Managing a large team on a project can be challenging, especially when you need to coordinate different tasks, deadlines, and expectations. How do you ensure everyone is working together effectively and efficiently? Here are some tips to help you lead your team to success.
The first step is to clearly define the scope and goals of the project, and communicate them to your team. This will help everyone understand the purpose, scope, and deliverables of the project, as well as their roles and responsibilities. You can use a project charter or a statement of work to document the project scope and goals, and share it with your team and stakeholders.
There are two kinds of teams: bowling teams where everyone does their personal best and basketball teams where everyone helps each other. In the context of a really big project, small groups that act internally like a basketball team will appear to the overall effort as another individual contributor. Most of the work will occur as individual or small group efforts. One role of the project manager is to ensure that each of those individual efforts are understood and successful and that together they aggregate to overall success. Another is to teach the many individual efforts how they must work together and help one another. The project manager must create many successful bowling teams and teach them to work together as a basketball team.
Setting clear expectations, having a clear communications plan and the most important point is to follow up and give feedback
* Clear communication & collaboration tools: Establish clear goals, roles, and expectations for each team member. Utilize communication tools like project management platforms or regular team meetings to keep everyone informed and synced. * Foster open communication & feedback: Encourage open communication and active listening within the team. Create a safe space for individuals to share ideas, concerns, and updates. * Promote collaboration & team spirit: Organize team-building activities or social events to foster relationships and build trust. Encourage collaboration through shared goals, incentives, and recognition for collective achievements.
Respect time zones by scheduling meetings thoughtfully. Utilize tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Roam app for seamless collaboration. Establish clear communication protocols and integrate project management software for efficient workflow tracking.
In addition to fully describing the project, the goal and timeline, insist on a weekly one half hour meeting for an update by all of their respective aspect progress. This should create accountability and better teamwork if one segment has a bottleneck of non time line compliance; it is called transparency and should help to keep all on the mission and on a time track.
The next step is to establish the structure and processes of the project, and make sure your team follows them. This will help you organize and manage the work, resources, and communication of the project. You can use a project plan or a work breakdown structure to outline the tasks, milestones, dependencies, and timelines of the project, and assign them to your team members. You can also use tools and methods such as agile, scrum, or kanban to streamline the workflow and collaboration of the project.
I believe this is one of the most important aspects when managing large project teams. We often discuss peripheral issues and frequently overlook the very core of a problem. There are predefined strategy/operations frameworks that can be effectively implemented to help structure thoughts. I generally start with the basic questions: why, what, and then how? I then take the "whole-to-part" approach, ensuring major control points are precisely hinged, before working on the minute details. I'm happy to talk about it more!
Establishing structure and processes is crucial not only for project management as a well-defined project plan or work breakdown structure can serve as an internal control mechanism, helping to ensure efficiency and equal contributions. The use of agile, scrum, or kanban methods can further enhance transparency and accountability within the team.
It is important to distinguish between decision making and implementation. Decision making requires open discussion. Implementation on the other hand requires action. The ultimate deliverable of the decision making process has to be a clear implementation plan that needs to specify what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, who needs to do it and by when it needs to be done. It is only by then that implementation can be initiated.
To ensure everyone in the team is working together effectively, establishing a clear structure and defined processes is paramount. This begins with outlining the project's goals, roles, and responsibilities. Each team member should understand their specific tasks and how they contribute to the overall objectives. Regular meetings can be scheduled to provide updates, discuss challenges, and brainstorm solutions collaboratively. Additionally, implementing communication channels, such as project management software or group messaging platforms, facilitates seamless information sharing and fosters a sense of unity among team members.
Là aussi, j'ai une solution et là encore je vous propose de découvrir l'avantage que vous devez rechercher. En projet, quand on parle de projet et surtout quand il s'agit d'un grand projet, on utilise la méthode WBS pour élaborer la structure. (WBS = Word Breakdown Structure). Et tout l'enjeu est de voyager dans la profondeur de la structure et donc là encore, de pouvoir naviguer entre la vision global et la vision détaillée des taches et sous-taches. Ma solution : utilisez un logiciel de Mind Mapping ! Oui c'est la même solution qu'au point 1. Et là vous obtenez un nouveau bénéfice : garder le même outil pour les phases 1 et 2. Les gains de temps et d'efficacité sont magiques.
The third step is to communicate and collaborate with your team and stakeholders regularly and effectively. This will help you keep everyone informed, engaged, and aligned on the project progress, issues, and changes. You can use various channels and platforms such as email, chat, video call, or project management software to communicate and collaborate with your team and stakeholders. You can also set up regular meetings, check-ins, and feedback sessions to monitor and improve the performance and satisfaction of your team and stakeholders.
In my experience, I have seen the merits of over-communicating. Although there is a fine line in understanding what level of detail one should share given the audience, repetitive communication can often reinforce ideas when working with large and cross-border teams. Also, a periodic cadence with a defined agenda at different levels of the project teams has been extremely useful in my experience.
Communication and collaboration is of utmost importance and collaboration tools abound. During the implementation phase of the project however it is of utmost importance that the team does rather than talks. In this context, communications need to be well defined both in terms of structure and in terms of content. Therefore, it is important that the team establishes a language. That means that the meaning of words like "done", "in progress" "halted" have to convey a specific meaning and require a well-defined response.
Communication is key. The complexity of the project and the expected achievement of milestones will give an indication of frequency. It’s also sensible to use different communication frequencies for different parts of the project. It also makes sense to identify who needs to be involved in the communication. If people can see the communication is productive, with the right people engaged, then it is unlikely to become wasteful and unproductive. Teams involved in the communication should be able to adapt the frequency and time needed for communication based on how the project is developing. Finally, someone should be responsible overall to ensure the people that need communication are getting it, in good time.
As a manager overseeing a large team project, effective communication and collaboration are paramount to ensure everyone is working together towards a common goal. I foster an environment where open communication channels are established, encouraging team members to share ideas, concerns, and progress updates freely. Regular team meetings, both formal and informal, are held to discuss project milestones, address any challenges, and brainstorm solutions collaboratively.
Communication and collaboration are not just about keeping everyone informed and aligned but are also crucial in establishing a culture of transparency and accountability in a group project. Regular meetings and feedback sessions are not just about monitoring performance, but keeping all members honest and on task.
The fourth step is to empower and motivate your team to do their best work and achieve their goals. This will help you foster a positive and productive team culture and environment, where everyone feels valued, trusted, and supported. You can empower and motivate your team by delegating tasks and decisions appropriately, providing coaching and mentoring, recognizing and rewarding achievements, and resolving conflicts and challenges.
Teams are empowered when trust is shown in team members. Building trust takes time and patience. That said, creating opportunities and helping team members achieve their potential are key drivers behind motivating them. The path to motivating team members lies in the hands of a team leader and is often evident in high-performing teams. Of course, various levers are in play, such as mentorship, coaching, incentives, rewards, resolving conflicts, etc. In my opinion, the most important one is trusting your team and creating/understanding the "right" opportunities in a timely manner.
Give people a purpose outside of the explicit task, ensure alignment with outcomes and cross functional collaboration. Empower individuals to deliver on outcomes without the need for micromanagement.
- Strive to create purpose and meaning for your team. - Articulate the project vision and goals. Do your best to help your team understand the purpose of their work and how they contribute to the overall success. - Know where your team’s personal goals intersect with the work at hand. When you can align “what’s in it for me” with what you need to accomplish, there can be more significant sense of ownership and motivation. - Show your appreciation. Recognize good intentions, good behaviors, and good work whenever possible. - Let them know you have their back. Support and advocate for your team.
To ensure everyone is working together effectively, I employ a combination of strategies focused on empowerment and motivation. Firstly, I establish clear goals and expectations, ensuring that each team member understands their role and how it contributes to the overall project. I encourage open communication and collaboration, fostering an environment where ideas are shared freely and feedback is welcomed.
A group of people only becomes a team if there is a purpose, that no member of the team can accomplish alone. On the other hand, an effective team is a team that accomplishes its purpose. Teams are motivated when this puprose has been made crystal clear. At the same time, the members of the team need to be able to see how they can individually contribute to the achievement of the goal. Last but not least, there have to be rules, for no game makes any sense without them.
The fifth step is to monitor and control the project performance and quality, and make adjustments as needed. This will help you ensure that the project is on track, on budget, and on scope, and that it meets the expectations and standards of your team and stakeholders. You can monitor and control the project by tracking and measuring key performance indicators, conducting quality audits and reviews, identifying and managing risks and issues, and implementing change management processes.
For a project to be effectively monitored there have to be controls. Those controls can be purely financial and / or they can be also strategic. Otherwise, there can be no context and therefore the only remaining controls available are the behavioral ones. Clearly, there have to be performance indicators and milestones set right from the beginning, since for a project to be monitored effectively, there has to be measurement.
To ensure everyone is working together on the project, I implement regular team meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and goals. Additionally, I foster open communication channels for team members to share ideas and concerns freely. By establishing clear roles and responsibilities, setting achievable targets, and providing regular feedback, I promote accountability and collaboration within the team. Through consistent monitoring and control processes, I track milestones, identify potential bottlenecks, and address issues promptly to keep the project on track towards successful completion.
Here's a detailed approach, how we used to effectively monitor and control projects: 1. Define relevant KPIs aligned with project objectives, such as budget, schedule, quality, scope, & stakeholder satisfaction. This is the most important step and hence we used to put alot of time, energy and efforts in crafting relevant KPIs. 2. We used to schedule regular progress review meetings to assess project performance against established KPIs. 3. We used to conduct periodic quality audits to ensure that deliverables meet quality standards. Identify any deviations or deficiencies. 4. Have a risk mitigation plan handy even before the project has been kicked off. 5. Maintain open & transparent communication throughout the project lifecycle.
Monitoring and controlling project performance is akin to the "trust but verify" principle. It's about establishing a robust framework of internal controls that not only track key performance indicators but also identify and manage implementation of the final product. This ensures that the group is functioning as a team and not an "I" team.
The final step is to learn and improve from the project experience, and apply the lessons learned to future projects. This will help you enhance your skills and knowledge, as well as your team's capabilities and competencies. You can learn and improve from the project by conducting a post-project evaluation or a retrospective, collecting feedback and suggestions from your team and stakeholders, documenting best practices and recommendations, and celebrating successes and failures.
To ensure effective collaboration within my team, I prioritize clear communication channels, fostering an environment of mutual respect and openness to diverse perspectives. Regular team meetings allow for progress updates, issue resolution, and brainstorming sessions, ensuring everyone feels heard and valued. Additionally, I encourage a culture of continuous learning and improvement, where team members are empowered to share knowledge, offer constructive feedback, and pursue professional development opportunities to enhance both individual and collective performance.
Repetitive lessons learned during each project phase and of course at the end of each project phase are key. The format of those lessons learned has to follow again the Geneva Knowledge Group design.
It is crucial to apply the 'trust but verify' principle in post-project evaluations. This involves an unbiased, thorough review of all project aspects in enhancing your team's capabilities and competencies for future projects.
El feedback es un elemento esencial dentro de un equipo, es poder tomar lo que se realizo de manera correcta, poder recordar y escribir lo que cada persona hizo para que eso ocurra es un recurso a la mano para cualquier momento de ese proyecto o de otro . y encontrar el espacio de mejora hace permite desarrollar tareas y estrategias que quiza pasaron en transparencia y que se esta a tiempo de incorporar. recpnocer en cada uno su fortaleza ayuda a mejorar
1. Shared Vision: Set clear project goals and break them down into individual responsibilities. Everyone understands the "why" and "how" of their role. 2. Open Channels: Foster frequent communication through regular team meetings, progress reports, and accessible platforms. Encourage open dialogue and information sharing. 3. Empowerment: Delegate tasks based on strengths and trust team members to own their work. Provide support and resources, but avoid micromanaging. 4. Utilize project management tools, shared documents, and collaborative platforms to facilitate task tracking, communication, and knowledge sharing. 5. Celebrate Success: Recognize individual and team achievements to boost morale and motivate continued collaboration.
Key elements I consider critical for harmonious and productive work of a large project team are: 1. Fairness, mutual respect and culture of trust. 2. Equitable access to project info with clear comms strategy (including R&R, goals, objectives, KPIs,etc.) 3. Inclusivity, where none feels sidelined or excluded regardless of work set-up (remote, on-site, hybrid).
The following practices can ensure that a large team works together effectively: 1. Clear Communication: Establish clear lines of communication. 2. Shared Goals: Ensure everyone understands the project goals and their role in achieving them. 3. Collaborative Environment: Encourage collaboration and teamwork. 4. Role Clarity: Define roles and responsibilities clearly. 5. Feedback Mechanism: Provide regular feedback to team members. 6. Conflict Resolution: Address conflicts promptly and fairly. 7. Celebrate Successes: Acknowledge and celebrate team achievements. 8. Continuous Improvement: Encourage a culture of continuous improvement.
Have people in key project positions all certified with IPMA or at least IPM. In this way you ensure a baseline understanding of project management. On top of this train them in knowledge management expertise developed specifically for project.
"ONE common goal" stands out in all scenarios where teams work together effectively! As a leader, we need to ensure that below 3 things are clear to everyone: 1. Why we exist? Our common purpose? The Why? 2. What we will do, and what we will not do! 3. How we will do this together? 4. When is it to be done? 5. Who owns what and is accountable for completion? Lastly, over communicating that we succeed only when every piece of the puzzle falls into place, so we all have vested interest in working together!