Project Management and Teamwork, perfect partners
February 7, 2009 by Kim Beasley
Filed under Business
As a seasoned project manager, I have had my share of projects that have gone haywire and also those that have flowed smoothly. In all of my years, the one thing that has always helped to ensure that a project was completed is the teamwork between the project members. Project management and teamwork are perfect partners because a project might fail if you don’t have teamwork.
Teamwork is defined by Webster online dictionary as…
So the old adage that “one for all and all for one” is something to keep in when working as a team member on a project team. It’s not about one person shining above the rest but it’s about each team member working as a whole to accomplish the same project goals.
I believe that sharing from ones experience is always helpful to others so I thought I would share a few things that should be kept in mind when developing a project team:
- Teach each other something new
- Enjoy and celebrate the special moments of success
- Alternative planning should be kept in mind if a roadblock occurs
- Me is not the center to a successful team but We is
- Working as one helps to keep the team focused
- Original thinking should be encouraged and applauded
- Remember that the team is only as strong as it’s weakest link, so build up everyone
- Keep focused, keep strong and keep your goals in mind
I would love to hear some of the creative things that you have done to foster teamwork on your projects. Please feel free to leave a comment or question on this post.
Image credit: Kim Beasley (creator)
Those are some very good points. Having the right amount of teamwork also requires having a great team put together too. I’ve worked on teams where one or more people were not pulling their weight and it made it difficult for the other team members to get their part done effectively and in a timely manner.
I don’t agree that no one should “shine” or stand out though. If one member of the team is doing more than their fair share of the work, then they should be allowed to shine, especially if they are carrying the weight of other team members who just aren’t performing up to par or doing their part to keep the project going.
I’ve seen this happen in both virtual teams and “bricks and mortar” businesses. There may be one particular member, or sometimes even the team’s leader, who is holding up the process which requires the others to work even harder to ensure the success of the project. I think its fair to acknowledge those people and give them the credit they deserve.
I would like to add one more to your TEAM WORK concept. That is: stand beside others in bad time and be confident and united when failure comes.
Thank you for your nice article.