Tag Archives: #projectmamagement #peopleskillls #softskills #management

Building Successful Teams

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In todays Business World most people agree that having a unified well performing Team is essential to success however this is not achieved by accident but as a result of putting key structures in place in order to promote good teamworking behaviours:-

1) A No Blame Culture.

Individuals need to feel safe to express opinions, take risks, share ideas & to fail occasionally, without fear of retribution or retaliation. In this environment communication, innovation & problem solving thrive. 

In order to foster such an environment Leaders must exhibit their own vulnerability & mistakes.

2) Shared Goals.

The Team needs to have a shared vision & targets which need to be clearly communicated throughout the organisation.Each  member needs to understand not only their own skills & responsibilities but how these intermesh with others. It is also a huge benefit if the organisations key goals & objectives are developed collaboratively with the Team, a sense of ownership promotes responsibility.

3) Complimentary Skills.

Building effective Teams involves careful selection of individuals to ensure the Team has the neccessary skills to perform the Task in hand. Diversity is important here with individuals from wide ranging backgrounds to provide alternative perspectives. The use of Skills Matrices may be helpful to aid assessment.

4) Mutual Accountability 

As well as setting individual objectives set mutual Team objectives & celebrate wins to cement cohesiveness.

5) Normalise Good Practice

– by Learning from mistakes & promoting uniformity around Team meetings & reporting structures.

Summary

High Performance Teams don’t happen by accident, they need to be designed & nurtured like a well tended garden, by providing the right structures & feeding correct behavious results will be beyond expectations.

If you need help developing your Team feel free to get in touch.

Chris@amberhill,biz

www.amberhill-associates.co.uk

People Skills for Project Managers

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Rs=w 800,cg true.There is loads of advice out there regarding Project Management Process & documentation but here are some of my takes on building effective relationships & Teams, some may be obvious & others less so:-

1) Don’t play email tennis. We’ve all seen those boring long winded email chains copying the world & his wife on a topic of disagreement. Nip it in the bud at the first opportunity by picking up the phone & discussing it directly. Even better have a face to face. You will get a better understanding of the other parties perspective & in the vast majority of cases be able to reach a compromise without either party ‘losing face’ 

Also remember it may be you who has to revise their opinion on something – this is not a sign of weakness but strength – to be able to assimilate a different point of view & accept it for the overall benefit of the project..

2) Don’t embarass colleagues in a Team Meeting by highlighting an error they have made. Discuss offline with the colleague & seek solutions rather than blame. This can then be presented in subsequent meeting as ‘we mitigated the risk by doing x,y & z – Note the emphasis on We.

3) Give credit where its due highlighting the positive impact of an action & by expressing gratitude to the person responsible. Don’t try to take credit for the actions of other – you will negatively impact the Team & destroy your own credibility.

4) Own up to your own mistakes – we are all human & this will encourage others to do the same.

5) Be prpared to deliver bad news to stakeholders – however, before doing so always prepare a Contingency Plan highlighting Risk Mitigation. No one wants to hear a key milestone is going to be missed without knowing there is a back up plan in place which keeps the overalll plan on track.

6) Protect the Team by being the first point of contact for key stakeholders minimising the impact of organizational politics.

7) For Technical issues always consult the experts – don’t pretend you know everything – you don’t.

8) Celebrate success – there are always plenty of of challenges in any project so make the most of the high points !

Any other suggestions – please comment.

Chris@amberhill.biz

www.amberhill.biz