Keeping Your Team Members Focused

There are numerous ideas as to how this is best done, keeping team members on track during a project. Some of these tenets focus on letting the members know of the importance of the work at hand. Yet, does reminding people of the value of the project's final results really have any impact? Many employees might think that if they're not seeing any direct benefit themselves, then pushing themselves on the company's behalf isn't a top priority.


There are things you as a team leader can do to help your members stay focused, however, starting with the most simple and basic ideas. First, get rid of distractions, whatever those might be. Ensure that each member of your team has only your project to worry about, and can thus concentrate all of his efforts on the work at hand.


Then, make sure you set up regular review periods, looking at not just the goals of the project but each person's tasks and responsibilities. The team leader needs to determine how often these reviews should be scheduled - and they can be scheduled more often for individuals who might need more help focusing, while all-team reviews are held less frequently.


Set reasonable goals. Any member of a team tasked with Herculean or impossible work will certainly slack off, viewing the tasks before him as daunting and too difficult to manage. Make sure that the goals you've set forth are achievable within the time frame allotted, and then help your team members by providing support in the form of tools, information, and whatever other resources are needed.


Practice what you preach. Make sure that you're available to your team, and that they see that you're working as hard as they are to ensure that the project is a success. And show that you believe in your team members' abilities as well. Don't micromanage them, but do make sure that you're available should they need assistance.


Finally, do what you can to make the project less tedious. Yes, this can be done! Every project has some tasks that would fall under the definition of tedium or busywork - in other words, these are task that need to be done, yet they can be mind-numbingly boring. While they may be necessary, they may also be so routine that it can be difficult for anyone to maintain focus or concentration when working on them. To combat this, try to make sure that these types of tasks are divided among the team, so that no one person is stuck in a deep well of tedium day in and day out.


While these concepts are not revolutionary, they will go a long way towards helping your team stay focused on the project at hand. And consider improving your leadership skills with one of PMCAMPUS' Leadership PDU's.