The theory that a manager must understand the individual in order to grasp the collective is based heavily in psychology, and indeed project managers have a tremendous advantage in building and managing teams when they have a solid grasp of personality types as defined by scholars in that field. It is imperative that project managers understand people in order to manage the complex relationships of the team effectively.
The project manager must understand the goals of each consultant as he or she performs a professional service on the project. Once project managers have a sense of who the consultants are, what they need, and what they can provide, they can use communication skills to motivate consultants to become part of the team. They can maintain and strengthen the consultant relationship by clearly communicating goals and project objectives of both the client and the team members.
For each project, the client will have a vision of what the project should ultimately encompass; project managers are responsible for ensuring that goals are communicated to and fully understood by all of the consultants. Too often, project managers believe that everyone is working toward the same goal, only to find that some team members interpreted a goal or task in a different manner. If the project manager communicates effectively and handles clients’ and consultants’ goals thoughtfully, the entire team will find it easier to view the project as a challenge they savor the opportunity to be a part of.