The best team members on your project will be those individuals who:
- Don’t think the same way you do – they approach problems and situations differently based on their own experiences and perspectives
- Have a variety of experiences and skills – their strengths and weaknesses should be different than yours
- Will share their opinions, ideas and will not always agree with you – they are not “yes” men
Look for a variety of individuals to participate on the team:
- Creative – individuals who come up with great ideas and are innovative in their approach
- “Do-ers” – individuals willing who will roll up their sleeves to get the job done
- Devil’s advocate – individuals willing to push back and look at both sides of a situation
- Relationship Builder – individuals who are good at building relationships and establishing rapport with others, individuals who can smooth ruffled feathers
- Conductor – individuals to keep meetings on track and individuals focused on the goal and moving forward
It is important to have diversity on any team. Diversity enables for increased innovation and creativity and for a better project result overall. It may take more skills to manage a diverse team, but it is worth it given the end products produced by well-run diverse project teams.
