Engineering projects are typically complex and executed by multidisciplinary teams that must achieve project milestones on tight deadlines. To add to the complexity, team members may not know each other, come from disparate backgrounds, and work from remote locations. These circumstances can make collaboration challenging. Follow this guidance to overcome obstacles and assemble highly effective teams.
Establish the leader鈥檚 role. The team leader plays a critical role in getting the team off to a good start. The leader articulates the team鈥檚 vision and works with members to determine a path to achieve team goals. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the leader鈥檚 role to get the team to answer questions such as 鈥榃hat are our shared values as a team?鈥� and 鈥榃hat do we as a team want and need from each other to get the project done?,鈥欌�� says Susan Ascher, leadership coach and CEO of the Ascher Group.
It is up to the leader to establish ground rules for team interactions. The rules can include statements such as 鈥淲e will be polite to each other and listen to each other鈥檚 point of view鈥� and 鈥淲e will be accountable for the tasks that we agree to take on.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 also important to define upfront which decision mechanism the team will use. Will decisions be made...
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