Leading multidisciplinary Project Teams

Multidisciplinary project teams can lead to more innovative solutions and a better understanding of the project's complexities by providing a wider range of perspectives, skills, and experiences. This is particularly useful for projects that need to take a comprehensive approach and integrate multiple disciplines, such as design, engineering, marketing, and technology. By combining these different skill sets, a team can tackle complex problems more effectively and deliver a more comprehensive solution.

One of the major sources of project complexity is human behavior. It can increase the complexity of a project by introducing factors of subjectivity, different cultural or professional backgrounds or attitudes. This makes project leadership a complex and challenging task that requires a combination of technical and interpersonal skills. This leadership is not tied to the project manager alone, as successful projects feature various team members who demonstrate leadership skills (Project Management Institute, 2021). Not to mention, building these teams requires a wide range of leadership skills to create an effective project environment, which is necessary to allow team members to work together and achieve synergistic effects and the best possible outcome (Kerzner, 2017) (Project Management Institute, 2021). Creating such an environment involves proper communication, motivation, and taking action when the situation requires it (Project Management Institute, 2021).

This article outlines the key elements of successful multidisciplinary project team leadership. These include building a high-performing team, setting clear goals and expectations, managing conflict and overcoming obstacles, and motivating and engaging team members. The article also discusses the limitations of multidisciplinary project teams. An annotated bibliography is provided for further reading on this topic.