Building a Project Team

One of the most important functions of the project manager is to build and maintain the “team dynamic.” By giving your project a strong and positive identity, and making the team a rewarding environment in which to work, you increase the likelihood that people will give you that “extra 10 percent” that dramatically increases the quality of their contribution and reduces the amount of effort it takes to manage them.

Putting a team together

An effective project manager builds a team with a strong sense of identity. This is often more challenging in a small team than in one with a higher profile and fully dedicated team members. Start by taking time to select the right people, with input from the sponsor. Base your decisions on availability and relevant skills/knowledge/contacts, but also take personality “fit” and motivation into account. Stakeholder analysis (described overleaf) can be a useful tool for assessing potential candidates and finding the best way to manage them. Make a personal approach to each person selected and request their participation. Don’t beg; simply explain why you have selected them and the benefits they can expect for being involved.

Creating a strong team

• Do my team members know one another?

• Do they respect one another?

• Do they know how their roles fit together?

• Have they agreed on the standards to which they will hold one another accountable?

• Do they acknowledge my role as project manager?

Getting started

Hold an initial meeting with all project team members. It is helpful to have the sponsor present for a proportion of a “kickoff” meeting, but you will enhance your authority as the project manager if you are the one to arrange and chair the meeting. (If you do not have the authority to do this, you may struggle to manage the group through the rest of the project.)

Discuss team roles and ground rules for your project before getting into the detail of the task to be undertaken. People appreciate being asked about their experience of project teamwork, whether there is anything they particularly like or dislike, and what their hopes and concerns are. Talk with the group about how project decisions (particularly in relation to deadlines) will be made; how the team will acknowledge success; what to do if people fail to deliver; and how conflicts will be resolved.

Developing identity

A strong team is built on a strong identity. Give your project a name, but beware of choosing anything too clever—the best names are generally low key, with positive connotations, offering a useful shorthand reference for the project. Create a team location, be it a building, room, desk, or notice board, or a virtual location on the intranet or web. Make it somewhere that information can be displayed and progress checked, and give people reasons to frequent it.

Members of your team will take greater “ownership” of your project if they feel as if they are an important part of it. Involve them in production of the work schedule, risk analysis, and problem solving. Establish “soft” success criteria, relating to teamwork, morale, personal behavior, and learning, in addition to the hard criteria set out in your project definition.