Team Planning for Project Managers and Business Analysts

Supplying busy project professionals with time-tested tips and templates for developing teams efficiently and effectively, Team Planning for Project Managers and Business Analysts provides the planning materials required to increase team collaboration and productivity in a global workplace.

This comprehensive resource offers insights and access to critical resources and tools to create, propose, execute, and evaluate team development plans. Dr. Levitt's insights will enable readers to transform their visions, mission statements, goals, and deliverables into actionable plans for their teams.

Team Planning for Project Managers and Business Analysts evaluates the strengths and performance gaps in each of the five stages of team development-forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning-and outlines methods for creating a team development plan and addressing the challenge of gaining upper management commitment.

With a focus on succession planning for the team, Dr. Levitt considers team brain capacity and how to plan for the transfer of knowledge within the organization. In addition to the many templates and guidelines included, the book offers a variety of practical team development guidelines to ensure that team activities, including kick-off meetings and project status reviews, are both engaging and productive.

Gail Levitt, Ph.D., is a knowledgeable leadership strategist, facilitator, and coach dedicated to developing global leaders and their teams to perform more efficiently and effectively. She provides a unique perspective as a former marketing administrator, business development strategist, product manager, project team leader, and corporate consultant.

Levitt is president of Levitt Communications Inc., a corporate service organization offering courseware, templates and tools, training, and consulting in leadership communications, especially related to team problem solving, conflict management, collaboration, and influence. Previously, she worked for twenty years for leading organizations in publishing, packaged goods, computers, education, and government, resulting in extensive expertise in leadership and team development pitfalls and best practices. She has spoken extensively at conferences on project management, business analysis, customer service, and team development and has written articles on team leadership issues for professional publications. The recipient of numerous awards for poetry, she has also presented academic papers at the International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College for three consecutive years.

Gail Levitt holds a doctorate in cultural studies from the University of Exeter in England. She also earned a master's degree with high honors in English from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champagne, and a bachelor's degree in English from Hobart-William Smith College in Geneva, New York, graduating summa cum laude.