Novel approach to multi-functional project team formation

Abstract

A group of people from different functional departments or various areas of work responsibility, working together and exchanging information through networks, is called a "multi-functional team" in the e-world. Multi-functional teams are becoming crucial because organizations always require group cooperation across functional lines and the members may not be in the same location. The formation of multi-functional teams is becoming a key issue in project management. The literature does not provide analytical solutions for forming multi-functional teams under uncertain information environment. To deal with the underlying complexities of the multi-functional teams formation process, a methodology for the multi-functional teams formation is developed. The methodology is based on fuzzy sets theory and grey decision theory. Fuzzy sets theory is applied to deal with problems involving ambiguities, which are normally confronted in multi-functional teams formation practice and form groups, when there is no clear boundary for relationship between customers' requirements and project characteristics. Grey decision theory is also used to select desired team members through abstractural information. Specifically, the team member is required to be competent in his/her work and also able to share other's responsibility. In this paper, applying the fuzzy and grey approaches demonstrates its capability of forming a good multi-functional team and it is promising for dealing with insufficient information at the team forming stage. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.