Strategies for Long-Term Project Team Management

If your team is missing deadlines or you feel like you’re constantly putting out fires, it’s time to fix your systems. Scaling a business is tough, but without solid systems, it’s almost impossible.  This is a straightforward guide to developing systems that can help your team scale efficiently. First, document everything. Start by writing down every process and procedure in your business. Use tools like Notion or Confluence to create a comprehensive knowledge base. This makes sure everyone on your team has access to the information they need and keeps everyone on the same page. Next, use advanced project management tools. Platforms like Monday or ClickUp can be customized to fit your specific needs, keeping projects on track and your team coordinated. Connect these tools with your CRM systems to streamline workflows and keep communication smooth across departments. Automation is your friend. Identify tasks that are repetitive and can be automated. Use platforms like UiPath or Blue Prism to handle these tasks, freeing up your team to focus on higher-value activities. Clear communication is critical. Set up a unified strategy that includes both asynchronous and real-time tools. Use Slack for immediate communication and Loom for updates that can be watched at any time. Regular check-ins and clear communication reduce misunderstandings and keep everyone aligned. Creating a culture that is always improving. Regular retrospectives and feedback loops with frameworks like Kaizen or Six Sigma can significantly improve your processes. Encourage your team to provide feedback and suggest improvements. This boosts efficiency and encourages a sense of ownership and engagement among team members. Role definitions need to be crystal clear. Develop a competency matrix to define roles and responsibilities clearly. This helps identify skill gaps and create targeted training programs, making sure everyone knows their part and performs it effectively. Training and development should be a priority. Create a learning and development plan using platforms like LinkedIn Learning or Coursera. Encourage cross-functional training to build a team capable of adapting to new challenges. Data-driven decision-making is key. Regularly review KPIs and adjust strategies based on data insights to stay on the right path. Streamline your onboarding process. Develop a comprehensive program that includes interactive modules, mentorship, and milestone-based assessments. This way, new hires integrate smoothly and contribute effectively from day one. Finally, promote collaboration. Use platforms like Miro or MURAL for brainstorming and project planning sessions. You need an environment where ideas can be freely exchanged and innovation thrives. You don’t need to change everything overnight. Start with one or two key areas and build from there.

As I consult with clients across industries, I see people working hard. But I also see wasted effort. The waste occurs because team members did not have a clear end-state. Instead, they create a lot of action through goal setting. The caution is that action does not equal progress. To help you, here is the outcome-driven technique I use with my team and clients. When executed well, it can improve performance immediately.   1. Start with the end in mind and describe what it looks like. Goal setting is valuable. It measures action well–but it assumes that if X happens, Y will occur. For example, if you take a project management class, then you will be a better project manager. You can see how this plays out. The person enrolls in and takes the project management course, and then checks the box. Goal completed. But why take the course? What if the intent was this instead: “By the end of June, I need you to be leading x kind of project without me needing to be involved in its daily operations”? This helps better establish what success would look like for the individual. This approach defines the end state and the why we are seeking in their development. In doing so, it changes the conversation from “attend a course” (where it assumes I know the solution) to “how do we help you achieve that?” (which engages the person to define potential solutions). 2. After the end is established, discuss options to achieve it. This step is a key difference from most performance reviews, because instead of the leader defining the action (if…then…), it places accountability on the individual to think about what and where they need development to “get there.” Is it a course? Is it shadowing another person? Is it a confidence challenge? By approaching this through establishing what the end state looks like, the review shifts into a coaching discussion where root causes and options are defined and refined, creating a better plan to pursue. 3. Establish goals to measure progress toward the end state. This is when goals become useful. They establish points along the way to check progress toward the agreed-upon outcome. If a goal is met, then we should reflect to see if it helped move toward the end state. If it did not, then an additional action or goal may be needed. In the example above, if the person did complete the project management course, but they are not ready to lead the project without your involvement, then why? Did the course not address their development need? Is there still something else needed to get them ready to lead? The shift from goal-leading to outcome-driven performance development is profound. It is not easy or fast on the front-end. It requires more conversation and coaching. But in the long run, by engaging the team members in their development, the quality and value of their performance will improve substantially. #leadfortomorrow #outcomes

Develop Leaders at All Levels - Learn to Be Collaborative If you are a manager you want to cultivate leadership principles at all levels in the organization and create leaders at all levels. The question I sometimes get in The Leadership Academy sessions is: "Won't this affect me as a leader?" I suspect this question is related to the myth that if the manager hires people who are better than him/her, their jobs will be in jeopardy. This is a normal human reaction. In a way, it's part of our psychological makeup due to our competitiveness. My answer is: You are the manager. You want to have people who are better than you and leaders on the team. This takes the burden off you, and at the same time, you are: 1. You are growing people 2. You are better able to service your customers 3. You, in the end, are serving your organization 4. Your job becomes easier 5. You are recognized for developing talent In order to create leaders at all levels, become a collaborative leader. Here six things you can do right away: 1. ASK PEOPLE THEIR PERSPECTIVE Instead of stating your ideas or a preferred approach, ask your colleagues for their opinions and ideas first. If you state yours, they will never state theirs. They will simply agree. 2. SHARE THE SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM GOALS People will perform better when they know where they are going. Explain what is essential to the team and organization and how they fit into these goals. Explain it so it inspires people people. No one follows a turnip. 3. MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS THEIR ROLE Dysfunctional teams usually arise from not knowing what the goal is and what their roles are in terms of contributing. As the team matures, you will see people beginning to help each other to complete the work. You are creating leaders because they are collaborating on their own. 4. NEW PROJECTS and PROBLEMS When assigned a new project or facing a challenging problem, bring the team together and brainstorm how best to approach the project. Look for an owner and delegate the project/problem to him or her. 5. USE TEAM MEMBERS AS MENTORS When you give someone on your team a new task, have one of your more experienced people mentor the person. 6. ASK PEOPLE THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS In your next one-on-ones with your staff: a. Instead of asking "What can I do better?" say, "In the future what do you need more of from me?" This emphasizes the future and their needs. b. What gets in your way at work? Learn what impacts their work. c. What can you be doing better? Their answer to this question will make them more accountable to themselves. Follow these steps and you are creating leaders at all levels by being a collaborative leader. 🌟 Cool to repost ➕ Join me for higher levels of performance #collaborativeleader #culture #teamwork Infographic: agrassoblog.org Source: Collaborative Lead Training

I spent my 30s managing enterprise IT projects. Here’s what I wish I knew at 29. 1/ Getting teams to simply talk is most of the battle. 2/ Getting sign-off (actual sign-off) on scope will save your bacon. 3/ The right time to think about risks is before you notice problems. 4/ No one is thinking about your project as much as you are. (/should be) 5/ When you have to ask ‘whose job is that?’, it’s probably your job. 6/ If someone asks you if you can do something ‘just this once’ it’s probably their job. 7/ If you do something once, it will be expected for every project in perpetuity. 8/ Understanding *why* someone is making an unusual request will give you insights. 9/ Seeing into the future is a superpower developed through experience. 10/ Senior PMs have good stories. Ask them to share. 11/ Every exec has (at least) two tones. The one they use among piers, and the one they’ll use 1:1. Don’t be startled. 12/ The first step in planning should be to define what you’ll do when things don’t go to plan. 13/ Planning is useful only if that plan quickly evolves into actual work. 14/ Repetition in meetings helps define expectations. Expectations help with accountability. Accountability is how you influence without authority. 15/ Holding people accountable—without being a jerk—is how you preserve relationships. 16/ Don’t ask if something is ‘in progress’. Ask ‘how much work is left’. Use percentages. 17/ Budget more time than you need. Then push hard to use less time than budgeted. 18/ Expect things to go sideways so you’re never surprised--and so you're always ready to act. 19/ Don’t burn bridges. Assume you’ll have another project with them. 20/ Trust is the single most valuable currency in project management. What are your lessons learned?  ____ 👋 Follow me Timothy Morgan for more about enterprise project management.

How do you set project teams up for success? My role on strategy consulting projects at Buro Happold has evolved to focus on this. Aligning goals, scope, fee, and schedule. Designing the governance and the process. Identifying the right roles on the client side and on our team. So, in that spirit, I thought I’d share a few helpful tactics to set projects up for success. If you’re already doing these on your projects, kudos. If not, maybe some of these are worth a try as consultants or clients! Maybe you have some ideas to add? 📆 Pre-kickoff: Have a pre-kickoff before the project actually starts – ideally about a month or so before. During this call you can review the process, key decisions to be made, governance, stakeholders to engage, and data needed. This gives the client time to get the data together and assemble committees and working groups. If you don’t do it, then you start off every project behind. Credit to Amanda Wirth Lorenzo for instituting this for us years ago. ✅ Templates: Wherever possible, send templates for clients to populate with key data. This way you get it back in the format you need. It may take a little more of your clients’ time upfront to do this rather than “send us you what we have” but it will pay off because you’ll answer clarifying questions and you’ll now have the data in a format you can use and compare to other projects. When you get data back, be sure to get a walkthrough from the client – don’t settle for a data dump without explanation or orientation. 🚦 Start/Stop: Start and stop things in a consistent way that orients people, reinforces the process, and allows for feedback and adjustment. Start every meeting with the schedule, where you are on it, and the last meeting/decisions recap. End every meeting with the next steps and prep for next meeting. Start every on-site engagement with a check-in with the PM walking through the visit’s planned activities and end it with a recap meeting with the executive sponsor. 👩⚖️ Leadership: Make sure your regular project management meeting includes a decision-maker in it who can give you direction in real-time. Project managers are great but if they can’t provide direction, then every question you ask in the meeting is answered with “I’ll check on that” and you spin your wheels a lot. You need real-time decisions to prioritize which data to analyze, who should attend what meeting, and other questions. 📖 Notes: Along the way, take your notes publicly on a flip chart, in the deck, on a shared doc, or in the chat on zoom/teams. This helps people feel heard and gives them a chance to validate that you heard them correctly. It also forces you do distill things in real-time and gets people out of feeling like a stenographer of detailed minutes of who said what rather than focusing on the essence and the actions to take. I hope these help set your teams up for success too.