Anticipating Team Members’ Questions and Anxieties
One of the biggest problems that a project manager faces in the
early stages of the project is managing the anxieties that can
develop within the members of newly formed teams. If left
unchecked, this anxiety can slow down early team growth and
inhibit the development of relationships, thus affecting work
output. With that in mind, let’s examine some of the more com-
mon questions that you can expect to be running through their
minds as you begin working with your team.
WIIFM (What’s in It for me)? Once again, human nature
comes to the forefront. Nearly all team members will be con-
cerned with some form of this question. Some will wonder
about the effect that participating on your project will have on
their status in the organization and on their career. Others will
wonder if participating on your project is likely to be personally
or professionally satisfying.
What will be expected of me? This issue surfaces most often
when team members are unfamiliar with your leadership style or
approach. Curiously, the source of this anxiety often pertains to
aspects of the role that have little to do with their required work.
Team members tend to be more concerned with issues such as
the amount of personal freedom they’ll have, how much you’ll
micromanage them, or the extent of administrative, clerical, and
other undesirable duties you’ll expect them to perform.
What will life on your team be like? People will naturally want
to know who else will be on the team and the likelihood that
their relationships with other team members will be harmonious.
They’ll also have questions about the composition of the team.
Will the team unify? Or will members constantly bicker? Will
everyone on the team be qualified? Or will there be some mem-
bers who will have to be “helped along”? Will all members be
peers? Or will there be a hierarchy? Some of the most dysfunc-
tional teams that people have told me about have occurred
when a manager attempts to be a part of the team. Inevitably,
rank surfaces as an issue—directly or indirectly.
84 Project Management