The 7 Habits of High Performing Teams, Part II
High performing project teams are a special breed, but not so special that becoming one should be totally left to chance, writes PMplanet columnist Ron Ponce of Fog City Consulting.
Focus
Teams and individuals are easily distracted, and those distractions take away from their ability to execute and deliver on behalf of the project. Those distractions are mitigated in part with high performing teams because of the clear purpose that has been provided, their deep engagement in the project, and the leadership provided. The three mitigations also help to provide a strong comfort level that they are being supported by you, as the project manager, and their teammates. This will allow them to not worry about events out of their control and focus on what they do best, which is to focus on the quality of their work and the positive impact that will have on the project being able to meets its objectives.
The ability to focus enhances the team’s commitment. You see that commitment in execution of their tasks, their fellow teammate, and ownership of the vision all of which contribute to their ability to successfully deliver. Another contributing factor to that focus is having clearly defined the roles and responsibilities on the project, which translates down to clear assignments and expectations. It is important that those assignments are challenging to the team by stretching their capabilities, which circles back to contributing to their engagement on the project. People want to know that they can contribute but do so in a meaningful way for both the project and themselves.
Accountability
A project team will make countless contributions during the life of any project. Team members on high performing teams all feel a strong sense of accountability for not only the contributions they are responsible for individually but also collectively as a team. The accountability stems from a strong sense of ownership. Engaged team members feel that empowerment and ownership because their experience is valued, their contributions are recognized, and their expertise is leveraged.
At the start of any project, it is on the project manager to lead the way when it comes to accountability. I believe that they need to hold themselves to a higher standard in order to show by example the importance that being accountable is especially when things don’t go as planned. The team will see that and feed off that example. In addition, it is import to reward performance to reinforce the importance of accountability for quality work.
Communication
For any team to act as one they must be on the same page with their knowledge, information, and direction. It is imperative that there is constant and open communication between all members of the team especially if the team is spread out in different locations. Communication is always a critical component of any project, and it is no different for high performing teams. What sets them apart from their peers is the time and thought that goes into determining a solid communication plan that outlines key items like the structure, templates, and distribution technology that will be used to successfully keep the team informed. Many say it is obvious what to leverage in that we’ll use email and phone calls if needed or maybe even IM. That is all well and good, but the structure and thought pays off when communication is urgent and there is no room for error that a message will be missed or not understood. The plan outlines the clear communication channels that should be used and when in order to successfully get the word out and make sure that the proper action is taken.
Teams many times will create their own language that can range from acronyms to project specific slang. This behavior is a great outward sign that a true team culture has formed and that communication between the team is in good shape. As project manager, you did need to be careful to make sure that the team does translate so that those outside the team can understand their project specific language.
Responsiveness
When you think about it, a project is a series of actions. Some of the actions are planned and some are not. Every project team will be measured in part by their ability to deliver on those actions. Now, the high performing team set themselves apart because of their responsiveness to the action that are presented them. The team has a strong outward focus that is client centric. As a result, their responsive is always timely to meet or even exceed the expectations of the client. The team and project manager are very aware of their client’s needs and wants and do everything they can to respect that and make them come to life.
Business conditions change especially in larger projects given their duration and as a result objectives change. In order to be successful, the team must change with those objectives. The high performing teams are able to digest and implement the changes better than their peers due in part to the responsiveness and flexibility. The team receives a new updated focus and purpose based on the approved change from their leadership and implements them as newly planned. The core of the team’s ability to be responsive comes from the respect they have for each other and the client. The respect emanates from the trust they have in each other based on what they have accomplished to date as well as from the respect they have been given to provide input on the change and how to implement it. The project manager and team wants to be treated well and it starts by making sure they treat the client well. They want to do right by both.
High performing project teams are a special breed, but not so special that becoming one should be totally left to chance. These seven steps when thought out and implemented consistently will produce all the qualities and environment required to have any team perform at the highest levels. The goal is to change the paradigm to where being on a project team that does not perform at the highest level is the exception to the rule.
