Focus on the Team, Not the Project, to Succeed
From the Voices on Project Management Blog
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Date
Every project manager has his or her own way of managing projects. Most focus on the project’s needs and manage the team accordingly. But I focus on the team itself to ensure the success of the project.
The reason is simple: A happy team is a productive team. That’s fairly obvious. The point I want to underscore is that project managers have more control over team members’ happiness than one might think. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you work to make your teams motivated and effective.
Team members need to work together well to produce the best work. Good work relationships can result from people who’ve been working together for a long time or from personalities that match. Either way, if you have the luxury of building the team yourself, try matching people accordingly.
If team members are frustrated with one another, it’s your job to step in before it begins to harm the project. Solutions can include conflict resolution or helping the team members discuss issues by acting as a moderator.
Another step toward achieving a happy team is to prevent roadblocks that might slow them down. For example, make sure the project’s documentation is clear to the team. Sometimes what is obvious to you is not necessarily obvious to others. Unclear information can waste time, prevent work from being done or mislead people, causing the need to redo work.
It might also be that team members cannot find the information they need. Make sure to take the extra step to remind them where specific information is when you know they will need it. If you send what they need even before they ask, they keep their momentum rather than stalling while waiting for answers.
Outside sources that frustrate your team can be a little tricky, since these are out of your control. However, there are steps you can take to try to mitigate this: clear and constant communication with third parties, a mitigation plan in case they provide something different from what was expected, and managing the team’s expectations around these third parties.
In the end, managing your projects with a team-first focus isn’t all that different from typical project management. If you always remember that an unhappy team is an unproductive team, it won’t be hard make this approach second nature.
How do you make sure your team is happy?
Posted
by
Christian Bisson
on: October 06, 2015 06:15 PM |
Permalink
Comments (18)
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William Meller
IT Project, Program & Portfolio Manager| Polestar
Gothenburg, Sweden
People: It''s all about people!
Hello Christian.
Exellent article.
I also belief in a good
Recognition and Reward System
Something like this
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts
Regards,
Paco
Thanks Francisco!
A "Recognition and Reward" system is a great way to keep teams happy! Thanks for sharing.
Regards.
Christian
diego retana
New Projects, budgets, planning| Palma Terra
Mexico
you just hit the nail on the head!
Rajinder Parti
Project Manager PhD PMP| Lonza Biologics Inc.
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
You have a valid point here. However, to implement this, one needs to be a HAPPY project manager.
Many a times, you come across project managers who are weighed down with looming deadlines and are "unhappy". The moral of the story is "Charity begins at home". Stay Happy and make others Happy.
Bruce Wilkinson MBA, PMP
Expert Project Manager / Trustworthy Executive Assistant / Business Coach| goBRUCE Business Services
Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
Happy teams--what a concept. I want to work on one of your teams!
Rajinder,
you are absolutely right, smiling, staying positive, finding solutions instead of problems... this overall attitude does keep teams motivated (and happier!)
Cheers
Christian
Carlos Patino
CMO at Spaceharp. Product & Marketing Consultant at Roland| Roland Corporation U.S.
Los Angeles, Ca, United States
After all, the project is carried on by people. The team's ability to adapt and evolve will make the difference in the workflow and success for almost every project.
Thanks for sharing.
Gopal Sahai
Corporate Trainer| Self employed
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Considering people as Organizational Assets, the real value comes from the team. It would not be an exaggeration if a PM says, "I am what I am, what my team made me".
I have experienced all the above aspects in my projects. The need for an open communication (for instance in morning meetings) have diffused a lot of heat, thus maintaining the sanctity of work to be performed.
In addition to this, I would like to emphasize on having Ground Rules in place. They have really helped me maintain the much required discipline within the team. In case of conflicting views or wherein an over enthusiastic team member wants to play a hero, a ground rule book really comes handy. There is always something to refer to thus avoiding personality clashes.
As the title says, focus on the team, not the project... because once the basics are taken care, results will follow.
Overall a nice article. A gentle re-emphasis.
Gopal,
Glad you liked it, thank you for your comment.
Personality clashes can be a challenge! I'm curious to know a few examples of ground rules you use that are helpful in these situations.
Best regards.
This read sort of reminds me of the Tuckman Model: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing. All success teams go thru the process.
Hadi Rajabbeigi
Educator/Trainer| Applied Science and Tech University
Tehran, Tehran, Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Thank you for this helpful Blog.
I think there is a relationship between happiness in teams and their performance. When people are happier their performance will increase.
Mohit Jain
Associate Director| Ramco Systems
Faridabad, Haryana, India
Enterprise Environmental Factors also play very important role. As a project manager, we cannot manage everything but utilizing the EEF and using the Reward and Recognition system, we can make the team more effective. Also we need to have the team building exercises so that the team can move to Perform stage.
Manas De Amin
Director| Computer Technology Group Kolkata
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
A perfect one, Christian. I like the paragraph the mot where you have described how to handle third parties. It is very essential for the health of the team and the third parties alike.
Manas,
Thank you for your comment.
Third parties can become a real challenge and unmotivate teams, it's important to make sure the team knows what to expect from them.
Cheers.
fosco frongia
Senior project manager| ENTE PATRIMONIALE CHIESA GESU' CRISTO SUG
Fino Mornasco, Como, Italy
I agree with what has been said before, but I think that what has been previously exposed deba is based on two basic principles: honesty and trust
Vitaly Glotov
Strategic Alignment Telecom Expert and Certified PMP| Advanced Industries Packaging
Frankfurt Am Main, Hessen, Germany
Dear Christian,
Thank you for your considerations. I agree with all above and want to add something I experienced to. I’ll highly recommend you to switch off your emotions while you are getting information in front of your team. Take a time to think over how good or bad the news for the project or for your team. And share it little bit later with your team in purpose. Stay calm in any situation in front of your team. All people in your team different and they have different needs. But something in common for all of them is to feel themselves safety in any situations. If you can provide it all the time, your team will be quite happy.
Sincerely,
Vitaly Glotov
Thanks Vitaly, I couldn't agree more!
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