Project Team Characteristics BY

ALLAH DAD KHANProvincial Project Director CMPII

MINFAL Pakistan

03329221298

This is necessary so that all team members understand the purpose and vision of the team. It is important to understand where the team is headed. People tend to support what they help to create. Team members who were involved in establishing the goals will work to achieve them.

1. Unified Commitment to a Goal

It’s important for group members to understand their job function and for leaders to tap into the skills and talents of group members.

2. Defined Roles

A team meeting is not a committee meeting but a highly creative process that benefits from locations that foster thinking and orderly discussion. Teams should meet in an environment similar to a boardroom, comfortable and away from interruptions and distractions.

The Right Meeting Location

3. Open and Clear Communication A team is able to communicate effectively

and there is a feeling of open communication between all members of the group. Issues within a team are handled by face-to-face communication. Team members do not talk behind each other's back as there is a respect developed among team members that necessitates direct and open communication on all issues

Team members and team problems should be well matched. As the team sets new goals, the composition of the team should be re-evaluated. Having a crop consultant or veterinarian on an intergenerational farm transfer team is likely to underutilize the crop consultant or veterinarian's abilities. An estate planner or attorney might be a better choice.

Outstanding team members should have unique skills, experiences, and judgment not resident on the farm staff. They should also be team players and believe in the team process. Team members that have cross-purposes or hidden agendas can destroy a team's effectiveness and will have to be removed from the team.

The Right Team Members

Brainstorming is one way that groups come up with the solution to a problem. An effective team is able to gather information from each member and formulate that information into a response. The team becomes adept at dismissing ideas that will not work, and including effective ideas into what would become the team's solution to an issue.

Efficient Use of Ideas

A team has a hierarchy and a built-in decision-making system that helps it to react quickly and effectively to all situations. The members of the group are respected for their various areas of expertise, and the leader of the group has developed the ability to obtain the group members' opinions to formulate the group's response. This applies to decisions made within the group ranging from resolving internal conflict to a potential change in group leadership..

Effective Decision Making

This can be defined as full involvement. Team members contribute when appropriate, and member’s opinions are valued and sought. It is important when leaders define what type of participation they expect from members. Leaders help to create a climate of participation. Learning member’s names and getting to know member’s between meetings helps to create an inviting and comfortable atmosphere

5. Balanced Participation

Team members are valued for their unique skills and talents. A diversity of thinking, idea generating, problem solving and experiences help to create an effective team

6. Valued Diversity

This is essential to a team’s growth. It’s important that issues aren’t ignored and avoided in a group. When managed effectively the benefits include: -the team will have to find ways to communicate differences and seek common goals. -the team will be forced to look at all points of view. -improves creativity because the team will need to look beyond current assumptions.

7. Managed Conflict

An effective team has an open climate where member’s are comfortable with each other and aren’t afraid to take risks. Creativity is expressed and laughter is shared. Trust is a key element is creating this atmosphere. What builds trust? Honesty, accessibility, acceptance, and dependability. A credible leader walks the walk

8. Positive Atmosphere

Team members want to work together for the good of the team and understand that combining the skills of numerous people will produce something that could not be created alone. The strength of each team member is being utilized. Feedback is given and received constructively. Evaluations are utilized. Success is celebrated.

9. Cooperative Relationships

The group has taken time to explicitly discuss group process -- how the group will function to achieve its objectives. The group has a clear, explicit, and mutually agreed-upon approach: mechanics, norms, expectations, rules, etc. Frequently, it will stop to examined how well it is doing or what may be interfering with its operation. Whatever the problem may be, it gets open discussion and a solution found

Team is self-conscious about its own operations.

but it remains pertinent to the purpose of the group. If discussion gets off track, someone will bring it back in short order. The members listen to each other. Every idea is given a hearing. People are not afraid of being foolish by putting forth a creative thought even if it seems extreme.

10. There is a lot of discussion in which virtually everyone participates

:Individual contributors must collectively understand and commit to their team’s purpose. Therefore, it is up to the manager to clearly define the expectations and responsibilities for each role, and ensure alignment between the person and the role.

Meaningful Common Purpose

:What does success look like? What is the group trying to accomplish? What work needs to be done to achieve the desired outcome? In high functioning teams, managers make sure that all contributors understand and accept both the end goal and the game plan for getting there

Team set Clear and demanding Performance Goals

. Back-biting rare or non-existent in an efficient team and there is a high level of mutual trust. Trust creates a bond among the team members and this leads to rapport and solidarity. Tensions are therefore absent.

Effective Teams Talk to one Another Rather than Behind Each Other’s Back

Having competent team members is an integral part of overall effectiveness. Unfortunately, we often have no control over who we work with; both in the classroom setting and in the work environment. Do not become distressed; instead remember that there is some way in which every team member can contribute.

Competence

They are supportive and have an informal work ethic of sharing and fellowship. There are fully aware of their shared goals and shared responsibility and work towards jointly achieving their objectives

Effective Teams are True Partners in all Aspects Related to Teamwork. 

 They realise the need to focus on group goals and rise above personal ambitions. Team members are secure in their individual capabilities and understand the reason why the organisation constituted a team in the first place. They are able to work towards executing their role in line with the common goals of the team. They seem to realise that if they carry out their individual roles sincerely, personal recognition is bound to come their way. In other words, there is a good measure of ‘team spirit’ within the team.

Effective Teams Want Team Success.

It is important to maintain an environment that is both positive and supportive. Anyone who has been a part of a team can attest to how frustration can build over the assignment which in turn, can lead to clashes between team members. By maintaining a healthy climate, it is possible to avoid a scenario where group members are hostile and defensive toward one another.

Collaborative Climate

. meeting or exceeding the expectations of other group members. Each individual is respectful of the mechanics of the group: arriving on time, coming to meetings prepared, completing agreed upon tasks on time, etc. When action is taken, clears assignments are made (who-what-when) and willingly accepted and completed by each group member.

Each individual carries his or her own weight,

. They actively listen and encourage one another and they participate and contribute during group discussions. Disagreements exist but do not snowball into interpersonal conflict.

Effective Teams Have a Healthy Respect for Each Other’s Viewpoints

: Effective communication between team members and from the manager to the team, sets the foundation for collaboration Behavioral data can help managers get a better understanding of communication styles and motivating drives, all of which can help managers better predict how the group will interact, potential challenges that may arise and how they may approach shared goals.

Strong Communication and collaboration

 A good team member does his or her fair share of the work. There is a sense of equity and fairness in the good team member. A sense of equity is critically important for team members’ collective motivation.

Shares the Load.

. Disagreements are not suppressed or overridden by premature group action. The reasons are carefully examined, and the group seeks to resolve them rather than dominate the dissenter. Dissenters are not trying to dominate the group; they have a genuine difference of opinion. If there are basic disagreements that cannot be resolved, the group figures out a way to live with them without letting them block its efforts.

There is disagreement and this is viewed as good

 No one would ever follow a pessimistic leader, and the same goes for team members. A positive, “can-do” attitude is critical for the good team member.

Positive Attitude.

 A good team member is up front. He/she doesn’t play games, or lead others on. You can count on a good team member to tell you what’s what, regardless of whether it is good news or bad news

Honest and Straightforward.

One of the key building blocks of successful teams is a strong sense of shared trust among team members. A lack of trust impedes on individuals ability to build rapport and trust thereby jeopardizing productivity

Trust and Commitment: 

Although personality type gives off certain perceptions of abilities as the groups form, the actual contributions that each member makes to the group redistributes the status of each member.

By mixing up introverts and extroverts, you are preventing setbacks caused by dips in your team’s morale as the contribution of each team member emerges.

A good mix of introverts and extroverts

Humour might not be such an obvious factor in the effectiveness of a team, but actually humour inspires trust and intimacy – which can lead to better team interactions.

Eric Romero from the Peru Catholic University and Anthony Pescosolido from the University of New Hampshire have found that humour can have a positive impact on several aspects of effective team interactions, including effective communication, development of group goals, group productivity and management of emotions

They make time for humour 

 There's an old saying that “Nothing shares better than a bad mood.” Often, it's the leaders in an organization who set the mood. In a medical practice, this responsibility usually falls to the doctors. So, for example, if a physician rushes into the office late after a stressful hospital meeting or a long night of being on call, doesn't say hello to staff, and starts issuing orders, that physician has just set a certain tone for the day. A better approach would be to pause, take a deep breath, project an optimistic attitude, and greet your staff by name when you arrive in the morning. This may sound like a little thing, but it will ripple throughout your practice

An optimistic, can-do attitude.