Team Relationships in Outsourcing Projects

By Ian Burgess On May 18, 2009 · 3 Comments · In Project Management

j0433169 small Team Relationships in Outsourcing Projects I have worked in outsourcing for nearly 10 years and the experience has been improved dramatically with the introduction of collaborative software, Skype, online project management tools and more importantly cheap flights.

The last is possibly the most important factor to the success of most projects, without the face to face contact it can very easily become an unconnected relationship. The relationships in many cases take second place to tasks and very direct conversations much of the development and thinking that is done outside of the formal meetings environment also takes second place.

The past has taught many project managers including myself that it is the relationships (the soft factors) that are often important to the projects success. In the past this was not hard to cultivate as the whole team were in the same location.

Now with project teams spread across the country, if not the globe it has become more difficult to build that relationship between all the members of the team, and the result can often be seen in the blame culture that exists in many outsourcing relationships.

While it is true that standardisation of Project Management and a strong Project Office will go a long way to assuring success it can be helped if the project manager and key team members focus on building a strong interpersonal relationships. As these relationships will become the focus for support and deadlines and with strong relationships people will be willing to extend help so that deadlines are met.

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