Project Management and Team Bonding: A Winning Combination

It has been a month and a half into our project, and I find myself in a sea of tranquility. I have overcome two learning curves: my initial lack of knowledge about climate and sustainability-related disclosures as well as the intricacies of project management. In the process of overcoming these learning curves, I have also learned a lot about the importance of strong team dynamics in addition to my own working style and preferences. 

In the beginning, our team was overwhelmed by the sheer depth and volume of our project’s scope, as well as the ambitious expectations set by our client for the final deliverables. They wanted us to compile a spreadsheet comparing 13 disclosures and 37 stock exchanges, to be submitted with a written report at the end of the semester. Only one team member had prior knowledge and experience with these disclosures because she had taken an ESG reporting class before. The rest of us felt like we were thrown into the deep end, but we relied heavily on each other’s unique expertise to propel us forward. Even though we were not well-acquainted with each other at the time, we fostered trust, maintained accountability, and held regular check-ins regarding not only our work progress but also our personal lives.

We have now met with our client three times and ten times internally as a team—one meeting being at Wu and Nussbaum for dinner! We are trying to plan our next bonding event upstate in the hopes of enjoying Halloween and fall festivities together. At this point in time, I could not be happier with my team members and our group dynamic. We all get along really well and are not afraid to communicate our concerns or need for help and support. Furthermore, we understand that at the end of the day, we are all students who are here to learn and please our client, and these factors motivate us to consistently deliver our best. 

What initially began as a daunting project now appears significantly more manageable, and the work plan timeline we created also played a big part in this process. At the outset, we relied heavily on the guidance of our client, but with time, we have become more comfortable with setting our own deadlines and taking control of our project management. We created a spreadsheet planning the entire fall semester, which includes the objectives for each week, the deliverables due prior to each client meeting, the progress of the deliverables, who owns the deliverables, as well as documentation of our internal and external meetings. Together, this helps us see the big picture and understand how much time we need to allocate to each disclosure and stock exchange. We also presented this to our client to give them an idea of the structured approach we are using, and they were pleasantly surprised with our long-term organization. They even agreed to narrow down our scope to the six biggest disclosures and to start with the G7 stock exchanges.

Upon committing to our work plan, I realized that I am process oriented, and deadline driven. The absence of this framework at the start of our project, coupled with my lack of knowledge and limited interactions with my teammates, contributed to my frantic and overwhelming feelings. Of course, this is all still a work in progress, but with how things are going so far, I am confident that we will continue down this positive path.