Creating a positive project environment
You’ve probably heard “the leader sets the tone.” This tone is all about the environment you create for your project team. Here are things you can do – TODAY – to make your project environment a positive one.
Promote the sharing of news, good and bad. Task completions, delays, stakeholder conversations, new ideas, and conflicts are all changes in status – and you’ll hear about all of them if you support your teams. Whether updates are positive or negative, thank people who share status information. That way, you can respond to project issues, rather than react without time to think.
Build a team. Even for a short project. Come up with a team name — not the project business name. (Nobody wants to work on the Amalgamated Velcro Production and Efficiency Management Project…but they might enjoy being on the “Better Rip and Stick” team!). Act as if YOU are part of the team and promote teamwork to get tasks accomplished. Share accountability and celebrate little victories. You’ll get dedicated team members who will want to work with you…now and in the future.
Ensure team members know the business relevance of their tasks. A WBS doesn’t convey the relevance of tasks to your team members. Ensure they understand how their deliverables fit into the big picture and will improve the business. You’ll get better deliverables and more dedication from your team.
Help team members feel like they belong. Having a diverse team is good, but that’s only step one. Include all your team members in decision-making and planning your project. Beyond that, help every team member feel they belong by caring about them.
Share the business’s impressions of your project. Often, the best thing you can do is shield your project team from business stakeholders, especially when business pressures cause wild reactions to status changes or preliminary project change ideas. However, you should share how the business views the project and how its outcomes will be put to use. This helps the team understand the project and builds motivation to produce results on a difficult project.
For more on building your project team, watch the Manage Team Resources movie in my Project Management Foundations course.