To maximise the contribution of project teams, a number of essentials need to be recognised. The good news is that the essentials to team success aren't expensive, don't require the expenditure of large amounts of capital or expense money, and don't require new bricks and mortar. The further news and biggest challenge is that the only change needed to be made to implement the essentials to project team success is behaviour.
What are the 5 essentials for successful teams?
- Team Composition and Roles
- Team Goals and Expectations
- Team Resources
- Team Sponsorship
- Team Recognition and Rewards
Let's look at each of the 5 essentials in more detail to develop a checklist of what needs to be done:
1. Team Composition and Roles
The single most important element about team composition is having a team that is effective working together. Collaboration and communication skills are two of most critical personal skills demanded of all members. The ability and willingness to recognise and value the different roles and contributions of team members is essential. Every team needs problem solving, influence, process and compliance behaviours and values if it is to be successful. People possessing those different requirements for group success have very different behaviours and conflict can be one of the products of their interactions. Team development at the very start of the project should include training in communication skills, and the recognition and valuing of the different behaviours, values and personal skills needed for team success.
How many people should be in a core team - the nucleus of the group? No more than five to seven key members. Co-ordination and communication issues grow exponentially if more people are added to the core team. When additional resources are required, apply them on an as needed basis. If you have a requirement demanding more than five to seven people, reduce the individual team goals to a scope that can be covered by five to seven - or have more teams.
Roles that must be present include champion/sponsor, leader, facilitator, technical expert, co-ordinator, chronicler, communicator/presenter and someone to ensure the team keeps it collective eyes on the goal. One person may fulfill more than one role, or roles may be rotated or shared, but they must be done - absent any one of them, the team suffers in its performance.
2. Team Goals and Expectations
The establishment of specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time framed goals for teams are absolutely essential to their success. If goals are not set for the team at the outset that meet those five criteria, then the first goal of the team is to develop goals and gain approval of their goals from their sponsor. Failure to do this is the single biggest reason that teams fail. Establishing the goals and making them known is the single best way to define and manage expectations, and provide the basis for measuring progress and contribution.
3. Team Resources
This is where the saying "actions speak louder than words" really means something. The resources a team needs to meet its goals vary widely, based on any number of elements. The two resources that tell a team - any team - just how important their goals are to the organisation are time and talent.
If team membership is simply layered on top of existing duties, if meetings are constantly delayed or cancelled because of other issues, if expertise cannot be made available by functional areas because the expertise is too busy working on other things, if briefing meetings with sponsors and leadership are difficult to schedule or keep getting changed, if team questions or concerns do not get quick review and response, then team goals aren't that important - regardless what is said.
4. Team Sponsorship
The sponsor needs to be highly placed, actively engaged on a regular basis with the team, able to make things happen so the team can move forward to its goals, must have personal "skin" in the game, and has to have access to the very top leader on a routine basis. If those criteria are met, team performance is given a real chance to succeed - without it teams may be successful, but it will take longer and introduce a real chance for ineffectiveness and lack of enthusiasm.
5. Team Rewards and Recognition
Studies have shown that top two things people in their work want are, being recognised as a contributing member of a worthy enterprise, and recognition and reward for their accomplishments.
A contributing member of a worthy enterprise. People want to identify with the enterprise. They want to know that what they do has value in the marketplace, and has value to the success of their organisation.. The organisation has to communicate that every position adds value - some may be more obvious than others, but the "we are all in this together" approach and philosophy of work leads to high performance.
Recognition and rewards can come in many forms. Accomplishment on team projects needs to be publicised, and individual accomplishment within teams should lead to actions that make it clear that team participation and success lead to opportunities. One other thing about rewards and recognition - they can be lost in the helter-skelter of getting everything done. Schedule regular review times - at least monthly, to determine who should be recognised and rewarded, and make it a very public ceremony. If you find you cannot name - quickly - people to reward, you really need to look at how the team is performing.
Review the essentials and compare them to your own organisation, then change what you need to change to improve success - or to implement teams in your company. Doing so will ensure that you are accessing the collective genius of your organisation - and that's like money in the bank - for everyone!
Andy Cox is President of Cox Consulting Group LLC. The focus of his work is on helping organisations and their people increase their success in the hiring, developing and enhancing the performance of leaders and emerging leaders. Cox Consulting Group LLC was started in 1995, and has worked with a wide range of organisations, managers and leaders - helping them define success, achieve success and make the ability to change a competitive advantage. He can be reached at www.coxconsultgroup.com. 
Involving people on broad issues is motivational. Never underestimate people. Their views can enhance everything: methods, standards, processes and overall effectiveness.
Remember, managers are not paid to have all the ideas that are necessary to keep their section working well in a changing world, but they are paid to make sure that there are enough ideas to make things work and go on working.
Use your people and make it clear to them that you want and value their contributions.
Underpinning Success
Some matters are of particular importance to the way a manger and staff work together. This is not the place to review the whole management process, but the following four areas are key and must be addressed correctly early on if results are to follow. They are:
- Setting goals
- Project management
- Ongoing development
- Job performance appraisal
A quick look at each of these in turn...
Setting Goals
"If you don't know where you are going any road will do"
For all its familiarity and common sense this maxim is worth reiterating. No one and no organisation works well without clear objectives. The responsibility for setting many of them may well be yours.
Objectives will only be clear if they are SMART:
- Specific so that they are clearly understood and no misunderstanding is possible.
- Measurable so that everyone knows whether they have hit them, or not.
- Achievable because if they are simply pie in the sky they will be ignored and you, and any future process of objective setting, will lose credibility.
- Realistic in the sense that they must logically fit within the broad picture and be a desirable way of proceeding.
- Timed without clear timing they will become meaningless.
The objectives you set must condition and direct what your people do. Make sure everyone has clear goals and they are committed to achieving them.
Project Management
Many of the tasks to be done involve the complex process of people working together in a co-ordinate way over time. When this is headed up by you or involves you, make sure that the project is:
- Carefully and systematically planned and organised.
- Effectively executed.
- Precisely monitored.
- Fine-tuned so that contingencies and changes are accommodated.
Brought in on time, on spec and if appropriate, on budget
Your management of others will be jeopardised if the way you organise the work of the section in any way falters.
Ongoing Development
Nothing is more important to people than their success. Time and again you hear people say something like, "Above all, I want to work with a manager from whom I can learn." The development of your people is not something to ignore or leave to training departments. The responsibility is yours. Make sure people have the right knowledge, skills and attitudes to do the jobs you want and to do them well. Development is not only about correcting weaknesses, it is about upgrading and taking people forward, not least to keep up with change.
Tell your people that you:
- Recognise that their development is important.
- Will help them gain experience and extend skills and...
- Create a visible system so to do.
As the old saying goes you can either, "have five years' experience or one year's experience multiplied by five." People want the former. Show them you are the means to achieve it.
Use the Development Cycle
- Analyse the job (what is needed to do it).
- Analyse the person (their competencies).
- Look ahead, anticipate what new skills, etc. the job might necessitate in the future.
- Define the gap - what must be done to create a good fit between the person and the job.
- Specify development activity, methods, budget and priorities.
- Implement action and monitor results.
This is a rolling cycle. Keep clear records, make sure everyone is reviewed in this way and create a culture in which people value development and what it brings. Part of your job is helping people to learn.
Development is sufficiently important to people (as well as being important in its own right) for you to address the process and give out the right messages about it. You may, sensibly, not want to send everyone off on a course so consider other actions, asking:
- Should development be on the agenda for meetings?
- Can anything be done on-the-job? (In any case, a key part of the manager's personal responsibility for development).
- Can any ongoing actions be instigated now? (A simple monthly lunchtime session, perhaps).
The culture of an organisation in terms of its attitude to training and development is important to people. Their view of it is, in part, dependent on you. Send the right signals.
Performance Appraisals
In many organisations appraisals are poorly conducted and rated unhelpful by those who are appraised. Appraisals should:
- Be constructive, helpful and motivational.
- Focus on the future.
- Be a genuine opportunity for both parties to ensure that the period ahead (year, quarter, etc.) goes well, perhaps better than the last.
- Link to action plans for the future.
Study your organisation's appraisal system and learn how to conduct an effective appraisal meeting. This is good use of management time. Apart from helping you achieve results in a practical sense; it will also position you as a competent manager and differentiate you from others.
Management Processes
Whatever processes you set up, will be seen as a sign of your style. If they meet with approval, trust is built. If not, they distance you from your staff. You must ensure system and processes are:
- Fair
- Understandable
- Effective
- Relevant
- Time (& cost) effective
And are not:
- Bureaucratic
- Out of touch with realities
- Over complex
- Restrictive/contradictory
- Incompatible with other systems/common sense
Everything you set up (or maintain if someone else instigated it) must aid the effectiveness and efficiency of the section. Those who do the work will quickly see inappropriate systems as you making their jobs more difficult; not a way you want to be seen. As the advertising slogan of the Abbey National banks said, "Life's complicated enough."
And Finally - The Four Vital Components
The trend during the last few years has been toward technology-based Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRMs). Research has shown that the benefits a company can realise from any such innovation are dramatically increased when four vital components are in place together:
- Technology (CRMs for example).
- A clearly defined sales process.
- Training and personnel development.
- Performance related compensation.
Often companies will invest thousands of pounds in CRM technology, sales training and performance related compensation packages for their salespeople; yet forget about defining the sales process. As a consequence the investment made in other areas cannot be maximised unless there is such a process in place to underpin those three factors.
Jonathan Farrington is the CEO of Top Sales Associates and Chairman of The Sales Corporation - based in London and Paris. Jonathan's personal site The JF Consultancy, - www.jonathanfarrington.com. - offers a superb range of unique and innovative sales solutions and you can also catch his daily blog at The JF Blogit - www.thejfblogit.co.uk.
Copyright © 2008 Jonathan Farrington. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
Inspire Smart Solutions Partners With Microsoft to Provide Enterprise Resource Planning Tool, Microsoft Dynamics Nav
Denver, CO – August 26, 2008 – Inspire Smart Solutions announced today they are offering a new adaptable business management solution for their clients with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, an enterprise resource planning tool (ERP).
As a Microsoft partner, Inspire Smart Solutions offers Microsoft Dynamics NAV, one of the top five ERP systems in the world for small to mid-sized businesses.
Inspire Smart Solutions’ rationale for offering Microsoft Dynamics NAV to their clients was simple: It is a powerful solution designed to help growing organizations streamline their processes, reduce operational costs, manage compliance and drive informed decision-making.
Subodh Gupta, President of Inspire Smart Solutions says, “We saw many of our clients going through internal struggles as they grew and we wanted to help them solve their growing pains. We believe Microsoft Dynamics NAV is that answer – it’s the best solution for the growth-related challenges small to mid-sized businesses face.”
Specifically, Inspire Smart Solutions offers Microsoft Dynamics NAV because it provides:
Improved effectiveness in all branches of business
Customized processes to meet any industry needs
Expanded capabilities as companies grow
Reduced operational costs within an organization
Efficiently managed inventory and overhead
“We saw immense value in offering Microsoft Dynamics NAV as an integrated business service to help our clients successfully take their businesses to the next level,” says Gupta, President of Inspire Smart Solutions.
As a certified Microsoft partner, Inspire Smart Solutions utilizes Microsoft Dynamics NAV to help their clients accelerate growth through customized processes such as manufacturing, distribution, financial management, sales and marketing, human resources, warehouse management, customer relationship and much more.
As a leading business solutions provider, Microsoft Dynamics NAV is the most recent technology-based service Inspire Smart Solutions has made available for their clients.
For more information please visit www.inspiresmart.com
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About Inspire Smart Solutions
InspireSmart Solutions is a premiere business solutions provider offering cutting-edge, customized and affordable web-based services and IT solutions for small to mid-sized businesses in all industries around the globe.
About Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and supply chain management solutions that helps businesses work more effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing specialized services, these integrated, adaptable business management solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire business.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
To make it happen, we may not just simply take advantage of our own brains, but there's just as well take advantage of other people's brains. Therefore, we must realize is, that after we feel business developed rapidly, and we became the number one in the company that we founded, of course, can not be all business activities can we run with our own brains.
So, naturally if we take advantage of other people's brains, which by William E. Heinecke, author of the book "The Entrepreneur 21 Golden Rules for the Global Bussiness Manager", called "work with other People's Brain". According, leading a successful entrepreneur to develop the business of Pizza Hut, an entrepreneur who was willing to work with other people take advantage of the brain, is in fact a true entrepreneur.
I also feel, that take advantage of other people's brains in the business, especially in this third millennium, it is very important. Often it is better than all of us should run itself. Say, we will easily capture the business opportunities with the help of other people's brains. As a result, we can be moody, overwork, and it is difficult for us to enjoy a decent living as an entrepreneur.
I am sure, if we are able to capitalize on other people with good brains, is actually also a positive effort we avoid our own stubbornness. And, it will be easier to make us want to listen with an open heart what others are saying. In the end, the attitude of this reason, will create a harmonious working relationship. So we as an entrepreneur who has a company, it would be wise if we also do not easily "allergic" to what others are saying.
In addition, if we could use someone else with a good brain, indeed a positive development for our own business. That, we were apparently able to lift ourselves as a company leader Bener do have professional skills and emotional intelligence. Undoubtedly, our business will continue to exist and develop more rapidly when these or in the future.
And, keep in mind that other people take advantage of the brain, it is not our weaknesses as an entrepreneur. But instead, it just shows that we really have to have intellectual, emotional intelligence, love of self, and companies. Dream to Be an Investor
