# 10 Chose team members and partners carefully

One big factor affecting any projects success or failure is the quality and motivation of those on the team. Choosing your team wisely will reduce risks in the project at a stroke.

Why

The team and how they work together makes the difference between successful completion and utter failure. At the outset of any project a unique opportunity is often there, determining who and how you will work together. Picking the wrong members is costly, painful and frequently leads to all manners of unpleasantness.

Surefire practice

1. Pick the best for the job. Complement subject matter expertise on the project with the best you can find. By careful selection, the best are often not the most expensive, but they usually are not the cheapest. In the long run the overall project costs will be improved by the quality of the team.
2. Check references, early and often. Ensure that the claims others make before they are added to your team are accurate. Reference checking is an oft missed task during the planning and selection phase. One that is regretted later in the process.

Excerpted from Michael J. Cunningham’s Finish What You Start

Tags: accurate reference, check references, phase one, subject matter expertise, team members