A PM's Guide to "Everyday Team Building"
By Bob McGannon

It is a well documented fact - project managers are the tone setters for their project teams. The mood of a project team will be a direct reflection of the mood the project manager carries while strolling the halls, facilitating meetings and conducting one-on-one sessions with project team members. If you doubt this, try this test: tomorrow morning when you go into your workplace and make your way to your desk - look worried. Be assured, your entire project team will hear of this before midmorning and they will all worry.they won't know what they are worried about, but they will most certainly worry!

Team building is a critical part of the role a project manager must fulfill to move projects to a successful completion. Many project managers however, view team building as taking the project team to navigate a "ropes course" or other form of intense experience that "bonds" the team. Although this type of experience does have its place in promoting positive team dynamics, most project managers don't have the finances or the time to take their project team through such an experience. That being said, how does the project manager perform the critical function of team building? The following are a few suggestions for team building activities that can become part of your "everyday team building strategy":

The Kickoff Meeting - Anytime the project manager has the opportunity to get his/her entire team together is a distinct opportunity to inject team building items into an agenda. The kickoff meeting is the first - and in many ways the most significant - opportunity to boost the morale of your team. Arranging a contest to derive a team name, providing an opportunity for a senior management level sponsor to address and encourage the team or organizing games or other activities that bond the team (or sub-teams) on your project can work wonders for encouraging employees. Chili cook-offs, best dessert contests, or carnival like games (I am personally fond of "Nerf basketball" free throw contests, and marshmallow sculpture competitions) are inexpensive, fun and bring the team together, without risking rope burns!

Weekly Status Meetings - Although many status meetings do not involve the entire project team, status meetings are also great opportunities to boost enthusiasm. Recognition of consecutive periods of "all targets met" status reports, the deft handling of a sensitive customer situation, or a technical idea that moves the project forward can be acknowledged with food, celebratory balloons or flowers, or a small gift certificate. Teams that are consistently meeting goals on a regular basis can be treated to a pizza party or other relatively inexpensive event. Even in cash strapped organizations, many people will still feel a sense of pride when a pizza event is celebrated by a manager allowing the team to meet outside of work and eat pizza they have paid for themselves! The publicity, recognition of a job well done, and the creation of an event that is not part of "everyday office life" are more powerful a motivator than most project managers realize.

Milestone Achievement - When a milestone is achieved - significant or not - the project manager is compelled to recognize the event and single out the individual or team's accomplishment. Even in cases where the milestone was achieved late or over budget, a respectful acknowledgment of the obstacles overcome and/or the lessons learned can take a team out of the doldrums and into a more productive mode. Many of the small (but significant) celebrations discussed above as part of the weekly status meetings would be applicable here as well. For longer projects, the creation of milestones for the sole purpose of recognizing the team can be instrumental in maintaining morale and momentum for the project. For example, if you are managing an 18,000 task, 20-month project, creating a milestone at the halfway point - after the 9,000th task for instance, provides a catalyst for celebration.

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