The project is over and already the team is beginning to disperse. Many of the project team members are ready to move on to their next assignment. But don’t let them go until you have that critical final meeting to debrief what worked and what didn’t.
You need to evaluate the various stages of the project and ask the difficult questions. Were you in sync as a project team or were you sometimes working at cross purposes? Was the goal of the project clearly articulated and individual roles and responsibilities specifically delineated? Were you able to stay on budget and deliver on time? How flexible were you when asked to change project direction or scope by senior management? All in all, would you consider the project a success?
What we find when we facilitate project post mortems is that the success or failure of a project most often depends upon the strength of the team. Effective teams have what it takes to manage projects successfully. Sure there are unexpected circumstances that derail projects like the sudden loss of funding or a misdiagnosed risk but most obstacles to project success can be overcome if the team is a high performing one.
One of the most significant factors in a project team’s success is their level of effective communication. When the communication is unclear, spotty or ineffective, the team falls apart and so do their projects. Based upon twenty years running project post mortems, two-thirds of project team members listed ineffective communication as the number one obstacle to success. Expectations were unclear, roles were fuzzy, conflicts went unresolved, information was not shared, trust was lacking, silos were built and collaboration suffered. The picture is not a pretty one and you can see how, without their oars in sync and pulling in the same direction, the project boat would flounder and make little headway.
The second greatest barrier to success listed has been the lack of forming and kicking off the project team. At the very beginning of the project you should plan to go slow to, later, be able to go fast. Project team members need to participate in understanding the underlying business case and defining the specific goals and success metrics of the project. Project team members need to get to know one another’s strengths, desires and weaknesses. Project team members need to clearly establish lines of accountability and to agree upon how to solve problems and make decisions.
The bottom line? Over and over in project post mortems it becomes clear how important it is to build the foundation of a project team that communicates well, agrees on a common goal and knows how to get there.
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