1. List the skills you need
Before you get started, it is essential to identify the skills you need to make your project a success. Whatever the skill (commercial, technical, financial etc.), it is important to stipulate the degree of expertise or technicality required. In order to carry out the project successfully, the team must have the required knowledge, experience, and technical know-how. If one or more skills are lacking, it may be necessary to recruit externally.
Tip: Make a checklist of the necessary skills and combine them with the available people. You can, if you wish, use an organisation chart so that you don’t forget anyone.
2. Select the people that will be part of the team.
To help you select the right people, use a decision matrix:
- List the people and selection criteria
- Define a weighting according to the importance of each criterion.
- Evaluate each person according to this grid
- Select the “top rated” profiles, taking into consideration the group’s dynamics
There is a common misconception that talented people are naturally predisposed to work well as part of a team. This is FALSE.
Of course, it is necessary for individuals to have the technical skills and knowledge required for the job, but how many companies take into account individual and team behavioural skills?
If you don’t have all the skills in-house, don’t hesitate to recruit.
At SP SEARCH, we are Thomas certified and therefore are able to conduct personality analysis, management audits, and 360°s to employees as part of the development of project teams and in order to ensure good collaboration.
In a project team, the role of the manager or project leader is paramount. They ensure that a clear and well-defined organisation is set up within the team.
They are there to:
- establish a clear and common objective for the project
- create a genuine team culture
- delimit the roles and responsibilities of each
- monitor, evaluate, and control the project
- ensure harmony and unity within the team
3. Create team spirit
That’s it!
You’ve set up a project team and you need to involve all its members; to do this, nothing is better than creating situations where it will be necessary for the group to work together to achieve the objectives.
Beyond skills, you will need to understand the behaviour, strengths, weaknesses, and key motivations of each member.
Tip: create an environment that is conducive and allows each member to feel “confident” in understanding their own personal value. Why not start by organising a workshop or a day of team building to test the dynamics and cohesion of your new team?
As you will have understood, setting up a project team is not that simple. Different personalities with different ways of working will have to join forces to move forward together, within a certain timeframe and to achieve the same objectives.
Keep in mind that it’s not the number that makes the strength but the commitment of each person. Do not point the finger at individual shortcomings but support your team towards collective success.
