10 Tips for Boosting Team Performance

As a Project Manager, your success depends on how well your team performs. So if you want to improve your team performance, then read these:

10 Tips for Boosting Team Performance
There are lots of different ways that you can boost your team performance. We’ve listed here our Top 10 Tips. We hope they help you…

Tip 1: Show them the vision
People only perform well in a role if they understand what it is that they need to deliver and why. For this reason, we suggest you get your team together to reinforce the project vision, objectives, timeframes and deadlines. Make your team feel wanted and needed by showing them that the project is critical to the success of the business. You will gain their buy-in and their commitment going forward.
Also, use these Project Management Templates

Tip 2: Meet them individually
After your meeting, take each team member aside and tell them what it is that you need from them to help you deliver the project. Make sure they have a clear Job Description and they know how you are going to measure their performance. Ask them how they like to be managed, what motivates them and how you can support them in their role.

Tip 3: Give them room
At this point, you need to back off a little and give them room to perform. And if the pressure increases in your project, you need to give them more room than less. It’s hard to do this, but you mustn’t over-pressurize them or their performance will reduce, rather than improve.

Tip 4: Count the goals
As you back off, you need to put in place checks to measure their performance regularly. Meet with them individually every month to discuss their achievements, what’s outstanding and how they can improve. Make sure you don’t “bottle up” your concerns. Instead speak to them openly, keeping constructive at all times.

Tip 5: Be positive
If you’re stressed and weary, ease off on your staff. Shouting or being negative will only rub off on them. It’s incredibly difficult but you need to be positive, reassuring and supporting them at all times, even if the project is delayed.

Tip 6: Shake hands and pat backs
It’s easy to forget to praise your team’s successes. So every time you deliver a great quality product, finish a difficult task on time or get great feedback from a customer—congratulate those responsible in your team.
Also, use Project Scheduling Software

Tip 7: Meet at half time
Get your team together regularly to build a strong team spirit. Get them socializing together, so that new friendships are formed. The stronger the bond your team have with each other, the more likely they will work together as a single cohesive unit and achieve the objectives you have set.

Tips 8: Take time out
Don’t be afraid to give team members time off for working hard. By taking time out, it will reduce sick leave, improve motivation and increase efficiency.

Tips 9: Give them what they need
Everyone is motivated by different things. You need to know what motivates every different member of your team. Get to know them well. If you can reward each person differently based on their motivations, then you’ll improve their performance every time. This is the hardest trick in the book, but the one that pays the biggest dividends.

Tip 10: Celebrate your wins!
Staff all too often finish a project and move straight onto the next one without celebrating its success. When they do this, they carry their stress and pressure into the next project they work on. So help your team to “start afresh” by celebrating your success at the end of the project.
By taking these 10 tips seriously, you will improve the performance of your team and boost your chances of success.


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Building high performing teams

So you're a Project Manager on a new project and you want to build a high performing team? Excellent, this is a great goal to strive for.

But it's not easy, especially in the project environment which has its own challenges. To do it, take these tips for...

Building high performing teams

What exactly is a high performing team? It's "a team that exceeds the goals you set, by working hard and smart, as a group, not individuals."

Whether you're in IT, construction, engineering or another industry, building a high performing team is critical to success. You can do it in just 5 steps...

1) Planning

Before you hire your first person, you need to document what it is that your team have to achieve and by when. You also need to create specific Job descriptions that set out your expectations for each role and how you'll measure their performance.

Don't stop there. Think about the team culture you want to build, the dynamics of your team and how they should work together. Only with a personal vision for how your team will perform, will you be able to meet that goal.

2) Recruiting

Recruitment is harder than it looks. It's easy to recruit the wrong person, and it's even easier to build a team that don't perform well. A candidate should only be recruited if they fit the job description, align with your personal vision for how the team will work together and they want to work in a culture that depicts your vision.

Take your time. Be swayed by your gut feel. Recruit "like-minded people". Introduce them to high performing staff you know of and get their feedback. Be choosy. Recruit the best. If you have to pay top dollar for top performer, it will often cost less in the long run, than a cheap resource who doesn't perform.

3) Culture Creation

If you've hired "like-minded people" then they will all like each other, and that's a great start. Get them working together on tasks. Constantly change the people you pair up, so that people get to know others in the team.

If your ideal culture is "performance through achievement" then shout out loud about each team success. And if you want "performance through happy customers" then strengthen the relationship between the team and your customers. Get them socializing. Try team sports.

4) Self Motivation

A happy motivated team will always out-perform an unhappy unmotivated one. And it starts with you! Are you happy and motivated? Get on track personally by working out, relaxing after hours, de-stress and set personal goals. Your motivation will rub off on your team.

Then when you're ready, focus on motivating your team. Use team building and group rallying exercises to get them pumped. Tell them how proud you are to work with them. Help them understand why the goals are important and how every team member contributes to them.

5) Recognition & Reward

People only respond positively to positive behavior. So you need to constantly recognize achievement when it's due. Tell the team about an individuals success. Make them feel proud. Spread the love—don't focus on one team or person too frequently.

And reward them when it's due. Reward them unexpectedly as people will appreciate it all the more. Meals to restaurants, tickets to the super-bowl. These things mean a lot to staff when they didn't expect it!

And there you are. If you plan for success, recruit a great team, build a positive culture and recognize achievement, then you'll build a healthy project team and boost your chances of success!

Motivating Project Staff over Christmas

As a Project Manager, the Christmas period coming up can be a real worry. You have a backlog of project work to complete, yet many of  your team will be on leave and the remaining team members want to "wind down" over the Christmas period. So how do you keep on track? Read this newsletter to learn tips for...

Motivating Project Staff over Christmas

The Christmas period often results in substantial delays for projects. With staff holidays, reduced productivity and a lack of focus, teams often fall way behind with their deliverables. Besides - when your peers are all away in the Caribbean, who wants to work, right?
It takes a talented Project Manager to keep their project on track over this period and deliver an outstanding result. To help you do this, use these 5 tips...

Tip 1: Plan Ahead
Often, Project Managers have no idea who is taking leave until the week before Christmas. So they suddenly become short of resource and unplanned delays occur. You need to plan ahead.
Find out right now, who in your team wants to take leave over the Christmas period (December and January) and for how long. Then negotiate with them as to when that leave is taken. Try and schedule the leave for a timeframe that fits with your project plan. For instance, if you're in the design phase over Christmas, try and convince your construction workers to take their leave over this period.

Tip 2: Make it fun
It's fair to say that most people don't want to "slog it out" between Christmas and the New Year. They really want easy, interesting work that is fun to do. They don't want to do anything repetitive, anything stressful or anything too big, while others are on holiday. So get the most out of their performance by giving them work that fits their needs.
Every project plan is full of "fun" tasks and "mundane" tasks. Try and give your team members that stay behind and work over Christmas, some of the fun tasks to do. Whether it's researching a new solution, designing a concept, creating a marketing plan or creating prototypes, as long as the work is fun then your staff are more likely to maintain a high level of productivity.
Also, by giving them shorter tasks to complete over this period, it makes them feel like they're achieving more.

Tip 3: Don't burn-out on the run-up
Project Managers often try and finish as many deliverables before Christmas as possible, so that they can show that they have delivered more within the current year. So teams are usually stressed around this time.
It's fine to increase the work slightly before Christmas, but remember; only a percentage of your team will be taking a holiday and will be able to wind-down afterwards. So be careful not to overload the guys that will be staying around over the Christmas period, or they might burn out early in the new year. Remember: overloading only works if it is short term and is followed by a period of complete rest.

Tip 4: Regroup
Post Christmas day, many staff quickly become de-motivated. The Christmas cheer has finished, the office may feel empty and the telephone never rings! Now is the perfect time to regroup by taking your team out to lunch and revisiting your work goals for the next few weeks. Get your team together frequently over this period, so that they feel like a team within a team, while the others are away.

Tip 5: Reward and Recognize
And finally, make a special effort to reward achievement over this period, as you normally would when everyone else is there. A valued team will always be more productive!
By taking these 5 tips, you'll be able to keep team motivation levels high during the Christmas period and allow your team to gain the time to regroup, refresh and gain new energy for the coming year ahead.

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