In a past issue of Fast Company, Tom Peters asserted that you are your projects. A more up-to-date tweak at that might be drawn from a recent Computerworld piece that outlines how to pick a project team.
While Kathleen Melymuka's perspective is understandably tech-centric, her advice and ideas can be applied in any industry or company:
- Fewer Is Better After the fifth member, a project team's effectiveness is inversely proportional to its mass.
- Attitude Counts People with a good work ethic who are upbeat, respectful of others and continually learning will help lift the team's spirit. Conversely, one cynic can spoil the entire team's outlook.
- Diversity Lowers Risk The riskier the project, the more diversity you need in the team. Desire for closure can lead [people] to focus on a strategy before considering the alternatives.
- Familiarity Breeds Action It's helpful if team members have worked together before.
- Availability Trumps Everything You need to identify what resources you will need and when.
- Leverage Matters One key to obtaining leverage is good relationships with other managers. Leverage can also come from an educated customer. If you can't get [the right people], alter or postpone the project until you can.