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Tips on boosting a project team mood

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Eduard Hernandez
Community Champion
Product Operations Program Manager Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Has it ever happened to you? You are chairing a biweekly project team meeting, provided an agenda in advance, meeting starts on time, project log, risk register, schedule, everything is in place and updated, all seems to be good, but...

... the atmosphere in the room is not optimum, there is no clapping even when good news are shared...

Do you have tips on how to make these meetings not just productive, but also with a healthy share of FUN?
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LORI WILSON RETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint Health Clarkston, Wa, United States
I start my meetings with a photo - something that inspires relaxation, makes you laugh or causes you to think. Starting with some kind of ice breaker can help - or maybe ask for celebrations either personal or professional. It is a great way to open the meeting and learn more about each other. Someone shared with me that teams will be inspired when they believe they have the ability to contribute, have a feeling of belonging and understand their personal contributions have worth and purpose. I keep those words in front of me and look for opportunities to share the importance of each role/person on the team. Be unwavering in the support of your team! I like to use words like - this is a strong team....we are good at this part of the project because we all support each other......terms that help to unite and bring teams together.
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1 reply by Vithal Parab
Aug 02, 2017 7:22 AM
Vithal Parab
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It is good to start meetings with inspiring thoughts.
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Tim Podesta Director of PM/PMO| Former BP- now Independent Penn, Bucks, United Kingdom
Jul 26, 2017 8:28 AM
Replying to Emily Luijbregts
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I'd be looking at what else is going on in the team? Is everyone doing OK? Is the project on track? To make things 'fun' we've changed the meeting up so either the agenda or alternatively move things around. Change the set up of the room if you can, don't have tables and just have chairs so it's a little more informal.

One thing that i've done is bring in cake/fruit into the room and do little 'update' games with a ball/stress sack so that everyone can do their updates and make things a little different for them.

To bring the fun into our sessions, we've also scheduled time to do team building activities outside of the call. If I noticed that the team were 'lagging' a little, i'd schedule a regular team building event like bowling, lunch outside of the office or something like that.

It's great that you've noticed this and are trying to make a difference!
Some good ideas. It's important to build rapport across the team and occasional meetings with a social element can make a difference.
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Amit Mahajan Project Manager| Sapient Razorfish Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Like they say a smile is infectious, same goes for one sulken face. We have a tradition to ask Team's morale before each meeting. Quickly go round the table.

For example a quick morale check in the Daily Scrum meetings first thing in the morning. If someone has a bad morale because of a personal or professional reason , they can share with the team. It's team's responsibility to cheer him up and bring up his morale. Give him a small treat etc.
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Samer Alhmdan Senior Project Manager, PMP, PMI-RMP, LEED AP, EDGE Expert| dar Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Recognition and appreciation.
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Vithal Parab Associate Consultant| Tata Consultancy Services Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Jul 28, 2017 7:04 PM
Replying to LORI WILSON
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I start my meetings with a photo - something that inspires relaxation, makes you laugh or causes you to think. Starting with some kind of ice breaker can help - or maybe ask for celebrations either personal or professional. It is a great way to open the meeting and learn more about each other. Someone shared with me that teams will be inspired when they believe they have the ability to contribute, have a feeling of belonging and understand their personal contributions have worth and purpose. I keep those words in front of me and look for opportunities to share the importance of each role/person on the team. Be unwavering in the support of your team! I like to use words like - this is a strong team....we are good at this part of the project because we all support each other......terms that help to unite and bring teams together.
It is good to start meetings with inspiring thoughts.
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Mechelle Davidson VP of Service Delivery| Origin Utility Murphy, Tx, United States
There are some great replies on this thread, and what Emily said resonated the most with me. At my company, we try to celebrate the wins - no matter how small - to keep our teams enthused and engaged. Tiff's Treats is my go-to. For about $15, I can bring warm cookies into a meeting. ALWAYS A HIT! People can't help but be cheerful in the presence of warm cookies. I also like the idea of a team building exercise. There are several very quick (5 minutes or less) activities that you can do to raise the energy of the room.

I would be interested to know what you have planned for your next meeting. Please let us know how it goes. You're aware of the issue, and you want to make it better. That's a great first step. Your team is lucky to have you leading them. Best of luck!
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Teresa Sabino Project Manager| Open to Work! Ct, United States
The first thing I would do is directly address the uncomfortable atmosphere and ask the team what's going on - what do they need, what are they concerned about, etc... Ensure they know we need them to be happy and engaged in order to be successful. If this doesn't work, have some one on one conversations with some of the main players on the team for their candid feedback.
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Vincent Guerard Coach - Trainer - Speaker - Advisor| Freelance Mont-Royal, Quebec, Canada
I remember a project where each meeting some people would recall an inspiring personal event, getting to know each other.
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Eduard Hernandez
Community Champion
Product Operations Program Manager Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Thank you everyone for the suggestions and comments, greatly appreciated.

In fact, I chaired yesterday a Core Team meeting in which the first point of the agenda was celebration to have found and validated an opportunity that leads to time& cost saving. Brought some cake, cookies and candy - it really had an impact, a good one!

Thanks once again!
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Tim Podesta Director of PM/PMO| Former BP- now Independent Penn, Bucks, United Kingdom
Thank you for the feedback. It's good to know the result of the advice nd I hope the impact is maintained
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