Aug 20, 2008

Part 4: Working Together

by Aaron Shields
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This process should create a clear solution. As everyone plays a role in determining the solution, each team member is more likely to be motivated to follow the project through to completion.

No matter who came up with the final solution, the project is the property of the group. Everyone is accountable for the project’s result. If anyone fails, everyone fails. This attitude creates a supportive system and encourages communication and responsibility.

Although it’s important to have group consensus, it’s equally important to focus on the contributions of the individual. Have specialists take leadership roles whenever possible. People with specialized knowledge are best equipped to run the related part of the project, allowing them to shine individually.

The leader should focus on maintaining the balance between the group project and individual expertise, ensuring that proper ideas and communication are being exchanged and making sure each person has what he or she needs from the group in order to operate at optimal capacity.

Schedule Meetings

Weekly meetings should be scheduled to monitor progress. They don’t have to be long; they are simply to facilitate communication and follow-through (creating accountability), and to monitor the project’s progress. If something isn’t working, identify it, and have the group brainstorm fixes. Repeat the process of listing standard fixes, then wild fixes, examining the weaknesses, then strengths, and finally determining a useable solution.

These weekly meetings also establish benchmarks that will keep people focused and motivated to produce.  These times are a showcase for highly-motivated people as well—they will force themselves to accomplish as much as possible so they can share their individual talents with the group. This perspective is contagious, as hard work propagates hard work.

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