Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
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Improving Project Team Performance
If You Can't Say Something Nice…
Project managers love letting members of the project team know what a wonderful job they are doing. It makes all those times when starting projects, picking the right people, making sense out of confusing direction, seem, well, rewarding and worth all the extensive personal time, effort and commitment.
What about those times when the project wasn’t running along so well? When deadlines were being missed because of team performance, or lack thereof? You know what I mean--when it really isn’t anyone’s fault but yours?
The project manager has a well-understood accountability or role to play in any of these situations. No matter how uncomfortable or distasteful, it is up to the PM to correct a project team member's poor performance or behavior, and it needs to be done effectively and immediately.
What’s a PM to Do?
First and foremost, project managers must realize that if the project fails, they will wear the blame. Now that I have your attention, there are certain “givens” that should be considered:
- Project team members have a myriad of other assignments and are continuingly juggling their time in an attempt to be effective.
- In most cases, project team members don’t report directly to the project manager. The world of cross-functional teams has brought new meaning …
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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill |