The success rate of all IT projects greatly depends on the abilities of the project team. The project manager requires the support of a good team to assist with brainstorming, planning, executing, resolving errors, and minimizing setbacks. The team members must have common goals and be cooperative with the manager as well as each other. So how do you create a fully functional and successful team?
SELECT THE RIGHT PEOPLE
When reading resumes, you may get excited about the level of skill that the applicants possess; but selecting the right people does not always mean selecting the most qualified people. You need to first determine the skill levels needed for the current project. Together, as a team, they should represent the skills you need in the proportions you require them. Second choose people based on their fit within the team. Choosing people who get along with each other is just as important as their skillset. You will experience setbacks and missed milestones if team members cannot connect. Take potential candidates and members already hired out to coffee so you can better judge their compatibility with each other.
SET THE CULTURE AND GROUND RULES
At the very beginning of the project you should have a meeting with the entire team to establish culture and ground rules. As a project manager you will set the tone for success. You will want to take a disciplined approach and focus your team on quality and delivery so to ensure the client’s demands are always met. The most effective approach for discipline is to lead by doing; for example, to guarantee your team is always on time then you need to be always on time. This is also the time to create the structure, decide who the team leads are, set clear roles and responsibilities, delegate tasks, and remove any conflicts.
HAVE CLEAR GOALS
Clear and concise goals need to be set for the team and for each individual during the first stages of the project. You can reference these goals as the project develops to measure progress and success. Goals are most effective if the team decides on them together and they will be more inclined to work toward the end goal together. To minimize the potential for failure, all goals need to be achievable. The team should be aware of the scope, the schedule, and how they will deliver quality. They will have a vested interest if they are included in the decision-making process and will continue to input hard work into the team’s success.
MOTIVATE AND INSPIRE
You, as the project manager, are the main source of motivation for the project team. Success, mishaps, and feedback will also shape the motivation and ability of the project team. Set some easily achieved goals as the beginning of the project and celebrate them once they are attained. Maintain a constant flow of support and recognition so the morale of the team continues to stay high throughout the project. People always work better when they are recognized for their achievements and are reminded that they are an important piece of the project’s success. The team should feel supported even through mistakes and mishaps. Penalizing someone for making a mistake will have them feeling down about themselves and will affect their ability to work going forward. When you receive positive feedback from people outside of the team, be sure to pass that feedback along to the team. They will want to know of the positive impact they are having on the organization and the people within it.
CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION
Communication is the lifeline of the project. Weekly/daily stand-up meetings are a great way for each team member to discuss what they are working on and what achievements they have made to date. These meetings will also be used by you to keep a pulse on the team and measure the progress towards common goals. Conflicts may arise from time to time and is usually the product of a misunderstanding, these can usually be cleared up by having a conversation with the impacted parties and clarifying objectives, roles, or responsibilities.
Enforce cooperation as opposed to competition among the team members. Sometimes an individual may lose trust in the strength of the team’s ability to reach objectives and other times an individual may feel as if they are pulling the weight of the team on their own. In these situations, always pull the team together to address these concerns, remind them of all the great work they have completed so far and they have only achieved those goals because they have worked together.
CREATE A PROCESS FOR COMPLETING OBJECTIVES
Throughout the duration of each project you will need to make decisions, allow others to make decision, assign tasks, set goals, and manage conflict, all while managing the direction of the team. To make these tasks easier for you and for your team, you should have a clear set of processes in place. Each team member should know the extent of their decision-making authority, the path for escalations, and how to set and manage their goals.
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