Best Practices for Managing Teams

Managing a team can be a source of great satisfactionor great misery. The following are suggestions and comments on managing teams that I have put into practice over the years. You can use these and adjust them to fit your particular style.

• Remember that team productivity is as important as individual productivity. I've seen some teams where one developer produces a tremendous amount of output that the other team members can't easily use or understand. This is counterproductive in the long run. These situations are difficult to manage, because the developer in question usually can't understand why others are displeased with his work. As a result, I discuss this during interviews for prospective team members. I give examples of this scenario and explain that an important attribute of high-quality work is that it is easily used and understood by others.

• Be a proponent of your individual team members and their accomplishments. When meeting with other company employees outside the project, I always make a point of announcing major milestones reached and the people who made meeting those milestones possible.

• Have a predetermined strategy for handling poor performers on your team. If a member of the team is determined to be a nonperformer, follow your strategy closely and consistently. In general, I strive to understand the cause of poor performance. If it is due to external factors that the team member cannot control, I try to support that person as much as possible. In other words, think of this as a problem-solving issue. On the other hand, if the cause is a poor attitude or personality conflict, get that person off the team as soon as possible.

• If overtime becomes necessary on a project, instead of simply asking everyone to put in as many hours as they can, try to identify a day or two when the majority of the team can commit to working an extra-long day. Although overtime is seldom an enjoyable experience, it's a bit easier to handle when the entire team works the extra time together. The project manager should also be present during these times, if for nothing else but as an expression of solidarity and moral support.

• One consequence of hiring good performers is that new opportunities frequently find their way to these people. Your initial instinct will be to prevent the person from leaving. Certainly, you should try to identify any issues that are easily solved that would make this person want to remain on your team. Beyond that, it is best to thank the person for all her work on your project and wish her well. Attempts to force the person to stay will ultimately unmotivate her. Your positive embracing of a person's decision to leave also sets an example for those remaining on the project. It tells other team members that if and when a similar opportunity becomes available to them, their decision will be respected.