Ah, the team/group
Now you're right up my alley! As a Project Manager, this is where I work and it is my comfort zone. Managing teams can be very challenging, even small teams! Not only are different personalities represented on a team but there are different levels of skill and engagement.
Being an affective leader on a team takes skill, finesse and understanding where each and every team member is on a level of engagement. Some of your team members may be 'enthusiastic learners,' willing to take it on and learn, these folks you need to help and direct. Then there are the 'disillusioned learners,' those who have the knowledge but feel a bit overwhelmed. They need less direction but more support and acknowledgement. Then you may have the 'capable but cautious performer, who is an expert but is a bit wary of overstepping or even of their own expertise, these folks need support and some coaching along the way. Then there are the self-reliant achievers, the ones that volunteer for every project and are very self-directed that only need your support and need to feel valued. Recognizing these stages will help in a team or group situation.
I found, as a rule, I like to keep the teams focused, engaged and on track by providing structure. For the non- or low-structure folks, this may be intimidating, so introducing this technique needs to be done in a way that is not intruding. I have done this by providing the structure myself and merely interviewing the team members and keeping track using project management tools.
Another important task is to keep everyone engaged. This can be very difficult on long-range projects of 1 year or more. Priorities change, natural attrition, environment (internal and external) changes and just the mere fact that it is a long project! To help engage folks, I will have periodic meetings, lunches and off-sites to keep the project top-of-mind as well as establishing relationships. I also implement periodic updates from and to all the team members, stakeholders and sponsors.
In the long-run, we have been very successful in managing and maintaining teams. I have also found that keeping myself engaged in organizations that specifically relate to my job, like pmp.org and business networking, keeps me fresh with ideas and innovation for my teams. This class is a great example of something that I felt necessary to take to understand communication in the work environment and the team.
Now you're right up my alley! As a Project Manager, this is where I work and it is my comfort zone. Managing teams can be very challenging, even small teams! Not only are different personalities represented on a team but there are different levels of skill and engagement.Being an affective leader on a team takes skill, finesse and understanding where each and every team member is on a level of engagement. Some of your team members may be 'enthusiastic learners,' willing to take it on and learn, these folks you need to help and direct. Then there are the 'disillusioned learners,' those who have the knowledge but feel a bit overwhelmed. They need less direction but more support and acknowledgement. Then you may have the 'capable but cautious performer, who is an expert but is a bit wary of overstepping or even of their own expertise, these folks need support and some coaching along the way. Then there are the self-reliant achievers, the ones that volunteer for every project and are very self-directed that only need your support and need to feel valued. Recognizing these stages will help in a team or group situation.
I found, as a rule, I like to keep the teams focused, engaged and on track by providing structure. For the non- or low-structure folks, this may be intimidating, so introducing this technique needs to be done in a way that is not intruding. I have done this by providing the structure myself and merely interviewing the team members and keeping track using project management tools.
Another important task is to keep everyone engaged. This can be very difficult on long-range projects of 1 year or more. Priorities change, natural attrition, environment (internal and external) changes and just the mere fact that it is a long project! To help engage folks, I will have periodic meetings, lunches and off-sites to keep the project top-of-mind as well as establishing relationships. I also implement periodic updates from and to all the team members, stakeholders and sponsors.
In the long-run, we have been very successful in managing and maintaining teams. I have also found that keeping myself engaged in organizations that specifically relate to my job, like pmp.org and business networking, keeps me fresh with ideas and innovation for my teams. This class is a great example of something that I felt necessary to take to understand communication in the work environment and the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment