Forrester research shows that 68% of projects fail completely or are late to completion. This problem is only getting worse. Globalization has led to many teams not being located in the same place. This causes a decrease in team performance and communication. There are three types of teams that work on projects in today’s small- to large-sized companies.
- Traditional teams – All members of the team are located in the same place. This is less common these days.
- Dispersed team- All members of the team work remotely and seldom meet up. This is more common in web design, graphic arts and software engineering than any other field.
- Mixed teams- This is a combination of both the two. Teams that meet one day a week at a location, and work the rest remotely. Or use technology to create a virtual office. This is becoming more common and considered a good compromise between the two.
Each model has its advantages and disadvantages. Remote teams are better for the environment, but collaboration is not affected by extra effort. This article is not intended to argue which model is better, but I do believe that any of these models could fail for one or more of these reasons:
- Absence of clear and achievable goals
A project manager’s primary responsibility is to establish clear, achievable goals. The project manager must know how the resources, time and budget can be used to achieve their goals. Although it is nice to have A-level performers on the team, this is often not the case. Most teams are a mix of A and B performers. To set realistic goals for the project, the project manager should consult his team.
- Insufficiently clear and achievable timetable
It is crucial to establish deadlines and stay on them. To meet deadlines, don’t depend on team members or individuals achieving extraordinary feats. Split the project into manageable segments, similar to Scrum sprints. Each project segment should be divided into logical tasks. Then, divide each task into sub-tasks. Continue doing this until you are able to understand each task and can complete it in a reasonable amount of time. For large projects, team leaders should create a clear definition of each task. Ask each person who is responsible for the task to give you three estimates of how long each task could take. These estimates can be used to estimate the task’s duration. This will give you an 80% chance of completing the task on time. To make the task easier to manage, use a collaborative task manager.
- No clear ownership
A single person should be responsible for the project. Too many owners can lead to the demise of any business. This does not mean the project manager cannot delegate some tasks and responsibilities to the team leaders. However, the project manager should keep the final box at his desk.
- History of missing team members
This problem is the least well-known of all the problems. Do you know the strengths and weaknesses of each member of your team? How can you predict how someone will perform? You can do this by looking at past performances. Review as many projects as possible to get an idea of how they will perform in the future. Ask your team leaders to rate each member of the team on a scale from 1-5 (super star). Anyone rated as 1-3 should be removed. All members should be rated at 4, 5, or 5. Do a thorough background check on any new hires to ensure they are honest about their past experiences. Give recent grads a small task to measure their performance and determine where they belong in the team.
- No clear directions
The project must be clearly defined by the project manager and team leaders. They should communicate and record the details of the project, the deadlines and what to do if there are any problems. Ask your team to meet at least once a week. Find out what they did in the week past, what they plan to do next week, and what their concerns are. Every meeting should be recorded and published online. These data can be used to evaluate the performance of your team.
- Insufficient clear information
Many times, team members don’t know what is happening. They don’t really know what the ultimate goal is for the company or its customers. They are unable to access project information and don’t know what the other teams are doing. It is important that everyone in your team has easy access to the information necessary to understand the project and accomplish their tasks.
- No communication
For any project to succeed, communication is key. You as a project manager need to ensure that communication is easy for everyone in your team. It doesn’t matter if communication is face-to-face or online; the most important thing for a team to know how they can communicate with each other.
- No collaboration
Collaboration is key to team productivity. Without it, teams can waste time on the wrong things and duplicate what others have done. Your team should value collaboration and foster a culture of collaboration.
- No reviews
Projects need to have many milestones in place so that it is easy to review. Each team must review each week’s activity and accomplishments and post them to the web for everyone to see. The team leader must review each member’s work and record the results.
- Absence of accountability
It is crucial to identify who isn’t performing well and how to fix it as quickly as possible. One bad apple can quickly make a basket fall apart. Eliminate those who can’t keep up.
- No rewards
High achievers should be rewarded. It is important to communicate to your team that high achievers will be rewarded. Reward high achievers by making it a public event (Part-time)
- No documentation
Not only do you need to document project-related documents such as Specification and UI design, but also the daily journal of what is going on in the project. It is impossible to do this manually, but there are tools that can record the majority of actions and events within the project. These data can be used to analyze the project and to learn how to increase productivity for the next one.
These issues affect every team, regardless of size or organizational structure. Even traditional teams that work together often have communication and collaboration problems due to personal conflicts or ego. The job of the project manager is to ensure that the team remains focused and works together towards a common goal. It is highly recommended to use a collaborative project management tool. These tools allow you to plan, track and inform projects more easily. They also store data that can be used to analyze the project’s progress during and after it is over.
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