We can all agree that it would be ideal to have a knowledgeable team with a good relationship. However I feel as a project manager when picking a project team you must ensure your team members are qualified and knowledgeable before factoring in how they are going to get along. Although working in a team with a good relationship can help create a better environment to work in, the relationships among your team members should not have a factor in reaching your end goal. As an employee in a professional environment it is your job to accomplish the task at hand that you were hired for. Just because you do not get along with your coworkers does not give you an excuse to hinder the progress of the team. As a project manager you must acquire members who will conduct themselves as professionals no matter how irritated they get. This trait can even be considered knowledgeable. Now, as mentioned above when conflicts arise it is your job as a manager to set up a meeting and help mediate the dilemma. Therefore when picking your project team I feel it is more important to ensure your team members are more qualified and knowledgeable than having good relation.

In a team-oriented environment, you contribute to the overall success of the organization. While hiring an individual company looks at the experience, communication skills and knowledge individual has to qualify for projects. In a team project to avoid unnecessary complication the project manager should have set of meetings to know each members. Most problems can be solved if the members stay opens minded and supportive toward others. From my personal experience, the two companies I worked for as an intern asks each new employs to do a personality test as part of the recruitment process. The main factors personality and knowledge should be taken under Consideration while forming a project team.

I worked in a small project where the owner of the company was the one who chose the team. The most important criteria used was that they needed to be hands on individuals who executed the project as neat as possible. The ideal team would be one where you have a great relationship and also have the knowledge about the project. It wouldn't be ideal if you have smart people who have poor communication skills. In a team, people with multiple skills come together, a person with knowledge about Logistic department, financial, organizational departments and a hands on person. They need to have a good knowledge about their specialty but they also need good communication skills.

I believe that all the responses above have mentioned what are the best practices to form a good project team. from my personal experience. Most of the time, you do not get the chance to pick your team members or even your project (especially if you are a project manager). In a functional organization, the Project manager goes to each department and requests someone to work on their project. The trick here lies with the project manager who has to set the tone and environment to encourage team members to work and achieve their goals. One of the best project management methodologies I have seen so far, the project manager scheduled a project kickoff meeting, where he invited all team members, allowed each member to introduce themselves and highlight what their role in the project. The project manager explained in that meeting what are the project goals, expectations from each member, project milestones, and project timeline. He gathered input from each member to tailor the timeline based on the need of each department. He also scheduled a one hour status update meeting once every two weeks. This meeting is mandatory for all team members, where each each member will present their status and provide an explanation for any delays. This way seems to bring everyone on board.

This is a little difficult question to answer, ideally you should pick the best at the department roles that way everyone knows their role and try to focus on the goal project, but I think that would be only in a perfect word, and this is not a perfect world so, we have to account the personality of people that is going to be in our project team. I have experience a lot of working with different type of people and well it is difficult working with some and easier to work with some others. to answer your question, I believe I will prefer to go with people that I can get alone even if they not the best at the department role, we as you said this is a project team, so we all should be helping each other to achieve that goal.

You have raise an actually good question, if you don’t have a choice to pick your team and is already selected for you yeah that would be a different problem. I believe your list accurate and it make sense, but what is most important about to try to not have no conflict or disagreement, the first thing that I believe is the most important is that a ground to everything. What I mean is to actually have a meeting with the team and pretty much set the rules from the start to everyone could be in the same page, because if not well than at least you will know from the start and maybe figure out a way to solve the problem before it gets to there.

Picking a project team is very crucial for a successful project execution and completion. You have to pick the right people for the job. It doesn’t always mean you have to get the most experienced people. Don’t confuse experience with output. When I look to build my team, what I look for is getting people with minimum skill requirements so they have got the competency to do the job but they also have the maximum positive energy and potential. It is also about culture. You also need people that can melt together. You can have people with different races and different backgrounds but you as a leader set that culture and establish that open environment. You want them to work together. You should avoid people that are trying to outshine their own team members. You want them to come together with no ego in the way and perform as a team to accomplish the goal.

I think it depends at what stage of the company you are in. For example, an RD team doesn't necessarily need to have that great of a relationship or have an immense amount of trust between them. Their job is to use their knowledge and their skills to collaborate on which ideas would work for a new product. I think where the trust between colleagues really becomes a more serious deal comes between partners on the business end between the two. Usually when deal with the law, or clients, or competitors, all members should really have trust in one another to do a good deal and faith that they are compatible together.

In my opinion, it is always best to work with someone who is most knowledgeable about the task they will work on. While maintaining good relations with people in the workplace, you do not always need to "like" someone necessarily to be able to do your job. From my experience, work and friendships do not go hand in hand. That does not mean however, that you should not maintain a professional demeanor while interacting with everyone in your workplace, regardless of your personal views. With that said, choosing someone (if you have the option to) with the best knowledge and talents about the subject will yield the best results. This is with the assumption that everyone is responsible for finishing their work on time and does their job adequately.

In addition, working with people you do not know helps you grow professionally and socially as well. Not only does it help you network, but it helps you learn what it is like working with different people and how to adapt to different personalities. This is especially important for positions that involves group and teamwork. Learning this skill helps you manage a team more effectively and results in helping achieve your goals as a company overall.

I agree that choosing your team isn't always an option and it's better to find people who are good at what they do. For this reason, I don't think it's necessary to have someone you already have a good relationship with. In an actual job, everyone is there to fulfill their duties and get the job done. If they choose to be difficult, they are doing so at the risk of getting fired or reassigned somewhere else. It is my belief that most people are mature enough to put aside any differences they may have with others in order to keep their job secure and put forth the best product/deliverable possible

- Saad Ali

I believe that it is much better to work with someone who is knowledgeable and would occasionally give you a tough time than with people who you are highly comfortable with. This way, any potential hurdles/conflicts are handled professionally making you grow as a person. Another benefit is seeing discussion points from another department's point of view. I recall once trying to push a change that made a lot of sense for my department but was a non-starter for another department down the line. You may not always get to choose who you work with but as long as you get to grow professionally, I do not see anything wrong with a bit of a challenge here and there. It is work and there are competing interests from different departments but ultimately you are trying to get things done together which is the basis of team work.

Firstly, individuals need to be selected that are the best fit for roles within the scope of the project. Individuals who possess the knowledge and have unique backgrounds (diversity!) will be heavily sought out. From there, I would consider a Gallup-style test that considers personality. Result-driven individuals, for example, will be strongly considered. I'll also keep the number of hires to a small number. Smaller teams generally run more efficiently.
As for knowledge vs compatibility - definitely compatibility.

Knowledge can be acquired through experience on the job. A personality that does not mesh with others can certainly hinder workflow even if the individual is knowledgeable.

I believe this can go either way. In a company people build relationships with other people and they work as a team. In my opinion it is better to work with a team of individuals who are more knowledgeable in their department. However in the industry you really do not get to choose who you work with. For example let's say you work for a large company and you received a project, there are times when you are working/consulting with another team out of this country. There isn’t really a choice who you work with. Everyone is professional and hopefully is willing to work as a team to complete any task that is given to them.

I agree with you that communication is a major key in team work. Communicating as a team makes the work a lot easier and working as a team. If their is no communication this can lead to group conflict and finger pointing. Communicating as team is important because let's say one member of a team is struggling. He or She can get ideas or help from the rest of the team. There is no competition you work as a team to finish the task handed to you.

I fully agree with that and want to add a personal example to reinforce that. For the capstone class that I am taking this semester, I am in a group with three of my close friends. Although communicating with one another is effortless since we all talk regardless on a daily basis, there are definitely problems that have arisen. Being friends with one another has made us more lenient towards one another than we would be to someone that we do not know as well. In the real world, you are most likely not going to be working with your friends. It is important to form a team with the most qualified people possible. In a professional environment, getting work done comes first. Although having a good relationship will inevitably make the work more enjoyable, it does not ensure that the work will get completed to its best ability.