Building High Performance Teams

What is a high-performing team?

It's a team that exceeds the goals you set by working hard and smart as a group, not individuals. It's a team that enjoys working together. Most teams do not reach the high-performing stage. That is why they are so special when you finally achieve this feat. You can help a team reach a high-performing state with a number of basic steps.

1. Plan What the Team Will Look Like

Before you bring on your first person, you need to document what it is that your team has to achieve and by when. This can be done through a project charter or another document that details what the team will achieve together.

But don't stop there. Think about the team culture you want to build, the dynamics of your team and how they should work together.

2. Add the Right People

Building the right team is harder than it looks. It's easy to recruit the wrong person, and it's even easier to build a team that doesn't perform well. Often you cannot pick and choose each team member. When you can, choose candidates that fit the job description, align with your personal vision for how the team will work together and want to work in a culture that depicts your vision.

3. Create a Team Culture 

If you've hired like-minded people, get them working together on tasks. Constantly change the people you pair up, so that people get to know others in the team. Strengthen the relationship between the team and your customers. Find opportunities to get the team socializing together.

4. Motivate the Team - and Yourself

A happy motivated team will always out-perform an unhappy unmotivated one. And it starts with you. Are you happy and motivated? Your motivation will rub off on your team. If you are motivated, focus on motivating your team. Use team building and group rallying exercises to get them pumped up. Tell them how proud you are to work with them. Help them understand why the goals are important and how every team member contributes to them.

Step 5. Recognize Accomplishments

People respond positively to positive behavior. So you need to constantly recognize achievement when it's due. Tell the team about an individual's success. Make them feel proud. Spread the love—don't focus on one team or person too frequently.

If you plan for success, recruit a great team, build a positive culture, motivate the team and recognize achievement, you'll build a healthy project team and boost your chances of success!

Ten Sure Signs Your Project is in Trouble

Many projects struggle. Sometimes the causes are subtle and complicated. Other times the causes are pretty straightforward. Here are ten reasons why projects struggle. If your project has one or more of these characteristics you can expect to struggle - maybe even fail.

1.      Insufficient resources. The project manager builds a schedule assuming a certain level of resources will be available. If you don't have the level of resources or budget you need, You are going to struggle. Be sure to tell your project sponsor quickly.

2.      Impossible deadlines. Sometimes a project is assigned with a fixed deadline that is impossible to achieve. Sometimes these projects are referred to as a "death march". The project manager should tell the sponsor at the start of the project and fight to have the deadline extended, the scope reduced or resources increased. You not only need to have sufficient time to deliver your project, but you also need contingency in case things take longer than expected.

3.      Not managing expectations. The project manager fails to communicate the true status of the project to the team and sponsor. So everyone thinks the project is going smoothly until the deadline is missed. You need to tell people early if it’s slipping. Don't hide it. By telling people you're running late, you give them the opportunity to help get it back on track.

4.      Lack of focus. The team doesn’t really know what is expected of them, so they lack focus. They are given a job to do but not told what is required and by when. Everyone in your team should have regular goals to meet, they should have deadlines and you should be monitoring their progress at every step in the journey.

5.      Low morale. The project team lacks motivation, so nothing is delivered on time. If you want someone to deliver within a set timeframe, then you need to motivate them to do it through reward and recognition. And you need to be highly motivated yourself. Only by being healthy, relaxed and truly motivated can you inspire others to be.

6.      Lack of sponsor support. The project manager gets very little support from their sponsor. There is no one available to help solve problems or provide further resource or money when it's needed. If you lack sponsor support, address it early. Be open and frank with them. Tell them what you need and by when.

7.      Scope creep. The scope of the project keeps changing, so you never really have a fixed set of deliverables. Every time it changes, you lose time and resource, so change control is critical. The scope needs to be clearly defined and then a process put in place to ensure that change requests are formally approved.

8.      The project is too long. The project timescale may simply be too long. Over time your customer's requirements will change, so you need to break your project into smaller chunks and deliver each as a project on its own.

9.      Lack of tools and processes. Not having the right tools to get the job done can also be a problem. Using good quality tools such as templates, processes and a project methodology will lead to project success.

Insufficient of customer involvement. Lack of customer involvement has proved fatal on many projects. You need to involve your customer throughout the project to ensure that what you are building will meet their requirements. Remember, only if your customer is truly satisfied will your project is a success.

What is purpose of Execution Unit in a microprocessor?

Execution Unit (EU) : Execution unit receives program instruction codes and data from the BIU, executes them and stores the results in the general registers. It can also store the data in a memory location or send them to an I/O device by passing the data back to the BIU. This unit, EU, has no connection with the System Buses. It receives and outputs all its data through BIU.