You ve seen what can happen when project managers have no authority and when project sponsors think they have better things to do with their time than focus on the project. Now let s turn your attention to disengaged team members.

Team members may (or may not) state a host of reasons for giving you less than their best on the project. Some are within their control; others aren t. The more common reasons I ve seen include the following:

• Loyalty to functional managers

• Lack of policies and procedures

• Lack of trust in the project manager

• Don t believe in the goals of the project

• Overworked (too many conflicting duties and tasks on their plate)

• Personal issues

• Conflicts with other team members

• Wrong people, wrong time

Some of these issues are easy to spot and easy to fix. For example, team members who are overloaded with responsibilities may need help prioritizing their tasks or need you to off-load some of those duties to others. Team members who don t believe in the goals of the project will drag their feet when given assignments, gossip with other team members, or may withhold information. They may also be vocal about it and let you know they don t buy into the project. That s actually the easiest to deal with because you can address their concerns and hopefully win them over to your side.

Personal issues aren t necessarily easy to spot, but usually some telling signs exist. Team members may call in sick more frequently than usual or...