It is a truism that modern organisations demand ‘Better, faster, cheaper’ performance from their projects and those leading them. Many turn to software tools in the belief that knowledge is power, but sadly the principle that ‘garbage input’ to a system produces ‘garbage out’ tends to reduce the positive impact of automation. Some of us take a different approach and rely on the soft machine, known as the human being, as the foundation of high performance teamwork. So far, so good, but humanistic platitudes do not deliver results and delivering results is very much the business of project managers. At this stage, the executive may reasonably scan the ever-changing world of management literature for the latest ‘fad’ or magic bullet that is just as guaranteed to solve the problem as snake oil could be expected to cure all ailments in the American West. This article will argue that common sense and sound general management techniques can deliver the sustainable results that the more exotic theories fail to provide.

The HPT Molecule

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High Performance Teamwork (HPT) has been a powerful management concept for a number of years now and there are many theories, tools and techniques that the project manager can use as interventions in this area.

In my experience, one solution can be modelled as the HPT molecule in figure 1.

Despite the implication of the scientific name, this model is based on common sense and sound general management knowledge, skills that the professional project manager should possess in some depth.

Relationship

Let’s start at the top of the model, recognising the importance of interpersonal relationships, long recognised in the sales profession, described with the mantra ‘people buy people first’. In other words, sell the relationship before trying to sell the product.

At first review, this may seem inappropriate to the world of project management, with its hard scientific/engineering approach, highly chunked and controlled work packages and software-based planning and controlling techniques. However, two factors demand that we think again:

*The changing social environment
*The project management matrix approach

Past generations of workers experienced a system that was paternalistic in nature, with ‘a job for life’ proposition, supplied in return for obedience and respect.

In the past twenty years, the world of work has changed considerably and the young manager can expect three or four changes in employer by the time he or she retires. The change from the industrial society of the 1950s to the information society of the late 20th and early 21st centuries has created a different skill set, where knowledge is power, both literally and metaphorically.

The relationship between the employer and the ambitious employee has moved to a model of ‘WIFMs’ (what’s in it for me?)

So the project manager can no longer expect instant compliance when asking for commitment, a position made more difficult by the management matrix, where project workers often report to a boss other than the PM.

It is, therefore, vital for project managers to create viable relationships with their teams before expecting high performance and these must be based on empathy, mutual understanding and effective feedback.

Process

Even the best project relationship will be ineffective without a process to guide it.

A typical process would be used to set up project team meetings that really work and could be in the form of a simple sequential checklist:

*E-mail draft minutes of last meeting and ask for comments
*Amend draft and e-mail final version to members
*E-mail standardised agenda for the next meeting and ask for ‘any other business’ items
*E-mail any specific papers for the team and ask them to read the relevant passages
*Call members to confirm their attendance the day before the meeting

This list is rudimentary, but the principle is transparent and should aid an efficient meeting.

Standard processes should be developed wherever appropriate and ad hoc processes elsewhere. The PMBOK® (The Project Management Body of Knowledge) is a good source and these are arranged into the Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Closing process groups that can be used to manage a project effectively.

Activity

‘When all is said and done, more is said than done’, according to an old saying! Projects are delivery focused and that involves effective activity, generated by the project manager.

Another traditional saying is that ‘if you wish to eat an elephant, you should make it into lots of sandwiches’, a reflection that small things are easier to deal with than large, a principle that the professional project manager knows to be true and applies by ‘chunking’ large activities into smaller components.

When setting activities, milestones can be used to confirm start and end dates, as well as checkpoints where progress can be reviewed.

The team should also be as involved in the planning of detailed activities as practicality allows. This will develop a sense of commitment and also allow them to apply their specialist skills and judgement, resulting in more robust plans.

Objective

One of the great de-motivating factors for most people is the sense of dissonance resulting from their lack of understanding of how their work connects to the bigger picture. This is reinforced by changes to the project, which can challenge the perception of constancy of purpose, which is crucial to team motivation, since no one likes to feel that their efforts have been to no avail.

A professional project manager will therefore take the time to restate the project objective and explain how the work being done supports this goal. This is a message that needs to be repeated many times throughout the lifecycle, if it is to be effective.

If done well, resonance will replace dissonance and this was a factor in all the high performing teams I have been fortunate enough to know.

Feedback

Lack of effective feedback is a project killer, some examples being de-motivated team members due to:

*No recognition of good work
*Ineffective or uncommitted colleagues being allowed an easy life
Their belief that their work is of acceptable quality, when it is not

Many project managers dislike giving feedback, because it tends to generate human emotions that can be challenging, especially if the project manager is an introverted intuitive thinker (as typified by the Myers Briggs INTJ archetype) who is more comfortable with rational and logical thought.

In my opinion, education (formal or by coaching/mentoring) is the way forward. Both project managers and their teams should be shown how to give and receive feedback, with a basic checklist being:

*Agree to feedback specifically about behaviours, not personalities
*Do not be defensive, thank the person for their feedback and then reflect on the validity and lessons contained
*Do not use ‘sandwich’ techniques to give good/bad/good feedback, as there is a risk of the filling being missed – humans do tend to see and hear what they like!
*Try to be precise in your comments, giving examples wherever possible, to make the feedback more useful
*Be honest and transparent

Summary

The HPT molecule provides the busy project manager with a simple framework to improve the relationship with team members and it can also be used as a ‘sanity check’ to mitigate the phenomena of mid-project dip or lag, when the initial excitement of the launch has subsided and the natural motivation provided by the end of project proximity has yet to arrive.