The Paradox of Teams

Vincent is a Senior Project Management Consultant and e-Learning Developer.

  Communications Management   Leadership   Talent Management   Teams   ProjectsAtWork  

Why do some teams pull together to meet challenges, while others don’t? Well, teamwork takes time to save time, and it requires motivated individuals. By understanding these paradoxes, project managers can play a critical role in building teams that can accomplish amazing feats.

A pressing deadline can motivate and bind a team together to excel — they accomplish more in less time. They understand the importance of the deadline to the organization and “buy-in” that they can achieve it. However, buy-in requires that they have some say in what they need and what they can accomplish. Only then will they step up to meet the challenge. The end result may be far from perfect — there will be flaws from trying to do too much — but it will be good enough.

Some managers believe they can achieve these results by imposing arbitrary, unrealistic deadlines. They believe this is the way to the quickest possible delivery even if the deadline is not met. That is, by pushing for a short schedule, the end date will still come in earlier than if they didn’t. Unfortunately, what they don’t understand is the paradox of teams: Teamwork takes time! Up-front and continued investments of time are necessary to create and maintain a high-performing team. Only then can you fully reap the benefits.

A constant stream of pressure to deliver does not allow …

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