Team Members are Unprepared for the Project Work: How can you get them “up to speed” quickly?

 

The problem

The project you have been assigned has a short deadline. Given a recent increase in customer complaints over one of the company’s software products, you have been asked to take on a project to correct the problem with the product and release an updated version of the software. Although there are some individuals you’d like to have on the team, specifically because of their expertise in this particular software issue and their application development expertise, you are unable to get them assigned to the project because they are involved in another initiative. The individuals available to serve on the project team are more junior within the organization and don’t have the higher level skills you’d like to see for such a key project with a short deadline and the potential for a large financial impact on the company.

You cannot hold off on starting the project; you’ll need to start with the team members available - even if they don’t have the exact set of skills you’d like to see on the project. You don’t want your team to feel incompetent because they aren’t the best qualified for this project. Doing so would only cause the project to fail because they will be afraid to try. Let’s assume you have a conversation with the sponsors for the project, and this is what you know:

• The project cannot be delayed and must start now.

• It may be possible to extend the deadline a bit to accommodate a team that will need to “learn as they go.”

• You are able to get some more budget monies released in order to bring in external resources to assist your team members.

• You may be able to get some help from those internal resources who are most qualified but working on other projects.

The first team meeting

At the first team meeting to kick off the project, you discuss the project that needs to be accomplished, the importance to the organization and the need to start immediately and complete as soon as possible (you are sensitive to the fact that you don’t want to give them the definite deadline just yet until you can work out a project plan in conjunction with the team.) You also acknowledge that while the team may not have the exact skill sets required, there are many great skills on this project team that will be of value.

With the team, you delineate the exact skills needed and the level of skills (beginner, intermediate, advanced) needed. You also make a plan to “make up” for the skills that are lacking on the team, which includes:

• Providing assistance from the internal resource experts as needed (ad hoc support)

• Hiring a few external contract resources with expertise in application development

• Providing “on the job” training opportunities

• Adding a few additional team members in key areas to help support the project

To prepare for an upcoming meeting with the sponsors, based on this team meeting, you reach out to the individuals who are unable to participate on the team (those with the advanced skill sets required) and ask if they are able to provide ad hoc support for the project. They have agreed to do so.  You have also taken the step of researching the cost of bringing in outside contract resources.

After the team meeting, you develop a plan that includes:

• A request for 4 additional team members

• A new timeline that expands the project by 2 weeks

• A request for additional budget monies in the amount of up to $35,000 to cover the costs of bringing in two external contract resources for a period of 2 - 3 months.

You also develop an “on the job” training plan that includes the ability for individuals to partner up to complete tasks and through 2 hour workshops (coordinated with human resources) in order to provide project team members with some tips and best practices prior to them taking on a particular task. Per human resources, the cost of these 2 hour workshops will not exceed $4,500 (they will partner with an outside vendor).

Your meeting with the sponsors

In your meeting with the sponsors, you outline your plan for moving forward, emphasizing that while you are only requesting to expand the project timeline by 2 weeks, you may find that the project will need to extend beyond that time if you run into issues.

You also discuss with the sponsors that while the project is certainly of strategic importance to the organization, equally important is providing the project team the resources and support they need to be successful. By focusing on the team members and providing them the support they need to be successful - you are increasing their skills and knowledge which will only be of long-term value to the organization.

The sponsors agree to the additional requests you have made and the changes to the project plan, but suggest that you work diligently to keep the project within the requested additional 2 weeks.

Wrap up

Your team members are unprepared for the work ahead of them, but with a bit of pre-planning and thoughtful consideration on your part, you are using a variety of ways to increase their skills and build their knowledge.  This includes:

• On-the-job training via2 hour workshops

• On-the-job training via pairing them up with other team members and with external contract resources

• Providing ad hoc guidance from internal experts

• Bringing in external contract resources with specific expertise

• Additional time on the project to get the work done

Everyone has to learn skills in some way and need a starting point. How will you prepare team members for a project when they don’t have quite the right skills or level of experience? What are some options you might try? Please share your thoughts with others in the Comments field below.