Raise your hands if you heard or saw of a project planned and managed only by an almighty project manager. None, is my assumption. However great and seasoned and brilliant the project manager he/she is non-existent (my apologies for the directness) without the project team. There is no solo playing in project management. You may try it though for a while to see how it feels. I’ll be patiently waiting here for you when you are back from Olympus. I’ve been there and made a quick descend.

There are many successful examples, which bring the reassurance that great teams can be a great reality. Watching interviews with Steve Jobs when he speaks about Apple team collaborative approach. Or the way bees work, for example. Undoubtedly, getting people to work as a team can be daunting for a project manager. Sometimes you have to accept that you cannot win them all and find optimum ways to make things work in spite of differences.

Before attempting to manage a team, try to define Team Work, in your own words and understanding.

Is it

Together

Efficiently

Accomplishing the

Mission

Or
Through

Endless

Annoying

Meetings

?

You may find your own definition of the team, the one that works for you and your team. The key word here is “and”.

In projects, teams are short-lived experiences. One of greatest challenges for project managers is to make people, who know that the “work marriage” is only a temporary appearance in their lives, invest to their max? The world of project management is polygamous and the perspective of another interesting project or recommendations to another project manager is quite motivational, in most cases.

I’ll return with more on teams, one of my favourite aspects of project management.