With virtual teams having become the norm, there’s a perception that these teams are being run smoothly, however, many are still facing their challenges.
To help overcome these challenges, I like to think that project teams can be run like a Formula 1 team. A group of multidisciplinary team members coming together to work in harmony to achieve a common goal of winning a world title, or successfully delivering an IT project (if you’re on a nice project, you might even get champagne too!).
A Formula 1 (F1) car is a prototype which is developed and changes at each race over the course of a season (sprints and project duration). The teams have to adhere to regulations (scope). A team has a limit on the amount of testing on the track, in a wind tunnel and has financial constraints (budget). Teams are full of personnel such as engineers, mechanics, drivers, managers, catering staff and the list goes on, but in addition to this, there are also engine, gearboxes and components limits (resources).
In this article, I’ll recommend a formula (pun intended) for success covered in five pillars which provide a foundation for a successful virtual project delivery – using F1 to tell the story.
1. Develop a shared understanding of the project goal and vision
You’ll usually see a project goal and vision in your standard meeting kick-off pack, which is important, but it is often left sitting on a slide as a checkbox item ticked with no further discussion or sense checks to agree or ask questions to gain alignment and understanding.
In F1, vision and goals matter. Mercedes state: “We are on a mission to win every championship and ultimately, to become the greatest champions in Formula 1 history. We’ll succeed when everyone delivers their tenth of a second”.
The Williams F1 team don’t have a clear vision but they state in their modus operandi that they’ve won the world title nine times previously – however fail to mention the future. Guess which team has won the past six consecutive world titles and which team has slipped down to finishing last for two years straight.
A strong project vision and goal matters as it ensures every team member understands the meaning behind the statements.
2. Define team roles and skills
Defining clear roles and skills is crucial in Formula 1, especially when it involves a pit-stop where a car going 100km/h stops within a tolerance of 10cm, is lifted up, has all wheels changed and leaves. A pit-stop happens in 1.9 seconds and involves 20 people. Every single person knows exactly what their role is and what is expected of them. Only writing a person’s name and title isn’t enough to reach this level of performance, so why do we do it on projects? Specify what each team member’s role is and specify what deliverables they’re responsible for. If a problem arises, team members also know who to go to for it to be resolved.
Red Bull hold the current record for the fastest ever pitstop at 1.82 seconds
3. Establish tools and channels
On race weekends, communication is critical. Engineers, drivers and strategists have
push-to-talk radio channels to directly communicate. There are team members back at the team’s factory that receive live race data and are in contact with engineers at the track. There are clear communication lines and primary tools are used during a race weekend for immediate calls or voice memos that lead to actions. Collaboration tools are used during day-to-day operations and meetings. Each tool has its purpose and it’s known and expected when it will be used.
In your virtual project, come to an agreement with the team and make it clear what tools and communication channels will be used and ensure everyone knows how to use them. Identify the people in the team who have the most knowledge on the tools, so that team members know who can assist them. Turn this agreement into the norm and always keep your team up to date.
For pillars four and five, I’d like to share some quotes from Toto Wolff, team boss at Mercedes F1 since 2014 where Mercedes have won 73.5% of all races during his tenure; he said this when discussing their success:
“… if I were to sum it up, it’s the people, the group of people that are working on the project each giving it all, playing the best game in their respective position and the strength of the pack that has made us win these championships.”
“We had many hiccups over the last years and we were always able to collect ourselves, understand why we haven’t performed well and come back even stronger.”
“Having a no-blame culture, empowering [people], even when it’s difficult sometimes when you would rather control things. I think the strengths go very deep, values that are engrained in the teams that you can’t put on a PowerPoint and say, ‘now we are empowered’.”
Mercedes celebrating their 6 consecutive world championships
4. Build team culture and openness
a. Create and agree on a social contract
At the beginning of the project, set the values of how you would like to work together through a social contract. Make a team promise to what you can expect from working together, but don’t write and forget it – live by it and call it out if breached. An example of one would be “when challenging an idea, be constructive, not destructive”.
b. Organise and hold virtual coffee breaks
An activity to build a positive culture is to set up virtual coffee breaks with the team, where you talk about anything other than the project. By getting to know each other, it improves the way you communicate and builds supportive relationships.
c. Leave your work title at the door
Whether you’re working with different organisations or closely with a customer, have a collective team mentality by removing the “us and them”. Be transparent and raise risks or issues when you see them, don’t just leave it to a project manager. Openness 3 and transparency builds trust with the client, encourages action on any issues or risks in their early stages and assists to manage expectations as the customer is involved throughout.
d. Hold retrospectives
Retrospectives (retros) are an effective tool at improving team performance. These are held on a regular basis (e.g. fortnightly) and provide a platform that allows team members to say what went well (keep doing), what didn’t (stop doing) and identify ways to improve and fix problems (start doing). It is a time to be completely open with one another – so leave the egos at the door. One thing to remember in retros is instead of taking it as an opportunity to only criticise others, make sure to also reflect internally about what you could have done better and share this with the team. This will encourage others to be more open and honest about their own improvements.
5. Support and enable team members to experiment
F1 is about innovation, where experimenting can lead to breakthroughs in performance and setting a new standard. To do this, people need to be empowered and enabled to go out and try something different.
If you’re a leader in the project team, supporting and enabling your team members to experiment and improve the way that they work can increase the team member’s engagement with the project and also improve their sustainable performance. Embracing new ways of working means recognising that people work well in different ways. Celebrating when someone performs well means that we also have to support them when they make mistakes.
As part of the retrospective meetings, it is always best for team leads to encourage their team members to begin by proposing ways in which the team can improve. Empowering the individual shows that they can have an impact and adds more meaning to their work as they may introduce their own spin or approach on something. Having this team approach to solving problems brings diversity of thought and can surface great solutions. With that said, you don’t need to be a team leader to have an impact like this; if you also share your opinion or encourage your peers to do the same, you’ll be growing the culture of enablement too.
Allowing this freedom through experimentation and enablement, team members are encouraged to practice self-discipline as the combination of daily stand-ups, retros, and the social contract, removes the temptation or need for micromanaging.
In summary, these five pillars sit on top of your general project management standards (you still need to stop scope, time and budget from slipping out the window). This is designed to highlight the way in which you can achieve high performance over a sustained period to run virtual projects like a championship winning F1 team. If you get it right, you’ll be drinking champagne at the end of it.