Few people object to be part of a team, especially a successful one. But how come that some project teams have winner written all over them, while others manage to produce mediocre results at best? There is no clean-cut answer to this question. Next to people it can be any number of things, individual intellectual brilliance, dedication, perseverance, methodology, skills or the right mix of all of these qualities.
But most of all, it’s people. People, being able and willing to work together and people making it possible for others to become a project team. Sometimes it just takes somebody to think a little outside of the box, as the author of ““Overview to the PMBOK® Guide”” so aptly illustrates with this episode from the book, which was published by Springer-Verlag:
I once had a project team in Ireland and needed the skills of a colleague in the USA. He had to think about it, because it would involve being away from home for a month. Apparently his wife was not keen on this. My manager then said that if that was the problem, the colleague’s wife should accompany him with the costs paid for by the company. The hotel did not cost anything extra because there was a room rate. The only additional cost was for her fare. This decision solved the project skill requirements problem.
How teams, once they have fused into focused units, can launch new projects more effectively will be the subject of next week’s blog. If you have stories of you own, share them with us.