Building A Project Team This has been a lot of information to digest. We are now going to focus on different aspects of building a project team. It is not uncommon in many organizations to select several individual members and gather them into a workgroup or team. The reality is this is a group of individuals that are likely individually-based not team-based and do not fully realize the capability or the power of many versus the power of one. A team is a collection of individuals that have been brought together for a common purpose. Individual members each bring a unique skill, talent, or ability that enhances the collective abilities of the group. When all individuals are working together to accentuated and accelerate each other’s work they achieve a greater result together than they could individually. Developing a team is not as easy as it might appear on the surface. The manager that selects a few people with different skills and places them in a work group—is not developing a team. A team is built using a specific collection of personalities, skills, abilities, and talents. The communication styles and skills of the individuals that are placed together should have a common thread and be able to communicate effectively across different aspects of the project.   Literally, the different members need to be able to speak and understand the different languages involved in successfully completing the project from members with skills and areas that are not completely similar to them. An individual that is an accountant or bookkeeper will need to be able to speak to the database administrator in a manner that can be understood using a common language. The information technology specialist needs to be able to speak to sales and marketing managers in a manner and can be understood and easily comprehended. If the different individual members are not able to effectively communicate their thoughts, ideas, and knowledge with members of the group—assessment, analysis, assimilation, and evaluation will be extremely difficult as the different team members will be speaking unrelated languages.  There must be a common understanding to effectively communicate. Learning to interact among peers is essential in teambuilding. Establishing team members or subject matter experts within their field who cannot communicate with individuals outside of their field will be more of a drain on a team than a benefit. Effective communication skills are essential for team building and results. Investing in the team members is a critical role for the leader. The leader truly is a facilitator of the different team members and will work to form a cohesive team that will strengthen and support each other.  A leader will not silo information in order to gain an advantage while compromising the collective team level achievement. Individualism is not acceptable in a team environment. With that said, respecting the individual and what they bring to the team is often a factor that w ...

1. Building A Project Team
This has been a lot of information to digest. We are now going
to focus on different aspects of building a project team. It is not
uncommon in many organizations to select several individual
members and gather them into a workgroup or team. The reality
is this is a group of individuals that are likely individually-
based not team-based and do not fully realize the capability or
the power of many versus the power of one.
A team is a collection of individuals that have been brought
together for a common purpose. Individual members each bring
a unique skill, talent, or ability that enhances the collective
abilities of the group. When all individuals are working together
to accentuated and accelerate each other’s work they achieve a
greater result together than they could individually.
Developing a team is not as easy as it might appear on the
surface. The manager that selects a few people with different
skills and places them in a work group—is not developing a
team. A team is built using a specific collection of
personalities, skills, abilities, and talents. The communication
styles and skills of the individuals that are placed together
should have a common thread and be able to communicate
effectively across different aspects of the project.
Literally, the different members need to be able to speak and
understand the different languages involved in successfully
completing the project from members with skills and areas that
are not completely similar to them. An individual that is an
accountant or bookkeeper will need to be able to speak to the
database administrator in a manner that can be understood using
a common language. The information technology specialist
needs to be able to speak to sales and marketing managers in a
manner and can be understood and easily comprehended.
If the different individual members are not able to effectively
communicate their thoughts, ideas, and knowledge with
members of the group—assessment, analysis, assimilation, and

2. evaluation will be extremely difficult as the different team
members will be speaking unrelated languages.
There must be a common understanding to effectively
communicate.
Learning to interact among peers is essential in teambuilding.
Establishing team members or subject matter experts within
their field who cannot communicate with individuals outside of
their field will be more of a drain on a team than a
benefit. Effective communication skills are essential for team
building and results.
Investing in the team members is a critical role for the leader.
The leader truly is a facilitator of the different team members
and will work to form a cohesive team that will strengthen and
support each other. A leader will not silo information in order
to gain an advantage while compromising the collective team
level achievement. Individualism is not acceptable in a team
environment.
With that said, respecting the individual and what they bring to
the team is often a factor that will bring a team closer to
achieving a greater result. A common occurrence is that the
individuals are not as different as they might think, though they
perform very different functions. Each function in position to
the team is vital to the team’s success. If it is not, assessment
needs to be completed as to the continued need for that
individual in the team role. Learning across functional skills by
the different team members in order to compensate in times of
struggles or scheduling conflicts assists in establishing a solid
foundation for continued team success and the overall success
of the project.
The leader that formulates the team will strive to hand-select
members that can work best together due to personality and
common interests. The leader will establish team development
exercises in order to bring the team closer into a more cohesive
and collective environment and to establish the need for
working with each other in achieving a greater result than the
individuals can produce independently.

3. The understanding of the concept that the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts is vital in project management. Continued
team development exercises are essential for keeping the team
strong. Distinguishing what elements are necessary for
continued effective team management to achieve the project's
desired results is an ongoing process.
Project teams are constantly changing due to the changing needs
of the project. Project advances may require bringing in a new
strategist or technologist to move a project forward. As a team
is developed the individual members and leader will be able to
distinguish what is necessary and how to bring out the best in
each other to meet the needs of the organization and the needs
of the project. For instance, sometimes the team may need to
bring in someone new in order to enhance the time to
productivity and output. When the team gets too comfortable
with each other it may be time to adjust the team functions or
team personality in order to move the project forward.
The team should be working towards the common goal. The
objectives for achieving a common goal should be the priority
of each team member as well as combined and collective goals
of the team. If this is not the case the team is working against
each other instead of with each other. Two horses that are not
harnessed together, though attached to the cart, will tear the cart
apart. The two horses pulling together in the same direction will
achieve a far greater goal using less combined energy than the
individual horses pulling independently.
The project manager and team leaders will need to understand
the needs of the team in comparison to the needs of the project
and the organization. In so doing, they can work towards
developing that common purpose to achieve the desired results.
Placing a group of people together that do not know each other
and have no common interests is not forming a team; this
concept is often lost in poor management practices. One reason
why we discuss teams is that teamwork is an essential element
of effective project management. Projects require solid team
selection, planning, and development for ongoing success in

4. achieving the desired goals of the project. As the trust and
common purpose is built and shared the project team is then
able to produce a far better result working together than
working against each other.