- "The Project Economy has arrived,"
announced the Harvard Business Review
for the November-December 2021 issue.
Germany was cited as an example
where project work grew steadily between 2009 and 2019,
at which time it exceeded 40% of total GDP.
But we have seen that coming, right?
We have incrementally been replacing linear workflow,
running operations as they put it,
with projects.
And much more routine work has been digitized,
much more since the pandemic started,
so that employees could focus their capacity
on the toughest problems.
Again, the human-centric emphasis,
everyone has to work together more
in teams of different types, sizes, and configurations,
and at the faster pace of business.
But being more responsive
in unpredictable circumstances in team situations
is not easy,
especially if there isn't already a cohesive, trust-based,
and inclusive culture,
and interpersonal skills, like empathy and communication,
haven't been developed yet.
All these elements mutually reinforce each other.
But while the foundation is being nurtured,
to stimulate better collaboration,
make time to deliberately cultivate relationships.
Projects comprise coworkers
across different department and silos,
as well as including specialists non-employees.
Projects can span your ecosystem as options are explored
for solving or managing supply chain disruption.
The better members of a project team
know and understand each other,
the better their teamwork results will be.
More than just an in-person kickoff meeting, where possible,
schedule regular times pre, during, and post projects
for people to connect.
But to ensure conversations are productive,
combining multi-dimensional personalities,
facilitate discussions,
especially to manage intro and extrovert dynamics,
ensuring everyone participates.
If you are the leader, this is a beneficial role.
So you don't share your ideas or opinions,
until at least the very end.
So team members are not swayed.
Particularly for virtual discussions,
collating ideas beforehand
to share anonymously during the meeting
helps draw out introverts' contributions
and ensure uninfluenced debate.
Finding or signing a facilitator is worthwhile
as they prompt all meeting attendees
to solicit and listen attentively
to everyone's contributions
and encourage genuine interest.
All inputs are valuable for generating the best solutions
rather than demoralizing people
whose opinions are discounted,
which then undermines future discussions.
This doesn't mean all ideas are equal,
but everyone's inputs deserve to be heard.
Each participant also brings their own mindset,
manner, and mood
which can enhance or hamper productive collaboration.
Encourage team members to notice and adapt to signals,
decoding each other's emotions and states of mind,
their facial expression, voice tones,
gestures, and body language,
which may prompt modest intervention
to foster positive interactions.
Observing and logging colleagues' baselines helps as well,
recognizing elevated emotional indicators
and then acting to reduce potential conflict.
Lastly, wrap up and follow up teamwork methodically
with consensus and clarity about outcomes and next steps.
So everyone recognizes their efforts
contributed to progress and worthwhile results
and ensuring any unaddressed issues are logged.
Remember, each productive experience and conclusion
motivates everyone to participate constructively
in future collaborative sessions.