A Winning Team

 

Ever since the famous Volvo factory in Kalmar, Sweden, introduced the concept of teamwork in the early 1970s, where Volvo cars were built by teams of designers and engineers from start to finish, many organizations have chosen teamwork over the more traditional assembly-line method of production pioneered by Henry Ford.

While the basics of team-building haven't changed in the Internet Economy, the concept of teamwork has taken on increasing importance. Although the Internet in general--and e-business in particular--has made it easier and faster for organizations to do business with customers and partners, it has also made enterprise applications more complex, with the need to interact more with your customers and your entire organization on shorter timelines. This means that more often than not, you will need to bring together and manage cross-functional teams of people who have expertise, experiences and knowledge in business strategy, marketing, customer-focus, usability, design and technology.

Having spent the greater part of my working career in Internet professional services firms, where project teamwork is an essential fact of life, I have gotten a first-hand look at what effectively works and doesn't work when creating, leading and managing teams. In these past five years, I have seen my fair share of project managers who thought that all they needed was to put five …

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