The productivity project was fortunate to have a number of the features that distinguish successful from unsuccessful software projects: top management support, capable and enthusiastic team members, realistic budgets and schedules, concurrent requirements and solution development, and iterative development. However, many projects have had all of those factors, but have fallen short of having a beautiful team experience. In comparing the productivity project with some of these other projects, we would say that some of the key beautiful team enablers were:
Identifying and involving all of the success-critical stakeholders
A lot of work upfront on listening, exploring, and team building
Developing a shared vision for the product and its results
Identifying a manager with an open mind and good listening and team building skills
Encouraging creative ideas from outside and within
Paying attention and addressing the team's needs
Respectfully redeploying incompatible performers
Negotiating win-win resolutions of stakeholder conflicts
Carefully monitoring progress and proactively addressing win-lose threats