How to turn your project team into a high-performing one?

The project manager’s team had come up with two solutions to a problem that had tormented them all for more than a few weeks after considerable research, brainstorming, and going through courses such as the PMP prep course. One of their most important clients had detected a bug in their program. The good news was that no other customers were affected. The bad news was that it was producing everyday troubles for this customer for some reason.

They had gone back to doing some of their work by hand. Two temporary workers were hired by the project manager’s company to undertake this manual processing. The customer was grateful for the support and acknowledged their difficulty, and was eager for a long-term solution to be provided.

The team had come up with two feasible answers at this point. Each method had an equal chance of success, neither would interrupt present processing, and both needed roughly the same amount of time and effort. Despite the similarities in the answers, the approaches to the problem were enough different that team members couldn’t agree on which was the best.

As the project manager listened to his team debate the advantages of both techniques, it became clear that they would require assistance in making a decision. He recognized both ways were appropriate, that everyone on the team was competent to weigh in, and that they didn’t have to choose. The project manager stepped in and informed the crew that they would vote based on this information. And if there was a clear majority, that would be the path they would take. The group came to an agreement.

The project manager then requested a thirty-minute break from the team. During this time, they considered how to proceed after the vote, as taught in the PMP prep course. They didn’t want to proceed in a “we versus them” mindset. They devised a basic voting ballot with that notion in mind. They labeled each solution ‘Solution A’ and ‘Solution B’ instead of attaching the name of the individual who came up with it. Each had enough information to ensure that everyone knew where he or she was casting their vote. They knew they’d be able to gather and tabulate the votes quickly. Despite this, they organized a coffee break for the crew after the vote. They had a good time.

The solution implementation team was also given great attention by the project manager. They took a daring step after seeing that option A had received the most votes. They chose to put the person in charge of the solution implementation team who was the largest supporter of option B. They then carefully populated the team with a half-and-half split between those who preferred option A and those who preferred solution B. Their first task was to develop and present an implementation strategy to the rest of the team. Every member of the solution implementation team had to demonstrate a portion of the procedure.

Why was the project manager devoting so much time and energy to the decision-making process and its outcome? They had a high-performing crew on their hands. This was a team that worked well together and achieved difficult objectives. A group that could dispute and then burst out laughing. The team seemed a little more enthused about the problem this time. The schism appeared to be deeper than in any of their past spats. After such a conflict, the project manager understood the significance of rebuilding the team. They realized that if they wanted to keep their strength, they had to consider one other as partners rather than competitors. The sooner you start, the better. The project manager desired a conflict-free environment for his team so that they could continue to support one another and meet the difficulties that lay ahead.

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