Happy Summer to all of you readers!! I hope you are enjoying the warm, long, lazy days of summer - although I know the Northeast has been getting drenched and in New Mexico we have been getting more precipitation than Seattle where it hasn't rained in almost 60 days!

Travels have picked up for me lately (but there's still room if you need help with anything). Is the recession abating? Or at least stalling a bit? Sure hope so, for all of our sakes. From a finance perspective, after the 1929 stock crash, it took until 1953 for stocks to come back to their pre-crash value. TWENTY FOUR years!! WOW! That certainly tempers my tendency to think all my savings will return "soon!!"

...and the beat goes on!

The topic for this newsletter is Team Development. Not Team Building, which to me is a one-time event (or very infrequent event) but Team Development, which is a process that takes place over TIME.

On another note, are any of you interested in personal/spiritual growth? And do you happen to have Labor Day weekend free? If the answer to both those questions is YES, then you might be interested in a 4-day retreat I will be holding in the glorious mountains of Northern New Mexico. You can check it out by clicking here.

Do take some time to relax and enjoy the long days, warm nights and the local summer events in your area of the country!

All the best,

Susan

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Project Management World

The Problem...

Pressure to Create a High-Performing Team

From a reader: "In my organization, management wants to see innovative, high-performing teams working on projects, especially our high priority ones. That is well and good but they expect this to happen as soon as the team is formed. I have no clue where to even start...can you offer any suggestions?" - Frustrated Project Manager.

Let's address this issue, as always, from 3 levels in the organization.

Scroll down to see the solution from all three perspectives or jump to the Senior Management, Project Manager, or Team Member perspective.

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The Solution...

From the Project Manager Perspective...

The pressure is on. You have a job to do - to get the project defined, planned, approved, and then implemented. Who has time to pay attention to building a high-performing team, right?

As a Project Manager, it is really important you understand that just because you pull a group of qualified people together and create a common goal does NOT mean that great teamwork will automatically happen. (Sorry!)

Chances are, you already know if you have a dysfunctional team. For those who aren't sure, here's a short list of signs:

1. Low morale, apathy abounds;
2. Your team is not proactive - it's always in the reactive mode;
3. Communication misunderstandings are common;
4. Personal conflicts occur frequently;
5. Team members are unmotivated or unsupportive;
6. The team does not resolve problems without management's (or your) intervention.

Here are a few quick tips for success that you might be able to fit into a busy schedule:

1. Recruit team members with the specific expertise needed. Insure that each team member understands what knowledge, skills and abilities the other members offer, how it fits into the project and what they have to offer.
    
2. Develop mutual trust. Increase trust by building a "we" environment instead of an "us vs. them" environment. Create a partnership with your team members - knowing none of you can do it all alone!! You NEED each other to be successful!
    
3. Create a sense of belonging. Insure everyone on the team knows each other. Encourage them to spend some time getting to know each other outside the team (lunch, coffee break, whatever).
    
4. Create the Project Implementation Plan as soon as you can. The longer the team flounders around wondering why they are there, what the goal is and what they are supposed to do, the harder it will be for the team to evolve. Insure the GOAL you create is solid, realistic and viable.
    
5. Create ground rules at the first meeting. Empower the TEAM to develop them (versus you telling them). Think of ground rules for each of 3 categories - Administrative, Behavioral and Email. Then follow them, assess how they are working and adjust or clarify as needed.
    
6. Acknowledge and celebrate successes. Talk about it! Acknowledge team members for what they brought to the success. Also, people have always used food and drink to celebrate (and bond!) so don't forget to do that too!

The tips above can add up to creating the right team culture to foster a high-performing team. Building and designing this team culture should be as much a priority as getting the project accomplished. The payoff is in having a high-performing team that will do whatever it takes to bring the project in successfully.

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From the Team Member Perspective...

What can you do as a team member to help create a high-performing team?

• Participate in creating the team ground rules and then follow them!
• Be fully present at team meetings (that means no texting under the table!).
• Be proactive in highlighting potential risks and pitfalls.
• Participate in problem-solving and brainstorming sessions.
• Practice being authentic, telling the truth, giving and receiving constructive feedback.
• Get to know your team members outside the team environment.
• Insure you have the skills to do the project tasks you take on. Do them at the quality level and timeframes agreed to in the Project Implementation Plan.

Remember! There IS an "I" in team - it is you and your subject matter expert skills. That, along with the skills of other team members working collaboratively and creatively together, will make up that high-performing team!!

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Where is Susan?

Want to meet?

July 28-31, 2009: San Francisco, CA

August 12-22, 2009: North Jersey/NYC area
August 25-28, 2009: Dallas, TX

September 3-10,2009: Taos, NM and vicinity

October 4-7, 2009: Houston, TX