Core Team Motivation

The most commonly cited reason for project failure is lack of team motivation.  Without a committed and motivated team, even great ideas never make it to fruition.  What does it take to develop and maintain team motivation?  We’ve not got time to delve into the depths of motivation, but below are some crisp tips.

Developing Motivation

1.       Ownership – The fountain of commitment.  If they (the team) build it (participates in defining “how” the project will be completed), it (ownership / commitment) will come.  It is this commitment that drives results!

2.       Focus – Having a clear vision (mission statement) with a detailed knowledge of what each team member will contribute (work breakdown structure) and the result are primary factors in motivation.  Lack of focus is the most commonly voiced frustration of core team members and results in diffuse outcomes.

3.       Power Through Alignment – Teams desire power to accomplish tasks and meet deadlines.  When the Project Leader ensures that projects are visibly aligned with key business strategies, teams acquire that power by driving business results. Alignment of key stakeholder expectations also produces power for the team.

4.       Belonging – Individual team members will either spend their energy working with one another, or protecting themselves from one another.  Encouraging team members to invite co-worker involvement is difficult but produces great results.  The ability of each team member to express ideas / concerns is key to motivation.

        Maintaining Motivation

5.       Recognition of Needs – Project Leaders who quickly identify individual needs / strengths / weakness and assign work in a way to leverage each not only sustain motivation but also enhance results.  Doing tasks that challenge, offer growth possibilities and produce visible results motivate.

6.       Sense of Achievement / Momentum – Nothing is more frustrating than an absence of forward momentum.  Being blocked from accomplishment is frustrating and discouraging.  Project Leaders that monitor, actively communicate and encourage celebration of movement toward goals / milestones drive motivation.

7.       Meaningful Rewards / Recognition – Money is not the only reward, nor is it the best.  Recognition, challenge, change, involvement, empowerment, and growth are all more powerful motivators.  Working in an exciting / fun environment is more motivational than the money derived from working in a hostile one.

Managing Sponsor and Customer Alignment

As a project leader, there were many times that I became frustrated because the project sponsor and customer seemed to both have different views of the project than I did.  The sponsor's goal is to resource the project and keep costs and time to schedule.  The customer's goal is to derive as much value as possible from the project.  And the project leader's goal is to ensure that these often opposing parties are all happy when the project is complete.  Opposing perspectives can lead to all sorts of problems, and I eventually learned that before a project gets too far out of the starting blocks, a wise project leader ensures alignment between these three key stakeholders.

Reconciling your vision of the project (project requirements documentation or project charter) with the Customer and Sponsor will establish an initial “mind-meld” and ensure the project gets underway with aligned or homogenized expectations.  Once this is managed, then a project leader just needs to maintain that alignment - much easier than creating it mid-project!

The process of achieving this alignment is critical to the success of your project.  Following is the outline of a process you may find useful to ensure that you, your project sponsor and customer (or customer advocate) share common expectations: 

1. Get Customer and Sponsor Together: Never assume that the Sponsor and Customer have a common view / understanding of the project or have even spoken with one another directly about it.  Try to get both parties together in the same room with you when ever possible.  The more important the project, the more important this step is. 
2. Review the Project Charter:  Overview the draft charter you have created with both the sponsor and the customer.  Respond to their questions and take note of their suggestions, input and reactions. 
3. Begin by Listing Specific Expectations: Ask both parties to identify and list, in priority order, their expectations of desired project results (deliverables, time frames, acceptable risks, etc.).  Ask them to be specific.  Have them share their expectations and facilitate a discussion to initiate alignment.  Refer to Managing Expectations posts (Part One - Apr 13th 2011, and Part Two - April 25th, 2011) for information on how to gain alignment of expectations.
4. Identify Assumptions:  Work with both parties to identify assumptions that may underlie their expectations.  Work to identify those that may pose risk and incorporate them into your risk log.
5. Discuss Trade-Offs: Where differences exist, use Resolving Conflict to work through issues that may arise / exist and consider trade-offs.  Then document agreement by updating your draft Charter.  I usually come prepared to do this on the spot.  Getting all of these parties together again may be difficult.
6. Agree to The Revised Project Charter:  The final step is to get both to agree to the revised charter.  Your revised charter now needs to be managed throughout the project to ensure that expectations don't diverge as the project progresses and changes are implemented.

 Projects where I started this way usually went more smoothly than those where I skipped this important step.  If you will do these steps prior to or during your reconciliation meeting, you will successfully align expectations and start your project with support from your key stakeholders.  Try it, you'll like it!