Introduction

This chapter explores the people side of projects. Library and information workers regularly find themselves working in a variety of teams ranging from small in-house teams through to multi-professional and collaborative teams made up of workers from a variety of professions and organisations. The project team may include staff on permanent contracts as well as those recruited specifically for the project on temporary contracts. Virtual teams may involve people working on the same project from across the world, working across time zones and geographical boundaries. Many library and information services now support projects that work with volunteers, particularly on special projects and through crowdsourcing.

This chapter discusses fundamental requirements for project workers, developing working practices, working in diverse teams, working in virtual teams, working with volunteers, crowdsourcing and the management of change.

Fundamental requirements for project workers

It is vital that short-term contract staff working on a project are given an appropriate working environment and access to services. This may appear obvious but I have worked in a number of organisations where this did not occur and contract staff received a poor introduction to the project and organisation. The basic requirements of contract staff is to have:

If there is space consider providing special project space to colleagues working on the project as part of their normal working life so they can get away from the demands of their everyday work and focus 100% on the project for periods of time. This helps them not to be torn between the demands of the project and their other work.