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for success.
In last Tuesday’s article, PMIZ president Robert Taruwona outlined fundamental lessons about project failures and his emphasis was on teamwork as the essential ingredient for successful projects.
Imagine the stress that project managers such as Douglas Mwonzora and Paul Mangwana endure in managing the diverse Copac project teams (Zimbabwe’s current constitution-making process project).

Today we will look at some tips that project managers may find useful in establishing and maintaining effective project teams in any project management environment.
Once you have been formally assigned a project, do not try to be “super project manager” by working on the project plan alone.
Make sure that your first task is to choose the members of your project team. Think carefully about who you choose.

To start with, think about the areas that your project will involve.
Will it be a marketing venture, an IT project, hybrid of areas or will it be a brand-new venture that no one in your company has expertise in?
You will want people with skills in a variety of areas, including planning, communicating, scheduling and budgeting.

You also want people who are, or who have the potential to be high performers and good team workers.
Once you have identified the skills that you want, take a look at the people in your organisation.

Determine who matches your project’s needs. You may even want to list your desired team members by role.
If you do this, make sure you include a second choice for the major roles.
If your project is in a particularly specialised area (especially if this area is new for your company), you may want to consider adding consultants or subject matter experts to your dream team list.

Your choices should consider skills and personality. Ask yourself:

• Can general experience be sufficient?

• Does the individual need specific experience?

• What interpersonal skills are required?

• How many of each of these skilled people will be needed?

• What level of supervision will be required for this role?

• Not everyone is a team player. Is this important?

Now that you’ve identified who you want, identify the possible obstacles to getting these people on your team and how to get around them.
For example, you may want the star member of another department’s team on your project.
Perhaps if you speak to the head of that department and show them the value of your project they will be more than willing to let that person work with you. Once you have a plan in place, it’s time to act!

Tips to getting the people you need
In many situations, the people that you will want on your project will be on another team, under the direction of someone else.

Although you may need this person on your project, chances are their supervisor needs them too.
To get these people on your team (both figuratively and literally), you must act with grace and diplomacy.
These interpersonal skills are a crucial component of being a project manager. It is essential that you first go to the staff member’s supervisor.
Explain what the project is and how it will benefit the organisation.

You may also want to outline what skills you believe the staff member will gain while they are on the project and how it will benefit their usual role and team.
You can also outline what benefit you will have to the staff member’s supervisor.
Perhaps you can provide information for the employee’s evaluation or provide some much-needed training.

Work with what their supervisor gives you. If the person you want on your team is only available during a certain time frame or for a certain percentage of the day or week, try to work with that.
If there is another staff member who has a similar skill set but is more available go for them.
Think outside the box to get the best solution for the employee, their manager and your project.

Once you have the supervisor’s buy-in, you will want to get the targeted team members’ buy-in, too.
There is no question that teams can unleash tremendous energy for a project. But there are four issues that are critical to the success of that team.

1. Accountability
The biggest problem when forming teams and assigning them projects is that accountability may be lost.
Teams are often formed spontaneously by asking people to volunteer for assignments, they choose their own leader and then proceed with the work.
People may feel that they are being forced into joining a team. Team members must be chosen carefully.
You must obtain buy-in from both the employee and their supervisor.
The employee must be aware that they have specific responsibilities, that they will be expected to perform to the normal standards, and that they will be evaluated at the end of the project.

2. Leadership
Teams also need a leader with more than technical expertise. Team leaders need to understand brainstorming, group dynamics, and the ability to get information from others.
Team leaders also need to meet the same expectations as their team.

3. Resources
Resource allocation at the appropriate managerial level is another critical factor in forming and commissioning a team.
Teams should not be formed from the bottom up and have to search and beg for resources or technical expertise.
The accountable manager should see that these resources are provided.

4. Responsibility
Finally, teams formed to address strategic issues should not be formed at too low a level.
Hands-on workers can deal with operational concerns but they frequently do not have enough information to address strategic considerations.

Building a Winning Team: Why is Teamwork Important?
Project team members must be continuously motivated to see that they are working towards a common goal.
Therefore, assignments should be common knowledge to all participants.

Each individual should understand his/her own area of responsibility and know who is responsible for other facets of the project.
Unless this is clear from the outset, problems will occur, involving hurt egos and/or assignments that are neglected because nobody knew who was supposed to do what.

Here are some tips for building a winning team:

• Define the roles so that you give each team a fighting chance because everyone knows what his/her roles and responsibilities are from the outset.

• l Make a list of all the skills needed to complete each task on your project.

• l Do a skills inventory of the people you have, to see where you stand.

• l Be prepared to negotiate for the team members you need. Don’t just complain, come up with alternatives and solutions.

• l Do the best you can with the people you have, but make sure resulting problems are documented as they occur.

• • If your team doesn’t have all the skills they need, build training into the project.

• If your team isn’t qualified for some tasks and training is taking too long, consider hiring a contract position for that particular skill/task.
• A diverse group of people may be difficult to work with initially, but over the long term they may prove more creative and add more value to the project.
Note: In the long term, learning to work with different people on different projects, and developing your ability to bring out the best in everyone, will make you a more valuable and respected project manager.

• Peter Banda is the Secretary-General and Chief Executive of the Project Management Institute of Zimbabwe (PMIZ). Send your views and comments via email; [email protected] or [email protected] website link www.pmiz.org.zw