OK, so you are a project manager at an architecture, engineering, or construction firm. You have a team that really doesn’t work for you; they don’t always play well together in the sand box; and your boss is holding you accountable for the results.
Is now the time to follow your dream of being a professional surfer? Before you throw in the towel and lose your polo shirt and slacks for board shorts, welcome you to the club. This is normal.
Most project teams consist of a bunch of disciplines and people of different motivations, personalities, backgrounds, prejudices, skills and sensitivities who, typically, don’t work directly for you. So you can’t hire, fire, or really discipline. So how do you herd the cats? Here are five tips from someone who has done this for fifty years.
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Articulate your vision: At the outset get your team together and articulate what you see as the major challenges and your vision for the final product. Ask them to share their personal vision for the project with rest of the team. At this point, you are working to establish a mutual trust among team members and with you as the team leader. This will be a shared, collaborative venture with joint input, common values, and a singular vision.
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Know your team: As noted in the opening paragraph, you will have a team of individuals with different backgrounds and skills. It is up to you to get to know each of the team members, how they are motivated, how they communicate (introvert/extrovert; visual, auditory and so forth). You do this by spending time one-on-one with each of them and observing.
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MBWA: This acronym comes from Tom Peter’s book In Search of Excellence and means “Management by Wandering Around.” You may be really busy and your team may be busy, but when you, at random, visit with them in their work space, tactfully check progress, see what help they need, ask how they are doing, you help to build trust and stay on top of things. You “show the flag,” demonstrate an interest in their work, and keep yourself informed.
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Hold Team Members Accountable: If you find that a team member is not meeting your expectations or the expectations of other team members, don’t dismiss it or hope for the best. The time to take action is now. Firmly but tactfully outline the shortcoming and explain what change you expect. Do this in private and do this in a fashion that will build trust and correct the behavior. (I did this once with an individual and he came to me months later and admitted that it was only then that he realized that he was being “chewed out”).
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Celebrate success: When your team passes a milestone, celebrate. Take them out for pizza, you buy (no, it’s probably not job chargeable, it’s called “noblesse oblige”). But celebrate and thank them for their work.
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