Teams

We are all very much aware that how a team feels makes a huge difference to their productivity and to business results.  Many of us have been on A-teams, as well as on D-teams.  It was the same you, in two different teams – with two vastly different results.  If we take that experience and [...]

One of the reasons I got into Project Management in the first place is that I’ve always been interested in people – their personalities, where they are from, what makes them tick.
Growing up overseas in Japan, I attended an international school for foreigners, and there were kids from all over the world – kids whose [...]

As I was wracking my brain trying to think of interesting topics to write about for this week’s blogs, it came to me, a subject which is a sore spot and a pet peeve of mine – the fact that people don’t say “thank you” very often on projects, or in everyday business situations much (except [...]

It had all the earmarks of a disaster, a real career-sinker of a project. And here was my old friend and former colleague calling me up enthusiastically, on the phone: “Hey Lisa, we need a Technical Project Manager for this start-up I’m working for, in Redwood Shores… you’ll love the project and the team. It’s [...]

After years of managing online products and projects, you’d think it would become old hat… but never, not for this gal. There’s always something new to learn, and a different twist on old scenarios, if you’re open to them. People and team dynamics are endlessly fascinating, and you never know how it’s going to go [...]

As Project Managers, I’m sure we’ve all seen the kind of scenario where there is a project team member who is generally uncooperative or can’t seem to get the tasks done on time – and the different approaches you can take in order to solve this problem. You can take the dictatorial “Do as I [...]

In the first part of this series I talked about how future project leaders may select team members for their projects. In this installment, I will discuss the future of virtual team spaces, which include real-time tools that facilitate ‘in-person’ sharing of information and the online work spaces where project documents are stored.
Real-Time Sharing
The technology [...]

I always enjoy imagining what the future will be like for all sorts of things: transportation, energy, architecture, space exploration, and the everyday chores of life. Perhaps it is my lifelong interest in science fiction, or perhaps I just want to believe that a better world is possible. One thing is for sure: all great [...]

By Andrew Meyer
People are inherently self organizing. Who did you make friends with when you were a kid on the block? When you went to school, there were many kids in school, but there were a couple who became your friends. Why?
Are you organizing your teams so the become more efficient and effective, like the [...]

Leading a team presents greater challenges than working alone, but if you want to accomplish tasks that are impossible for one person you’ve got to have a team. One person can’t play a baseball game by themselves, play all of the instruments in a live symphony performance, or run a global company. What’s the [...]

Almost every job I know requires some people skills. But unlike sales and marketing for instance, being a project manager generally requires someone who may not naturally tend towards the “social theme” of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, but someone who prefers working more with “things” and data.

Technorati Tags: Dysfunctional, Teams, teamwork

In a post last week I talked about “teamwork” not being a warm and fuzzy concept to me.   To me the concept of teamwork has meaning due only to a result a group of people produces due to their work together.   A well-functioning team that exhibits “good teamwork” is made up of individuals each taking personal responsibility for having an impact [...]

Jim Sloane raised very interesting points in his “Why Can’t We Grow Up” blog about project management maturity. One in particular is keeping me awake at night:

Organizations in Silicon Valley can integrate virtually any technology into a myriad of applications, and still we struggle with integrating talented individuals into teams of people spanning countries, generations etc.
Here’s something more consider — did you [...]

I am shocked, shocked! at silicon valley business immaturity in project management . Home of some of the greatest, innovative companies on the planet, and we cannot execute projects any better than anyone else.

Technorati Tags: change-management, cultural-differences, dysfuncitonal-corporate-culture, generational-differences, organizational-maturity, project-management, Teams

Mediocre organizations are often plagued by the rampant abdication of responsibility of the very people who are supposed to be leading them. At every layer of management, these evasive characters somehow avoid committing to anything outside of their minuscule comfort zones. They fog their agreements with weasel-words that foreshadow their impending failure to deliver [...]