Scenario 3) You give someone a detailed assignment and they nod like they understand the assignment but then they don't finish it on time and/or with the level of quality you anticipated. This person is an experienced team member and you're surprised at their lack of performance.

Scenario 4) It's noon on Tuesday and you're ready to leave for a quick bite to eat. Your manager comes to your work area and asks for your help in putting together the report for the Weekly Leadership Team meeting at 4pm. You cringe. This is the 3rd week in-a-row your manager has come to you at the "last minute" to put this report together and they ask for different information each week. You reluctantly agree to help out, but make a point of saying you'd prefer to perform this work in a planned/organized fashion instead of waiting until the last minute. Your manager looks at you with a surprised look! Now, you are surprised too! Your manager explains to you that they thought you'd WANT to be involved so you could get exposure to creating management level reports. You cautiously explain that you would like to contribute, but for you to do it at the last minute is not effective for you. Your manager is surprised because she is very creative under pressure and likes producing the report at the "final hour" - plus she's able to include current information in the report. You both agree to find a "time" each week to work on the report together so you can get the experience desired without the stress of having to do it at the last minute. She will continue to make last minute adjustments to ensure it reflects what is happening NOW on the project.

Do these scenarios send chills up your spine? Are there people are your project team that are well intentioned, but wreaking havoc amongst your team? Welcome to diversity! Seriously, we all talk about how important diversity is to a team - but when conflict surfaces due to diversity, we shudder with frustration instead of embracing it with excitement! There are people who are going to have ideas and approaches completely contradictory from yours. That doesn't mean you are right and they are wrong. It means we need to work together as a team to determine the right mix of creativity, project planning, socialization, and team decision making. Sometimes we have to dig deep to begin to understand and appreciate ALL the skills that are brought to bear on a given project team. This doesn't mean you need to LIKE everyone on your team, but it does mean we need to respect and appreciate the skills (and styles) brought to bear.

All the people. All the diversity. All the problems! I have found over the years that a lack of communication and understanding leads to many problems. The more we begin to understand our team members (including customers) the more effective we become as project managers and leaders. I have found it effective to obtain the following information about key stakeholders on my project team:

1. General background - what is their history and expertise? Seems like something obvious but we have a tendency to assume we know a person's history based on what they are doing today. Your assumptions may not be valid!

2. Find out what they enjoy about your project - what are they hoping to get out of this project?

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