Bringing in a sponsor to sincerely discuss what has been accomplished, discuss the enduring need for project deliverables, thank the team for it's efforts, and encourage continued performance (along with other team building activities similar to the kickoff meeting) will serve to renew a team's energy and sense of purpose.

Day-to-day Conversations - The project manager that makes an effort to have one-on-one conversations with project team members on both a business and personal level, can boost the esteem of individuals and the team as a whole. There are two pivotal questions that can be posed to team members to enhance a sense of belonging and purpose: "What does this project mean to our customer?" and "What does this project mean to you?". A project manager that poses these questions and carefully listens to the answers can accomplish a lot with her/his team members including: a reflection of genuine purpose for the project and the need for the individual to be part of the solution; an affirmation of the appropriate understanding of the customer needs (or an expansion of the PM's perception of the customers needs!), and a genuine sense of concern for the employee by management. Working to boost the feelings of well being in each employee will increase the probability of creating a high-performance team.

Informal Team Meetings - Project managers that follow the Management By Walking Around (MBWA) approach can engage in conversations with team members and gather folks together to quickly disperse information, collect opinions, and solve small problems. The project manager that works this way can realize many advantages - their team members feel their opinions count, team members get a sense their project manager is available and accessible, and problems can get solved before they start to grind energy out of the team. Often, the information exchanged at an "agenda-less" informal conversation can empower team members and keep the project manager informed in real-time. This helps a team perform well, and performing well boosts team morale.

Final Contribution Summaries - The celebration of delivery and acceptance of the final deliverable can solidify the sense of pride and accomplishment within the team and cause the memories of working on the project to be positive one. This will help the project manager when working with these team members in the future. More important however, a project manager who is diligent about documenting a one or two paragraph summary of the contributions of each team member and sending that to the team members management team will earn a loyal team member for future projects - and bring the project manager a step closer to having a team with high morale before a new project even starts.

So, team building is not about AN event, it is about a series of small instances that are positively exploited by a project manager who is mindful of his/her team. So, when you go into work tomorrow, don't tie yourself up in knots thinking about the expense of a ropes course, just order a pizza, put a smile on your face and walk the halls. You'll see a difference in your team very quickly!

Bob McGannon is a Founder and Principal of Mindavation, a company that performs leadership training, creativity workshops, motivational speaking, team building consulting and project management training.. Mindavation can be reached via the web at WWW.MINDAVATION.COM or by calling 1-877-544-MIND.

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