Imagine the scenario where you are the Coach (forget the time and nationality), and the best football players are on your team: Pelé, Maradona, Platine, Becker, Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zidane, among other players.
The perfect team to win the World Cup and become the best team of all time. However, even though you have on your team the best players, there is no cooperation between them ... There are no ball pass when the team has a player in a better position to score. Everyone wants to score the goal, everyone wants to be the main star of the team and win the award for best player in the world.
What do you do as the Coach (project manager) this team for all players to work cooperatively "pass the ball" and play their role in the best way and win the World Cup (deliver the project)? Saving Changes...
Coming back to the initial question, how to manage this kind of teams in order to deliver the projects?
I explain my personal experience.
First of all, some of you are very lucky if you always worked with adult people and really team players. It's not my case.
I worked in an IT project, with all technical experts (all experts in all the fields...weird but that was its own definition), I joined the team in the middle of the project, the before project manager resigned, he advised me how difficult was to manage this team from his point of view.
I was scary, was one of my first projects, I didn't have same knowledge than now.
The meeting always became a war between them, all people touch the system without checking the WBS dictionary...very difficult to manage, ground rules and communications weren't respected.
Then, I asked to a friend that have a company that made team building activities, I didn't have budget to do anything outside of the office, and not time to stop the daily work...no time??? wrong!!! I stopped the project during one full working day! The client don't understand me, nobody understand me. I spent all weekend with my friend helping me to prepare an agenda. 8 hours session team building activity using only scrap carton from the factory, some balls that I have at home, and a rope that I bought in dollar store.
Gisela, or anyone that have to manage one of those kind of teams. Analyze the team, the people, review their needs and try to get the time or the budget.Use one day or a half to do some team building activity, it help.
I'm very proud how I managed the team, after this session, they really work as a team.
I hope that I don't bored you with my personal experience...but sometimes these situation happens. Saving Changes...
I do not agree with you. And I can write about a lot of examples mainly in sports. I think you are mixing the subject matter expert with PM role. A PM has to have knowledge but not strong knowledge or expertisse. But I prefer to stop here because I think I am deviating from the core of discussion topic.
I know that we might have deviated a little bit from the subject but I would really appreciate it if you could give me some examples of sports team coaches who had never played the sport of their teams before becoming coaches, or who had no connections with the sport before starting in this role. For me these would be something unbelievable.
Regarding mixing the roles of PM and subject matter expert I don't think I am doing this, all I am saying is that, in my opinion, a sports team coach, because of his/her duties, is more a subject matter expert than a PM. I also said that a situation such as the one described by Gisele is unlikely to happen because the players have different positions and tasks (defined by the coach) and the coach has the formal authority to punish the players who don't respect their assignments.
Hi, According to John Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, there are 6 factors that represent the keys to success of any team. They include the establishment of: - Shared purpose or mission. - Shared commitment. - Shared performance goals and measures. - Shared behavioral norms. - Shared team practices. - Clear roles.
Also, every team should be have a Teamplayer: One who unites others towards a shared destiny through sharing information and ideas, empowering others and developing trust.” Dennis Kinlaw.
So Coach should defeat in team the feeling of Fear of Job Loss and/or Company Failure. Saving Changes...
