Every project is driven by members from various groups who work together to achieve the ultimate goal of the project. Every project member can contribute by playing a vital role to make a big success. Although the success would depend on various factors – two most influential factors would be execution by the project team and support from the customer.
Among these two, the group that plays a leading role is the project team. Also, this is the group that can be molded to extract the best results to accomplish the goal. Hence, it makes it even more critical and important to sustain the morale of the project team.
Proven factors for good project team execution:
• Engagement – Ensure every member in the team has a definite role to play. The responsibility has to be well defined and importance has to be clearly understood.
• Recognition – Everyone likes to be recognized for their efforts. Do not leave a chance to thank. Even an oral communication can make a big difference.
• Conflict resolution – In a project team, there would be resources having different opinions. Respect each member’s opinion and ensure the final choice is made from confrontation and not by any other means.
• Communication – A proper communication channel has to be established. The communication should be open and free to exchange ideas.
• Caring – During the course of the project there could be time when the team members are stuck awaiting guidance or encounter a failure due to mistake. Do make them feel that you are there to help and provide means to overcome rather point fingers at their weakness.
The hard work and efforts put in the project goes in vain if there is no satisfied customer. Hence, it is very important to have support from the customer and keep them satisfied all along. Some trivial steps that could help the cause are:
• Meeting – The meeting scheduled should have a clear agenda and should be within the stipulated timeframes. This portrays a very planned approach and gives confidence to the customer that we are on the right track. The discussion should be focused on the agenda items.
• Communication – Need to gauge the pace and pitch with which the customer is comfortable at the earliest. Having this in place ensures a smooth channel for mutual understanding. Always be precise on what is being conveyed.
• Updates – No one likes to be the last one to get an important update. Surprises can be positive or negative and the customer has every right to be informed of the facts. Where positive updates are welcome in any manner; sharing negative updates has to be judiciously done. Ensure the update is shared with the customer at the earliest with a mitigation plan in the best possible way which shows that we are prepared to deal with it.
• Acknowledge – Customer too are humans and there is lot of thought process going behind. Any email inquiring an opportunity or details should be first acknowledged providing a tentative timeline for the response. This sets the right expectation with the customer.
• Commitments – Sticking to commitment is vital for customer satisfaction. While over committing could be a means to gain customer satisfaction, not meeting the commitments could make a huge dent in the offering. Think twice and weigh all possibilities before the final commitment. Every customer would like to reach the destination on time rather keep waiting to get there.
The listed points are only a subset of the numerous factors that decides the successful completion of a project. It’s always good to aim to reach pinnacle having few items in plate rather have a filled plate and ponder on which to take up first. Wishing all of you the very best in your projects.
