Building a High-Performing Project Team: Key Objectives and Steps

DEVELOP THE TEAM - Getting the Right Team Onboard

The Project Director and/or Project Manager needs a well-oiled team.  Team building is vital in project management since it builds the desire to work together among the team members, which is important in facilitating sharing of project concerns, thoughts, and ideas that may lead to project success.

Key objectives of developing a project team include:

Improving knowledge and skills of team members to increase their ability to complete project deliverables, while:

• Lowering costs,
• Reducing schedule, and
• Improving quality.

 

Steps to Building a Team

#1 Understand what a great team is

A great team is a number of good people resources contributing to productive collaboration and achieving project goals. There is no ‘I’ in team and it is the Project Directors/Project Managers responsibility to point out to teams at the interview and onboarding process what is expected of each team member.  Let’s drill down a little further.  What are the attributes of great teams and what are some examples of good and ‘not so good’?

Attributes of great teams are:

They communicate well with each other

Good looks like this 👍

📢 Regular team meetings.  Each team member appreciative of the role of the other and how they can help by inputting at the right time.  The understanding that every team member has a dependency on another’s work package or deliverables.

📢 Team members asking each other ‘is there anything you need from me’.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

🔇 Lack of coordination between project team members and subject matter experts/extended stakeholders. Not operating as one entity or through a program director. No formalised meetings at a steering group or PCG level.

 

They focus on goals and results

It is important for the Project Director/Project Manager to help shift the project team’s attention from goals to outcomes.  This is highly motivating.

Good looks like this 👍

⛳ Team members sharing their work programmes. Perhaps the Fitout PM would like to take the project team through their program and high-level deliverables and offer opportunity to get more information to help each other’s programmes.

⛳ A good example of working together would be to organise a discovery session where the IT Manager, the Facilities and Change Leads could share the floor with stakeholders.  This piece of work can facilitate a ‘one touch’ approach to the business with a many faceted collect of intel.

⛳ This would help the project team understand the collective goals are similar and connected.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

⛔ Everyone doing their own thing, and the only conduit between the team members is the Project Director or Project Manager.  This is not a good thing and promotes silos.

 

Everyone contributes their fair share

Team members need to be advocates for the project. They need to help the Project Director/Project Manager deliver the messages they want the Senior Leadership and wider business to know and understand.

Good looks like this 👍

🤝 Senior Leader early engagement resultant from engagement and socialisation of each work streams expertise and deliverables. The Project Director/Project Manager gains senior management commitment at project outset. 

Doesn’t look like this 👎

💢 Project delivery questions with the Scope document not completed and signed off. Senior Leaders having no confidence or understanding in the technical ability of the project team.

 

They offer each other support

The Project Director/Project Manager leading the project team by outlining the guidance and assistance available to each team member from each team member and creating clarity around schedule and dependencies.

Good looks like this 👍

⬆️ The project team talks the talk of support to each other and to the wider business.  They understand when escalations are required and gain a high-level appreciation of each other’s technical and scope of works which has been signed off by the business/ customer.

⬆️ Perhaps the project team can even input to a detailed ‘As-is, To Be’ colour coded process map or network diagram which can help the leadership team understand the scope.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

⬇️ A high-level strategy exists, but limited planning, no clear schedule, no commitment on timeframes or stakeholder sign-off. Unclear roles and responsibilities.  No dialogue on how things are going, who is in trouble, and how the project team members can help.

⬇️ External project managers are not across the project design and deliverables. Project team members could not be relied on to deliver the project and required significant internal intervention.

 

Team members are diverse, and linkages need to be made

At the time of resource planning, the Project Director/Project Manager will understand the skill sets required and the impacts in diversity of such skills.  

Good looks like this 👍

👋 There is time spent with all project team members to encourage the speed to act in difficult and fluid project environments.

👋 Internal project resources show leadership with an understanding that engagement with external project team members needs to be structured very differently. 

Doesn’t look like this 👎

👽 The organisation/client needing to put internal resources into managing external resources.

👽 The project team knows nothing of the project scope and governance asides from their roles and responsibilities and that they are part of a wider team.

👽 The project team working in silos and working blindly.

 

They are organized

Good looks like this 👍

✏️ Project governance structure in place.

✏️ Fortnightly/Weekly coordination meetings scheduled.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

❓ Procurement team unaware of when to engage project team.

❓ Project team not engaged early enough.

❓ Work streams running their own race and agenda, causing dissatisfaction until brought under the control of the Project Manager/Project Director.

 

They have fun

The Project Director/Project Manager is responsible for developing the team behaviours and encouraging inclusiveness and mutual respect for each other’s ‘differences.  The project team needs diversity and different skill sets and personalities to be a well-rounded team.

Good looks like this 👍

😂 Earlier engagement of cross functional teams.

😂 Appropriate management of all stakeholder expectations and opportunity to discuss their efforts and concerns in a safe, fun, and friendly forum.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

😭 Project team members only coming together for project team meetings on a Fortnightly/Weekly basis.

😭 Lack of appreciation of diversity in the project team. No heroes in one work stream or the other creating competition and adversarial behaviours.

 

#2 Establish strong leadership

If you want your team to do what the business requires of them, you need to lead and show them you are no exception.  Senior Management show the way by demonstrating commitment and a ‘walk the talk’ approach to changes in the workplace and communications about what is working and what is not.

Good looks like this 👍

🔗 Having the right mix of Project Resourcing/Resource Planning – both External and Internal resourcing and diversity of skills.

🔗 A project team with a high-level understanding of the measures for technical success of each other’s project objectives.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

🔒 It’s okay to have diversity in the team, but there is no room for providing inexperienced employees the opportunity to cut their teeth on the project.  

 

#4 Invite contributions and collaborations

The Project Team needs to demonstrate cohesiveness to the wider business and accountability within the group.

Good looks like this 👍

🤗 The Project Team encouraged to interact and draw on the strengths of other project members.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

✂️ Team members doing ‘just in time’ work and demonstrating a hands-off approach to project milestones and deadlines.

 

#5 Invest in team building events

Good looks like this 👍

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Everyone in the project team understanding that collaboration is key to the success of the project.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 More team building activities required.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

⚔️ Many problems not being resolved on site between project team members due to no real relationship or efforts to understand roles and responsibilities.

⚔️ Project Team members not having any opportunity for collaboration and the project team members working separately with no proximity to each other.

⚔️ No encouragement from the Project Manager for fostered communication and collaboration.

 

#6 Monitor and review

Good looks like this 👍

• Regular reinforcement of the projects vision and objectives, 
• Measuring success,
• Holding the team accountable
  and
• Identifying conflict and problems early and addressing these problems early.

Doesn’t look like this 👎

❌ No planning, no scope, no controls, no KPIs, no roles and responsibilities.

 

The Project Director/Project Manager is responsible for creating and maintaining a high performing project team.

They must define, document and provide clear communications on scope, roles and responsibilities, vision and what success looks like to their team.

Creating and maintaining a high performing team is an iterative process and all work elements are carried out continuously throughout the course of the project.

The purpose of creating a high performing and efficient project team is to drive efficiencies, best practices, and collaboration from all team members into the project, with the objective for the project to be delivered on time and to budget.