Add FLAVOR – Project Team Principles

Friday 31 December 2010 - Filed under Communication + gaps + GTD + project management + Teams

It is the personal responsibility of every project team member to add FLAVOR. FLAVOR stands for Follow, Lead, Attitude, Value, Ownership and Respect.

Follow – A critical skill for all team members to master is that of following someone else’s lead. In project driven organizations, leadership roles can change from one meeting to the next. When someone else is leading, fully support him or her. Great leaders are first great followers.

Lead – Everyone ends up in a leadership role at one time or another. When it is your turn, don’t be afraid to lead. When given the lead, treat your role and all team members with respect. When leading, you have the dual obligation of managing activities and resources efficiently while managing relationships respectfully.

Attitude – The most important contribution anyone makes to the team is his or her attitude. You ultimately have to hold yourself accountable for a positive, cooperative, and success focused attitude. Before managing anything or anyone else, you must first be willing and able to manage your attitude.

Value – Always add value. Bring it to your meetings, your projects, your solutions and ultimately your customers. In any given situation, be willing to ask, and ready to answer the question, “What value does my participation add?” Recognize and celebrate the value in others. Learn to measure and assess value within the context of the objective(s).

Ownership – Take personal ownership for all you do. When given a task, stay with it. When ownership passes to someone else, don’t drop it, hand it off. Own your words, your actions, your attitude and your assignments.

Respect – Everyone has the right to be respected, and the obligation to respect others. To be successful, those you serve and those you serve with need to be assured of your respect. Show it in your meetings, e-mails, after-hours discussions, etc. Respect each other’s ideas, time, abilities and responsibilities.

How to leverage the FLAVOR acronym…
You begin to realize your full potential and what your contribution means to a team, when you recognize the power of individual choice. Choose to make a positive difference and let the FLAVOR acronym serve as a personal reminder…
F. (Follow) … for you to follow when appropriate.
L. (Lead) … for you to lead when appropriate.
A. (Attitude) … that you and you alone are responsible for your attitude.
V. (Value) … of the constant obligation of finding ways to bring value to the team and to the project.
O. (Ownership) … to take personal ownership of assigned duties, deadlines and deliverables.
R. (Respect) … to treat everyone with respect and ensure it is evident in all you say and do.

2010-12-31  »  Russ Leseberg