How to pick your project team

You are about to embark on a journey with your system deployment. It is long, tough, and painful. It is like running a marathon. Who you keep in your company would make a big difference in how it will end. Without a good team, you may not even reach where you wanted to go. Thus, picking the right team members is key to your success. Each member in your team should be an asset rather than a liability and contribute to rather than drag down the implementation.

How can you construct a good project team then? I have seen cases where the customers simply relied on the job titles to construct their project teams assuming the people who had the titles had what it took to be a good member. Well, some of those worked out, but most did not. In worst-case scenarios, some customers picked whoever happened to be available to build their project teams. Well, I don't need to tell you how bad those turned out to be. So, what are the criteria to build a solid team? Who should we look out for?

Here is what I suggest. I think there are 5 areas that should be considered. First, they should know the business in and out. They are going to explain it to the consultants and make critical decisions, so they better know what they are talking about. Second, they should have an open mind. If they are stuck in their old ways, regardless of how much they know, they won't be able to envision the future. Third, they should be good learners that can quickly grasp the new concepts and play with these ideas using the new system. If they cannot understand the tool, they cannot build the future. Forth, they should be good sellers. This is especially important. They may know the business, have an open mind, and learn things quickly, but if they cannot influence others in the organization on what they are building, the project won't take off. And finally, they need to be resilient. They are going to get a lot of pushback from the organization as they try to break the status quo. We cannot lose them in the middle of the project due to a nervous breakdown.

Now, you may think such people do not exist in your organization. Well, let me give you a couple of pointers. The best way to find them is to look at your company's "informal" network. They tend to be in the center of it, making decisions every day. People come to them to get things done. They may not have the title, but others trust them and follow their lead. They also tend to be the busiest people in the organization. Those are the ones that you should try to bring into your project team. Getting one hour of such a person's time is worth more than getting a full day out of a regular employee. You may end up backfilling their regular jobs, as they work with you to make the future come true.

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My name is Cem and this has been another gem.