The ability for my team to succeed is established within the minds of the clients as well as the project team members in the early stages of the effort. An essential component of this perception is the management ability, the technical skills, and the sense of direction possessed by myself and the project leadership. Both the business clients and the team can detect fairly quickly if the project leaders have "what it takes" to take them to a final product. Without question this feeling has a tremendous impact on morale. So in order for me to develop a good team I have to start with the top. With myself being the leader I have to make sure that my managers below me are competent and effective with portraying to vision of the teams success.
Even within organizations with high success rates, one factor which never changes on each new effort is the amount of experience possessed by the chosen project team members. Will the project team include a business expert? If not, will the assigned members be able to effectively comprehend and discuss the business requirements and issues in the client terminology? Having someone on my team who understands the business is a great confidence builder! It allows me, the analysts, and designers to ask the dumb or simplistic questions to someone other than the client. This actually makes more effective use of everyone's time and it adds a subsequent level of security. In addition, it puts someone in the position of making sure that "creative thinking" stays within reasonable boundaries.
Large, complex undertakings which require the participation of many people throughout the development process, demand both high-level and detailed guidelines to assist in the channeling of the individual results into an integrated final product. As ...