions in project groups: decision-making processes on the advancement of women and staff appraisal , Waxmann, Münster a. a. 1995, ISBN 978-3830953234 , pp. 75, 81.
  • Erich Lipp et al: Accompanying projects (group projects and individual work). Handbook for teachers, practical help (folder) and guidelines for pupils . Schulverlag plus, Bern 2011, DNB 1018775250
  • Schulte-Zurhausen, Manfred: Organization , 4th edition, Vahlen, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3800632053 , pp. 198-200.
  • Silke Traub: Design project work successfully. Via individualized, cooperative learning to self-directed small group projects . UTB. Bad Heilbrunn 2012, ISBN 978-3-8252-3657-1
  • Wahren, Heinz-Kurt E .: Group and team work in companies , Bee Gruyter, Berlin 1994, ISBN 9783110142730 , p. 56.
  • HJ Apel, Michael Knoll: Learning from projects. Foundation and suggestions. Oldenbourg, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-486-03505-3 .
  • Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: Project teaching. Didactic principles and models . Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1977, ISBN 3-7780-9161-1 .
  • Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: Projects . Basic item. In: Sports Education. 6, pp. 16-23 (1982)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: Characteristics of a project , In: Dies .: Projektunterricht. Didactic principles and models . Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1977, p. 18
  2. ↑ Michael Knoll: Dewey, Kilpatrick and "progressive" education. Critical studies on project pedagogy . Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn 2011, pp. 21–82.
  3. ↑ Peter Petersen (ed.): John Dewey / William Heard Kilpatrick - The project plan. Foundation and practice . Weimar 1935
  4. ^ Rudolf Tippelt: Project study . Munich 1979
  5. ^ Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf (ed.): Project teaching in schools and universities. Media series for interdisciplinary teaching. Karlsruhe 1980 ff
  6. ^ Astrid Kaiser: Project book primary school projects . Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2011
  7. ^ Wahren, Heinz-Kurt E .: Group and team work in companies , Bee Gruyter, Berlin 1994
  8. ^ Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: Characteristics of a project , In: Dies .: Projektunterricht. Didactic principles and models . Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1977, pp. 18-20
  9. ↑ Antoni, Conny H. / Schmitt, Vivien (2001): Project groups as a management tool: Possibilities and limits using the example of a restructuring project , pp. 45–48. In: Fisch, Rudolf / Beck, Dieter / Englich, Birte (Hrsg.): Project groups in organizations. Practical experience and results of research , Göttingen: Hogrefe 2001, pp. 45–60
  10. ^ Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: Das didaktische Denkbild , In: Dies .: Projektunterricht. Didactic principles and models . Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1977, pages 20-27
  11. ↑ Herbert Gudjons: What is project teaching? In: J. Bastian (Ed.): The project book. Bergmann + Helbig, Hamburg 1994
  12. ^ Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: Projects . Basic item. In: Sports Education. 6, pp. 16-23 (1982)
  13. ^ Siegbert Warwitz, Anita Rudolf: Projects . Basic item. In: Sports Education. 6, pp. 16-23 (1982)
  14. ^ W. Emer, F. Rengstorf: Project work - an introduction for schoolchildren . In: U. Horst u. a. (Ed.): Learning box. Seelze 2008
  15. ↑ Erich Lipp et al .: Accompanying projects (group projects and individual work). Handbook for teachers, practical help (folder) and guidelines for pupils . Schulverlag plus, Bern 2011
  16. ↑ Susanna Endler, Peter Kühren, Bernd Wittmann: Project work. Learn project skills in an action-oriented way. A handbook for students. Verlag Europa-Lehrmittel, Haan 2010