Teambuilding 101: The Old Fashioned Way

As Project Managers we have seen our share of PMO teams, both "dream teams", and the "Bad-News Bears"! These days when we are recruiting project teams and doing team building, what should be our criteria, and our metrics for fielding the best PMO this side of "project heaven"?


Any ideas? I would love to hear from other Project Managers and PMO team members as well.


My team building analogy goes back to the 1967 Stallions little league baseball team I played on for 2 seasons. We finished in first place both seasons. The first season we won ALL of our games. The second season we lost a few but still finished in first place.


What was the secret of that success? I think in one word, coaching! The coach was Mr. Manual Sisson. He was a Vince Lombardi type coach to all of the boys on the team including me. He made us practice a lot. He taught us the rules of the game including sportsmanship (remember that?!). He shouted encouragement, rather than expletives. He brought out the best in all of the team mates.


And, his radical policy in today's sports world was: EVERYONE PLAYS and HAS FUN!


So Coach Sisson taught me that teambuilding should have some cross-training to backup their team mates. Fun begins with a smile, so ask yourself often when you are on your project if it makes you smile. If not, find a project that puts a smile on your face and pass it on! Coach Sisson always had a smile for the Stallions!