Effective Communication as a Value-Add Service Strategy within the Project Team of a Private Higher Education Institution

Author: Pretorius, Karen
Supervisor: Professor Erik Schmikl
Date: March 2006

The research was conducted in a Private Higher Education Institution that specialises in teaching the theory and principles of project and programme management at the postgraduate level. This Private Higher Education Institution distinguished itself as a leader in the market by adopting an innovative approach to “new economy” thinking. The aim of the Institution is to, through excellent human resource management, maintain quality customer service and continuous improvement and innovation.

The effectiveness of an Institutions’ service is dependent on how well each member of a work group initially functions as a team-member to become a high-performance team. The roles and talents of each staff member were examined in order to determine how well the team has been selected. The researcher attempted to establish the link between a high performing team and the institution’s established market leadership position in the educational field.

The researcher endeavoured to identify through use of the Tuckman Model (team performance questionnaire) and several assessment techniques (MBTI® – Step II Form Q and Kolbe A™ Index), where the work group stands in its evolution and best fit to the job role.

The researcher further endeavoured to determine what impact it will have on the service strategy of the organisation when team members come to terms with their strengths and weaknesses and the impact that it has on communication and conflict management.

On the whole the College team has been well selected in terms of their role matching, and diversity of talent, and is well balanced to deal with strategic leadership and innovative improvement in the educational programmes and the administrative support function.