I agree with what many others have mentioned so far, that most likely managers do not directly pick their project teams. In that case, as you mentioned, having strategies to deal with conflicts is ideal. I'd like to add that one tip that was given to me by a senior project leader was even though you may not like or agree with every team member, being objective enough to step back and see the areas in which they add to the team is the best move.

For example, if there is a very argumentative team member (that also happens to be a subject matter expert), you can utilize their skills to ensure that all the decisions the team makes are fully questioned (e.g. they can play devil's advocate). Obviously, the ideal scenario is to pick a good mix of people with hard and soft skills and get along well together. But if that scenario doesn't exist, trying to utilize all of the different skill sets is the only way to lead a functional team.

In response to the first post, I believe it is better for teams to work with people who are knowledgeable in their department roles. I would avoid assigning people to teams who I know have a bad history together. In this case, it would be better to avoid conflict by placing a couple of people who work well together with others who are knowledgeable so the team can build themselves up.

Working with certain people that you have a good relationship is always a good thing to have when it comes to getting work done and brainstorming ideas. The problem here is that there are moments where certain people become dependent on others and only agree to work with their favorite groups; this promotes the "elite" mentality. Many companies prefer that their employees mingle with one another to promote a healthy and diverse environment, this promotes interaction and communication between departments.

I think forming a project team is one of the hardest steps to take for the project to take place. Choosing the right people in the right department will help to make the project go smooth and be successful. It doesn't matter if you have connections with these people or not, the important thing is you have to make sure all the team members have to communicate together in order to ensure that everyone agrees with every little decision. Another main point is that each member has to be professional in the specific department that he is being placed in. A lot of people are successful but it doesn't mean they would be successful in all the departments. So to conclude the members of the team have to have good communications and they have to have really good experience in the department they are placed in.

I think its best to work with people who are more knowledgeable in their area, than with people you are close to. I think its a bad idea to work with people you are close to just in case something goes wrong within the project, that will cause disagreements, and potentially ruin the relationship. However, as long as your team is willing to communicate effectively and handle these issues accordingly, then it shouldn't be a problem. Working with people that are knowledgeable in their role allows for a better dynamic of the project team, because they'd know how to handle and fix any issues regarding their tasks. If I had to form a project team, I'd first figure out the type of expertise I need (quality engineer, mechanical engineer, biomedical, etc), and then find people who are experienced in those areas.

I agree with all previous responses that pointed out best practices to form a good project team. From my experience, we do not get to choose who we will work with so we have to be professionals and learn to work together as a team and always focus on what is in the best for the company overall. With that said, project managers play a key role in the success of team collaboration. One successful approach is to start a project through a project charter. The project charter happens during the first meeting with all team members, it provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. This first meeting is a good opportunity for the project manager set the right tone and address the team in a way that makes a positive, team-building impact striving for an upbeat team spirit, and “we deliver as one” team attitude. Negativity can poison a team’s mood and effectiveness so instead set an example of focusing on solutions, not problems. This can go a long way maintaining an optimistic and constructive atmosphere.

I found a few tips for avoiding dysfunction of team project on the internet.
1. Size, Go with smaller teams—the bare minimum necessary to get the work done. The typical project team size is five to nine members. If you assign more people than needed, just to be safe, you might experience Parkinson’s law: Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Instead, try to enhance the team later if needed.
2. Purpose. Foster ownership and team cohesion by grouping the team around a common goal, such as a successful product launch. Project teams without clear goals or with multiple small goals won’t work as well together on attaining the ultimate project goal.

When building a team many people make the mistake of just picking people they know really well. While yes this brings some form of comfortability to the team, the end results might be poor. When working with friends, one tends to be complacent and it is hard to work cohesively, without getting distracted. Because you are working with your friends, a professional environment or culture will not be instilled. Therefore, when creating a team it is utmost important to create a team that will be professional and comfortable working together. Picking people that know more than you is valuable not only for the company but also for personal growth.

When building a team, first and foremost, it is important to pick a teammates that are good at working with others and is able to motivate the other members. It's not good to have a members that are not open-minded and create a low-morale in the workplace. It is important to have optimistic, hard-working people working beside you. For me, behavior can create a much bigger impact than your intellectual capability. But when it comes to projects and making teams, it is important to pick members that are capable and competent. It is good to have members who are specialized but also well-rounded where people have their own expertise but are still able to understand the other aspects of science and business. It is also important to have a good team leader who will unite all the heads and is able to combine all the smaller parts to a more effective overall product.

I would ideally want to work with people who I like as well as people who are experts. When I worked at General Dynamics Electric Boat, I collaborated with people who worked at the Naval Research Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, small vendors and of course, representatives of the US gov. I didn't choose who I worked with but I liked everyone who I worked with at all these different places. Everything worked well because we have a great rapport with one another. People who work well with others would be my number one thing I would look for when putting a team together. All the other things can be gained with experience and as long as they can talk to other people, they can obtain that experience vicariously through other people.

I agree with Ginger that it would be ideal to work with people are knowledgeable and easy to collaborate with. In my current role as a Process Engineer I work in a matrix organization and have to deal with many different departments internally along with contract manufacturers both in the US and internationally. For the most part everyone is knowledgeable in their specific area, however in a matrix organization it is difficult to communicate with everyone as schedules conflict and each group has different priorities. This is where the balance on working with experts and people that are easy to get along with/collaborate with comes into effect and finding that balance is key in forming a project team.

I would form a project team based on the recommendations from my manager. I would utilize my manager's experience within the company to create a team that in theory can best perform to execute actions. As the project manager, I would try to avoid problems such as scheduling priority conflicts. I would tackle this issue by communicating with the individual's manager and expressing that I need him/her on my team to be free and focused so that their respective actions get completed. We can also come to an agreement on how the person can manage both if he/she is capable of doing so. Another problem I want to avoid is the lack of communication which I would quickly eliminate by having mandatory weekly meetings where each member will provide a status update on what he/she has done and expects to accomplish in the next week. I believe that a team can have both friends and strangers so long as they are willing to work on the tasks given but also that the project manager has charisma and provides guidance not commands to the team. Preferably I would choose a person more knowledgeable in their department role because a project team is there to execute tasks but also succeed together along the way. Who's to say that you can't gain new friends from joining an unfamiliar team?

I would say I want people in my team who have more knowledge in their department, because we are working on a project and we want what is best for the project. Sometimes working with people we have better relationship makes it harder because if they lack at some point it might hut out relationship but also it will affect the project, I will it better to keep it professional as possible.

Select your team by choosing the right people. Select these individuals for their skills and abilities. One does not necessarily need the most qualified person but one should consider an individual who is specific for the project. At some point in my career I was told to concentrate on the skills required for the job and not to concentrate on qualification that will never be used. You should also have a mixture of team members with different set skill and abilities. While selecting the best individuals for the job one should not forget that the individuals chosen need to get along with each other and work as a team.

Mistakes to avoid:
Select people based on skill set not availability
Micromanaging destroy trust
Assigning the wrong project leader
Accept change when needed
Do not believe in miracles

In a company setting, it is easy to work with people that we have cordial relationships with since everyones goals are aligned. After that, its a matter of selecting people that can provide a versatile set of skills and abilities. It is essential for each member to have comprehensive knowledge of their department. The most common problem in working with people that you know is that it becomes very easy for members to develop a dependency on one another. This slows down the progress of a project. On the contrary, working with a completely new group of people can help to expand your connections and skills in networking. Personally, I would choose to work with those that are proficient in their skills even if I do not have a standing relationship with them. I feel it is more important working with those that share a common goal.