Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater Essay Example

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater Paper Fallingwater, arguably Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous design, was begun in 1936 as a retreat for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family. The design placed the home above a waterfall located on the site, rather than facing it as Kaufmann had suggested to Wright (Fay-west. com 2005). The materials Wright selected and Kaufmann approved were concrete for the foundation and native sandstone, quarried on the site for walls and used to separate the trays of reinforced concrete making up the living and bedroom areas. The home is cantilevered over the stream, which forms the waterfall. It is a dramatic design and recognized as â€Å"†¦a house that summed up the 20th century and then thrust it forward still further (Goldberger 1986). Fallingwater was used as a weekend retreat by the Kaufmann family from 1937 until 1963 when Edgar Kaufmann, jr. donated the home and its contents to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Built by local craftsmen, it is the only Wright work to survive as originally designed and with its contents and art intact. The building was built as a weekend retreat for the family of Pittsburgh department store mogul, Edgar J. Kaufmann. It was used for that purpose up until it was deeded over to the conservancy and has been open to the public in its original state since 1964. Wright masterfully planned each structural element of this house to be in complete harmony with nature and its surroundings. Three-foot wide cantilevers thrust out over the stream from their anchors, both in the bedrock and from sandstone masonry set in place for that purpose. They form the primary support for the main level terrace. A fundemental part of the structure is the soffit slab, which integrates with the girders and acts as a load carrying T beam. We will write a custom essay sample on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It is unfortunate but engineers have determined that the structure is not sound, which does not detract from the aesthetics but after fifty years the structure needed major work to keep it from falling into the river. The sixteen one-inch rebars were not sufficient reinforcement for the design’s load. Both terraces began to sag downward toward the river beneath the building (Structural Group 2005). Reinforcement work began in 2001 after major studies were undertaken to determine the best methods to shore it up. While Frank Lloyd Wright pioneered the Prairie School, his Fallingwater home, while linear in the Prairie tradition, is ultra modern and stands alone as a tribute to the genius of Wright as an innovator. The use of cantilevers to extend the home out into space and span the river below was innovative and rarely if every seen in a private home. Wright’s use of the linear coupled with the ultra modern design was then married to a Prairie School style, utilizing nature and natural materials whenever possible. I am drawn to this home because of the distinctiveness of the design. Where Wright could have designed a log cabin or hunting lodge for the Pittsburgh millionaire, he chose to put forth what must have been a radical design for its time. Today it still amazes the thousands of visitors who trek through the nature preserve where the home sits. The building fits into its surroundings as if it grew there. The cantilevers over the stream make it seem as if a cliff has extend out over the edge of a waterfall. The trees were left in place whenever possible and the use of the native materials, principally sandstone quarried onsite, are harmonious with the entire unit. This structure functioned as a weekend retreat and country home for the Kaufmann family for decades, just as it was designed to do. Today it stands as a memorial to that family’s vision in allowing a genius to erect his dream as well as a shrine to the genius as well. It serves the visitors who flock to see what can be done if man dares imagine. Works Cited Fay-West. com 2005 Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater Retrieved 09/09-2007 From: http://www. fay-west. com/fayette/fallingwater/ Goldberger, P 1986 as quoted by Fay-West. com Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling- water Retrieved 09/09/2007 from: http://www. fay-west. com/fayette/fallingwater/ Structural Group 2005 Project Background: Frank Lloyd Wright’s renowned Architectural jewel undergoes external post-tensioning by VSL Retrieved 09/09/2007 from: http://www. structural. net/Fallingwater/ fallingwater_bkgd. html

tay john and icefield Essay Example

tay john and icefield Essay Example tay john and icefield Essay tay john and icefield Essay Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Tay John and Icefield (Synopsis) Tay John Many people are in no doubt familiar with popular Canadian literary works such as â€Å"Barometer Rising†, â€Å"Roughing It in the Bush†, â€Å"Duddy Kravitz† and â€Å"As for Me and My House†, but Tay John stands out as a classic. Tay John is a book by Howard O’hagon that was published in 1939. Howard does well to combine mythology, realism and legend from west India into the story, and chooses to use the Rocky Mountains terrain. A point to note is that Tay John is not the kind of book that one reads from one point to the other with interesting readings happening in between them. Rather, it is intended to endow the reader with bits and pieces of the plot. The book is a kind of puzzle or mystery that keeps the readers backtracking between chapters or keeps them guessing to the end. Howard examines the idea behind what defines a myth or a legend and how an ordinary man’s life can be perverted or altered as it develops from one person to the other. In this regard, Tay John is the main character in the book and his role comes out rather contradictory. The book revolves around him but then goes silent for a few chapters without mentioning him. As a character, one could say he is developed properly. How the readers perceive him depends on how they interpret his life as well as the mythical status he is bestowed. Additionally, Howard applies a number of vivid images for the reader to see: from how Tay John is born, his reaction to loosing card games, his fight with a bear, to his final fat. Ultimately, Tay John is book that keeps the reader perusing back and forth through chapters to connect mind perceptions. Icefield Icefields, similar to its counterpart, is written in an early setting in 1898 by Thomas Wharton. The book begins with Doctor Edward Bryne taking a slip on a glacier and sliding into a crevasse. He is rescued immediately but is left puzzled at a figure he saw, or fantasized as the figure in the ice resembles an angel. This part hence sets a unique premise for the novel. Interestingly, the author chooses not to give the angelic theme too much attention. For common readers, it was an expectation that this kind of experience set the stage for a spiritual quest by Bryne or religious ardor. Surprisingly, the author does contrary and Bryne does not develop any interest to this phenomenon. This case, hence summons further investigations by the reader, which eventually reveal that the angelic theme was used as an anchor of glorious and powerful mystery. When this is considered in that school of thought, it plays the role all too well. Bryne is given the character of a lonely soul that is distant and cold. He chooses to detach himself from activity and lives alone as the story winds up. Similar to the setting, Wharton applies a cool and crisp prose. He uses minimum fuss to tell the story and does quietly. He also writes certain portions of the story in present tense, which I thought was distracting. The emotional coolness associated with the protagonist produces a particular muted tone. If this was a film, then the camera would have been rolling in soft focus, never resting on a particular feature.

Essay on Daoism Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

On Daoism - Essay Example In addition to the scenario, quest of Western materialism for peace has also provided Daoism with the opportunity for huge appreciation as a philosophical discipline. According to Eva Wong â€Å"Many people will experience, at least once in their lifetime, the urge to venture beyond the everyday world of the mundane into the world of spirit. These journeys into the spiritual world often take us into a universe we normally do not encounter in our daily lives, and allow us to explore regions of our consciousness that we have not before known† (1). While the Western philosophical discipline often fails to answer an individual’s questions regarding spiritual consciousness, Daoism, in this context, has been regarded as an effective source to solve these queries: â€Å"The spiritual landscape of Taoism is a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds. It is also a land of silence and stillness. It can be friendly and attractive, and at the same time challenging and dangerous† (W ong 1). Irrespective of the fact that it is quite difficult to restrain Daoism within a particular time frame, however, it can be said approximately that in A.D. 215 journey of Daoism commenced as a religious discipline through initiatives of Cao Cao (Robinet, and Brooks 2). Like all the major religious disciplines Daoism is still very much alive and continuously evolving. Though Cao Cao can be identified as a prime figure in recognizing Daoism, however, it has been widely argued that Daoism has never been founded and it is continuously evolving through different dimensions of human lives (Hu, and Allen 6). Daoism as a Religious Discipline: The literal meaning of Dao or Tao is â€Å"the way, the road people walk on† (Hu, and Allen 3). There are numerous instances of wide usage of the terminology in various philosophical disciplines of ancient China and consequently also makes it clear that Daoism cannot be confined within scope a particular philosophical domain; rather the ev aluative capacity of this discipline is actually a result of different ideologies: â€Å"The â€Å"Tao† of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing, Taoism’s foremost sacred text) was actually only one of many understandings of the word in ancient China. However, just as the â€Å"Tao† of the Tao Te Ching is the original force that encompasses all, the religion and philosophical system inspired by Tao Te Ching has also demonstrated inclusiveness by incorporating many other ancient understandings of the word into Taoism itself† (Hu, and Allen 3-4). Thus, the vast expanse of Daoism encompasses almost all dimensions of human life, especially in the Chinese cultural context. This integrity is one of the main reasons that the differencing limits between being Daoist and being Chinese is often blurred. Apart from scholarly and academic disciplines, the common people of China also encounter the problem when it comes to differentiating between being a Daoist and being a Chine se. The evolutionary process of the religious and philosophic discipline is so deeply associated with every dimension of Chinese socio-cultural existence that starting from daily life style, attitude towards life, personal philosophy, healthcare and even different incidents of the Chinese social history bear the evidence of the influence of Daoism: â€Å"Taoism has interacted with integrated many elements of what is now recognized as Chinese civilization, and,

Mandating Nurse-Patient Ratio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mandating Nurse-Patient Ratio - Assignment Example Comprehensive studies undertaken by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) confirms that there is a relationship between nurse staffing and health care outcomes (Kane et al., 2007). An increase in the nurse staffing leads to a reduction in the prevalence and mortality rates caused by treatable diseases. At the local level, nurses should be encouraged to use the reward power when lobbying for support from the legislators. The candidates should only be assured of votes if they offer their support to the health issue (Abood, 2007). The hospitals should be required to establish nurse controlled staffing committees. This creates the strategies necessary for matching the patient population with the available staffing. The results from such committee are presented to the legislative members to provide them with the real problem for support. At the state level, nurses should be involved in the sponsoring of the annual state legislative days to arrest the attention of legislato rs and influential leaders. The legislative days will be characterized by fellowships and internships that offer information on the importance of maintaining suitable nursing ratios for effective health care delivery. These workshops will bring nurses together and raise awareness on the current health care issues. Once the nurses are made aware of the situation, they can identify the pros and cons of the necessary solutions to the problem. Awareness will also motivate individual nurses to attract the involvement.

Analysis of Macroscopic Traffic Flow Parameters

Analysis of Macroscopic Traffic Flow Parameters ANALYSIS OF MACROSCOPIC TRAFFIC FLOW PARAMETERS OF HETEROGENEOUS TRAFFIC A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED STRETCH OF DAKOR Abstract Keywords: Traffic flow, macroscopic parameter, capacity, level of service. Transportation refers as a movement of persons, animals and goods from one place (origin) to another place (destination). Now a days, transportation is going to be a part of our life to achieve our necessity. Increase in transportation is because of increase in population basically. The population of India is growing rapidly with a national average growth rate of 2.7 percent per annum (Census of India, 2010). The growing cities have generated the high levels of demand for travel by motor vehicles in the cities. This has resulted in tremendous increase in the population of automobiles in the cities. The Indian population increased with a decadal growth of 17.64% (census 2011) and annual growth rate of 1.2% (World Bank report). Next to this, the revolution in the automobile industry, liberalized economy and change in peoples life has led to tremendous increase in the vehicle ownership levels. This has resulted in changing in nature of traffic characteristics on road network and ultimat ely it affects the capacity of roadway, level of service on stream and congestion on roadway. Hence reduce in speed, unwanted traffic delays, road accidents, traffic jam, increase in travel time etc. are resulted. Therefore, the analysis of traffic stream parameter is needed to study for the effective planning, design, operation and maintenance of roadway system. Homogeneous traffic has strict lane discipline and has traffic entity types whose physical dimensions do not vary much. In the nonhomogeneous traffic they loose lane discipline prevails. The physical dimensions of the traffic entities vary greatly. Operationally, acceleration and deceleration characteristics vary greatly because nonmotorized traffic entities exist along with motorized vehicles on the road. The most of the studies in such traffic make use of the methods and concepts developed for homogeneous traffic. In India, it seems that the traffic is greatly differ due to vehicular and road user characteristics. The interaction between different size vehicles and their drivers as well as the infrastructure gives rise to many complex phenomena on our roads. To understand traffic flow, relationships have been established between the two main characteristics: flow and velocity. Flow, speed, and density are the critical parameters used to describe characteristics of traffic flow. A traffic flow fundamental diagram is used to characterize the relation between these three parameters, and plays an important role in traffic flow theory and traffic engineering. In capacity analysis, speed-flow relation models are used to determine the level of service. The time gap between successive vehicle arrivals, namely, time headway between vehicles is an important traffic flow characteristic that affects the safety, level of service and road capacity. Understanding time headways and their distributions will en able better management of traffic. The aim of study is to analyse the macroscopic traffic flow parameters of heterogeneous traffic on selected stretch of Dakor. The objectives of study are as following, To estimate the basic traffic flow parameters for different traffic stream under study. To develop analytical relationship among traffic flow parameters. To determine the congestion, capacity and level of service of selected road stretch under study. To suggest the suitable solution for the observed problem of congestion. Dakor is a pilgrim area and it is observed that a large amount of trip attraction takes place. The surrounding area comprise of large numbers of quarries, as a result of this major traffic observed at the site are multi axle trucks, resulting into considerable congestion. Hence it is necessary to understand the traffic behavior at the chosen site. Dakor, in its earlier phases as pilgrimage center in Gujarat, was famous for the Danknath temple, a place of Shiva worship. Recently, Dakor is included in one of the six major pilgrimage places under Yatradham Vikas Board by Government of Gujarat for development as a well-planned and well organized pilgrimage place to facilitate the lacs and lacs of visiting pilgrims. More than 70-80 lacs of pilgrims visit the place every year and a continuous increase is witnessed every year. Dakor is located at 22.75ÂÂ °N 73.15ÂÂ °E. By visual observation and pilot survey, it is examine that the traffic density increases to jam density. METHODOLOGY DATA COLLECTION The study consist of conducting various surveys on selected stretches of Dakor. Data collection is carried out carefully as it is the raw data for final analysis. There are two types of data collected in data collection namely Primary Data and Secondary Data. Primary data is collected from spot speed survey, classified volume count survey and road geometry data by self-measurement of road stretch. Whenever secondary data is collected from the maps given by Road Building Department of Kheda District. Primary data collection Road inventory, traffic volume count and spot speed study is carried out manually. Classified volume count Number of vehicles passing through a point or entering a stretch is considered in the analysis of roadway operations. Traffic volume can be counted by manual or video graphic techniques. Here manual traffic survey is carried out for 09:00 am to 7:00 pm with 15 minute time interval and volume of traffic is calculated using tally counter on mid-block section of Dakor to Umreth road. Analysis of traffic volume data has been done and following results shows the composition if traffic on road and variation of traffic on road. Figure: Traffic volume analysis for Dakor to Umreth Figure: Traffic volume analysis for Umreth to Dakor Spot speed study Speed is one of the most important characteristic of traffic as measure of effectiveness of traffic system performance. Speed is highly sensitive to the interaction among vehicles in the stream. The spot speed study is carried out on Dakor to Umreth road. The average speed, time mean speed, space mean speed, standard deviation is calculated from spot speed data. Spot speed study data analysis on Umreth to Dakor road standard deviation Space mean speed (km/hr) time mean speed (km/hr) median speed (km/hr) minimum speed (km/hr) maximum speed (km/hr) 2-w 8.07 37.11 38.75 38.57 25.71 56.84 3-w 8.12 33.48 35.16 31.76 22.04 54 4-w 11.31 37.47 40.46 37.91 26.34 63.53 Bus 7.33 35.67 37.07 36.62 26.34 51.43 Truck 3.29 32.65 33.01 32.73 27.69 40.00 Multi Axle Truck 4.79 35.98 36.61 36.00 27.69 46.96 LCV 4.30 34.59 35.09 34.29 27.69 51.43 Spot speed study data on Dakor to Umreth road standard deviation Space mean speed (km/hr) time mean speed (km/hr) median speed (km/hr) minimum speed (km/hr) maximum speed (km/hr) 2-w 4.65 38.23 37.70 37.96 30.86 60 3-w 5.83 33.86 34.85 33.75 24 46.96 4-w 7.29 41.47 42.97 41.54 23.48 60 Bus 5.73 34.57 35.49 34.29 23.48 54 Truck 5.14 35.34 36.05 34.84 27.69 49.05 Multi Axle Truck 3.68 36.97 37.32 37.31 30 46.96 LCV 3.10 37.80 38.05 37.96 30.86 45.00

What caused the Hindenburg explosion :: essays research papers

The Hindenburg was a luxury airship, from nazi Germany. This "Titanic of the skies" (no pun intended) was destroyed by a flash fire in 1937 while landing in New Jersey after making its 10th transatlantic crossing. Thirty-five of the 97 people aboard and one ground crew member were killed when the blimp burst into flames and was rapidly consumed by the fire. The Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen gas which is lighter than air. The gas was stored in sixteen large gas cells inside the ship. Like all gases, hydrogen expands when heated. If the hydrogen gas in the Hindenburg were to overheat, the gas could expand enough to burst the gas cells and send the ship plummeting to earth. The Hindenburg's engineers knew about this potential danger and came up with a solution to the problem; they painted the surface of the airship with a chemical "doping compound" that contained powdered aluminum and iron oxide. This compound was chosen because it did a good job of reflecting the rays of the sun, therefore ensuring that the gas cells inside the ship would not overheat. There have been three main theories as to what happened to cause such a disaster. The official story has always been that the Hindenburg disaster was caused by the ignition of the flammable hydrogen gas used to lift the zeppelin. This has been over and over proven to be incorrect because witnesses of the explosion proclaim that it was like a fire works display, ummm... hydrogen burns without color.... Even pictures depicting the explosion show that the blaze from it contains pigment! The second theory is that the cause of the explosion was an electrical conductor. The â€Å"doping compound† that was used to prevent the hydrogen from heating up was extremely flammable. On the night before the Hindenburg was landing their was an electrical storm, and the surface of the ship became electrically charged. Engineers had already planned for this however, they attached mooring lines, ropes, that would go down to the ground and take the static charge to the ground with them as the ship landed. There were, however, panels that remained charged. Eventually, this built-up electricity inside the remaining panels took the form of a spark. Since the charged panels were covered with the doping compound's highly reactive metal powders, this spark caused them to ignite and burn very rapidly.

Building a High Performance Project Team Essay

In order to deliver a high-quality project [one that successfully balances scope, time, and cost] in which the needs and expectations of the users are met, the project team must not only be effective and work well together, but also the project manager must have the ability to lead and manage the team while focusing on people issues. This is often a difficult task since many project mangers are usually expected to lead teams without formal authority. Controlling a project blends the art and science of project management – building a strong, committed team at the same time you are making progress against the plan (Verzuh, 2012). This means that project leaders should seek to discover and solve problems while they are still small and at the same time monitor progress while putting in place measures to ensure the team’s continued focus on the goals and expectations of the project. Thus, it is critical for project managers to understand that project success does not hinge only on the science of project management, but also on the ability to build a committed, cooperative, and cohesive team. A project manger who exhibits practical understanding of how to evaluate and sustain an effective team performance, along with the ability to identify and quickly resolve key resource issues throughout the project life cycle, is more likely to reach a synergistic potential of the team. Consequently, drawing from contemporary projects, this brief study focuses on distinct human attributes the effects on leadership as the key to the aforementioned controlling activities that ensure that a project evolves in an orderly m anner, rather than turning out of control. 2Recruiting Project Team Members Every project manager plays a pivotal role in building a high performance team. While the leader must consciously invest in building a strong, cohesive team capable of working together, the process of selecting and recruiting project team members vary across organizations. Two important factors affecting recruitment are the importance of the project and the management structure being used to complete the project (Larson & Gray, 2011). However, it is the project manager’s responsibility to optimize the team’s performance regardless of whether he/she gets to choose the team members or not. Hence project managers must develop strategies that help build a high performance team right from the selection stage. 2.1Project Team Dynamics Negative interpersonal team dynamics is not only unproductive, but can make a project manager’s job a daily grind of frustration and resentment (Verzuh, 2012). When selecting and recruiting team members, project managers naturally look for individuals with the necessary experience and knowledge/technical skills critical for project completion (Larson & Gray, 2011). However, when identifying project resources project managers more often than not find themselves thinking about who they need rather than what they need. Thus, more emphasis is placed on pervious working relationships. Aside from selecting team members who hold the â€Å"right† level of skill and expertise needed to support the project requirements, it is just as important to identify team members who are able to work well with others and exhibit consistent levels of cooperation. These social intelligence skills include the ability to persuade, negotiate, compromise, and make others feel important (DiTullio, 2010) Consequently, the key to creating a high performance project team lies in understanding and embodying the language-action relationship. This is critically important to building relationships, trust, gaining alignment and commitment to produce breakthrough results (Strategic Momentum, 2006). 3Defining Criteria For Project Team Members To fully discuss this topic, we must start with a simple definition of a team. Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith define a team in their best-selling book The Wisdom of Teams (Harper Business Essentials 1994), as â€Å" a small number of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a common purpose, a set of performance goals and an approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable† (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). In other words, as Sarah Cook (2009) suggests, the characteristics of a high performance team therefore are: * A clearly defined and a common shared purpose * Mutual trust and respect * Clarity around individual roles and responsibilities * High levels of communication * Willingness to work towards the greater good of the team * A leader who both supports and challenges the team * A climate of cooperation * An ability to voice differences and appreciate conflict However, project teams have another characteristic: They will be temporary, formed specifically for the purpose of achieving the goal, after which they will disband (Verzuh, 2012). Thus, to get the people on the team to be mutually accountable to a common goal, trust each other, and be treated with respect while putting in the effort to accomplish a task, the project manager must be able to put the pieces together by establishing strong ground rules and team identity that is built on commitment to a shared goal. In this respect, the criteria is for the project manager to engage his team in simple exercises and hold multiple discussions with the team about the obvious benefits of teamwork by encouraging best practices and innovation for the benefit of stakeholders. 4Developing Trust Among Project Team Members As noted earlier, projects are temporary endeavors that begin and end, and so do project teams. Managing project teams is even more complicated given the trend towards cross-functional, organizational, and sometimes national boundaries. This unique characteristic only increases the likelihood that the composition of a new project team will comprise of more individuals with little or no previous working relationships. With this in mind, as (Verzuh, 2012) rightly suggests, â€Å"developing trust, respect, effective communication patterns, and the ability to maintain a positive relationships despite disagreements takes time. Most importantly, it takes a conscious effort by the project team leader†. Once the project leader understands that high performance teams rarely occur naturally, a strategy must be put in place to help transform the way team members think and act in order to create and maintain the highest level of commitment to the plan. According to (Strategic Momentum, 2006) conversational dynamics is critical in building relationships and trust. By conversational dynamics they mean the conversational mode used when the project team works together. Project leaders must encourage collaborative conversations among team members since they help build trusting relationships, and are able to effectively deal with real issues, thus accelerated results. Collaborative conversations are open and authentic and they breed mutual respect and commitment. Project leaders can rely on authentic conversations to deal with interpersonal relationships and trust issues. In the event of breakdowns, the focus is on restoring relationships and trust to insure on going alignment and commitment. It is apparent therefore that high performance teams have a culture that embraces trust, continuous review and clarification of goals, robust communication and holding each other accountable (Wagner, 2006). 4.1Communicating Effectively with Project Team Members Once an atmosphere of trust has been established, the project manager’s biggest challenge is communication and clarity. Communication has long been ranked very high among factors attributing to project success. In this respect, Tom Wagner suggests that the project team leader must ensure the group stays firmly rooted in reality, sets clear goals and priorities, and follows through on all tasks (Wagner, 2006). This means that the entire project team shares the responsibility of all the project goals, and receives relevant and concise information at the right time. This also ensure that team member do not engage in conflicting agendas that arise when team members pursue incompatible objectives. Consequently, when communicating within the project team (Verzuh, 2012), outlines four major communication needs: * * Responsibility: each team member needs to know exactly what part of the project he/she is responsibly for. * Coordination: as team members carry out their work, they rely on each other. Coordination information enables them to work together efficiently. * Status: meeting the goal requires tracking progress along the way to identify problems and take corrective action. The team members must be kept up to speed on the status of the project. * Authorization: Team members need to know about all the decisions made by customers, sponsors, and management that relate to the project and it’s business environment. Team members need to know these decisions to keep all project decisions synchronized. 5Leading the Project Team Members In spite of advances in the project management profession, research studies have shown that many projects fail, underlining the importance of the project manager’s role as manager. Specifically, the manager’s leadership role is of great importance in motivating people and creating an effective working environment in order for the project team to meet greater challenges in today’s global economy (Anantatmula, 2010). In other words, there are four specific elements that help create an effective team-working environment. The leader must establish ground rules that explicitly define expected personal behavior in reference to team values; he/she must build a team identity based on shared commitment and objectives – the key here is goal and project scope clarity and a solid understanding of team members strength and diversity; a good leader must be able to teach his team to apply the proper problem solving techniques which involves exchange of ideas and thus the ability to listen to different perspectives; and last but not the least, the leader must be able to manage meetings effectively. By conducting team meetings that are actively steered toward the project goals, the team can share pertinent information, coordinate activities, uncover new problems and make informed decisions that produce synergistic outcomes. Ultimately, adding value to the team’s effort should be the goal and role of the project team leader. Defining a clear vision can do this and goal, facilitate a working environment, set clear expectations and responsibilities, and provide the team enough autonomy where they can work and do their jobs with full commitment and confidence (Wikibooks, 2010) 6Managing Challenging and Dyna mic Issues and Conflict It is not an easy task to get a team to jell but the productivity and joy that come with high performance teams are so significant for a project team leader to assume it can occur naturally. According to (Verzuh, 2012), every project team faces two central challenges, two obstacles to becoming a high performance team. * Project teams are formed to solve complex problems, and they must solve those problems together. * Project teams are temporary and so the must learn to work together. Thus, it is the responsibility of the project leader to understand these two challenges and harness the problem solving power of a rather diverse team. In other words, it will take a conscious effort on the part of the project manager to transform the team from a loose collection of talent and expertise to a cohesive unit. For the team to produce superior decisions needed to solve complex problems creativity is required. This means that disagreements are bound to occur and hence conflict-resolution skills become essential to make the best decisions possible without jeopardizing interpersonal relationships. Deborah Kezsbom, in her article entitled: (Managing the Chaos: Conflict among project teams (American Association of Coast Engineers 1989), perfectly concluded, â€Å"conflict is an inevitable and necessary part of the project environment. Given the proper atmosphere, attitudes, and training, conflict can broaden perspectives and stimulate innovative and cohesive interactions.† Project managers who realize that preventing conflict is as important as solving them, are likely to be effective. The author went on to recommend the following for improving project leader effectiveness and minimizing conflict: * Communicating key decisions in a timely fashion to project related personnel. * Adapting leadership style to the status of the project and the needs of the project team. * Recognizing the primary determinants of conflict, when they are likely to occur over the project life cycle, and the effectiveness of handling approaches. * Experimenting with alternative conflict handling modes. * * Proving work challenge to motivate team members. * Developing and maintaining technical expertise. * Planning early and effectively in the project life cycle. * Demonstrating concern for project team members. 7The London 2012 Olympics Construction Project The construction of the London 2012 Olympic park was widely praised for its successful delivery. With  £9.3 billion budget, the Olympic project was one of the most high profile projects one could ever imagine. The project finished on time and under budget much to the delight of its sponsors who according to Sir John Armitt, the man in charge of the team that built the park, knew what it valued, balancing cost and quality, and made that clear to its suppliers. But it was the ability of the project leaders to blend the art and science of project management that prompted some soul-searching about lessons that can be applied to future developments. The value placed on relationships between individuals and organizations working the project was a crucial ingredient in the projects successful delivery. According to a study conducted during the project which focused on the underpinning role of 13 distinct human characteristics – including respect, trust, clarity, motivation, collaboration, openness and fairness – and how these concepts have a practic al influence on effective leadership, worker involvement, safety culture, communication, risk management, monitoring and assurance. The lead researcher Helen Bolt said: â€Å"The most important thing we discovered in this research was the value of the relationships between individuals and organizations. Of all the characteristics of the relationships in evidence during the project, the most critical were respect and clarity -they underpin everything, are not costly or difficult to achieve, and can have a significant impact on safety culture and standards.† 8Conclusion As outlined throughout this paper, project team members are faced with the challenge to work interdependently to achieve defined goals. These goals can be simple or complex depending on the nature and scope of the project. Nonetheless, every project presents peculiar challenges for the team and its leader who essentially make a series of decisions in accomplishing these goals. As the magnitude of interdependencies increases so does the need for the team members to trust one another and rely on refined skills to work collaboratively. Since project teams are temporary, they must learn to work together to reach its synergistic potential. A high performance team does not evolve overnight, it take time and effort by the leader who facilitates the team, establishes a positive working environment and leads the team in learning problem solving as well as conflict resolution skills. It is no secrete that leadership is the foundation of a high performance team. Whilethere are many constant traits a leader must possess to be effective, there are however, many important components of leading a high performance team that lack a true definition. One of the components of great importance is the ability to be adaptable in your leadership style, and let your leadership adapt and evolve as the team progresses through its developmental stages. Project team leaders must also exhibit the same accountability they demand from the team members and display the energy, attitude and commitment to propel the team forward. Ultimately, communication is the key to all the aforementioned activities. Project leaders spend a great deal of their time communicating. In fact, every project management technique is a form of communication and hence it is crucial to communicate in a timely and effective fashoin among all stakeholders. References: Anantatmula, V. (2010). Project Manager leadership role in improving project performance. Engineering Management Journal , 22 (1), 13-22. DiTullio, L. (2010). Project Team Dynamics: enhancing Performance, Improving Results. Management concepts. Katzenbach, J., & Smith, D. (1993). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization. Boston, MA: Havard Business School Press. Kezsbom, D. (1989). Managing the Chaos: Conflict among project teams. American Association of Coast Engineers. Transactions of the American Association of Coast Engineers , 9. Kortekaas, V. (2012, August 19). 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