Your company found you the most eligible candidate to handle the project. They have high expectations from you. You are suddenly in the limelight and once you complete the project, your career will touch the skies.

As the celebrations come to an end and the initial excitement calms down you begin to come in terms with the reality. The job is Herculean; you have to work from scratch and you have no option but to succeed. The most difficult part of this whole job is building a suitable team. You have to identify the skills and attributes required in the team to execute such a project. Then you should identify the right people, train them and deliver results. There are equal odds that you win or lose.

There are no hard and fast rules to ensure success in such cases. However, the following is some advice:

Get ready: Working without sufficient resources, be it infrastructure, equipment, software or knowledge, is frustrating. Acknowledge that your journey is going to be tough.

Also, understand that, tougher is the task of identifying the right talent and persuading them to accept the challenge of attaining goals with meagre resources. So, be prepared for the physical, mental and emotional roller coaster ride.

Be adaptable: The initial months of a project are critical in terms of finances. In order to keep costs low, you have to be adaptable. You have to grasp things quickly, learn fast, improve your acumen and extract more from little. You have to wear different caps, set yourself as an example for different roles and get the work flowing.

Small teams: Managing small teams is easy; it saves time and effort. And when the future is uncertain, they can provide you the essential control. In these teams, there are fewer nodes, so you know who is working with what or where a mistake or delay was committed. You can have better influence on the team members.

As the work flow is transparent, team members have a better idea about where they are heading. Since the total responsibility of the whole project rests on the few selected individuals, they are more focused. They would be more willing to communicate, collaborate and innovate.

Over a period, these individuals would pick up multiple skills and constitute the strong foundation of an expanded team. Or they could be recognised as competent and resourceful employees, and shifted to other key roles in the organisation.

Evaluation: Periodically evaluate whether the present constitution of the team is fit enough to cater to the demands of the project. They could have been critical contributors in the past, but you should still assess them objectively. Consider whether they are open to learning and improving further or reached saturation. Do not hesitate to take unpleasant decisions to ensure that the team is going forward. Then take stock whether you are in a position to attract the right talent. Fresh talent is essential to keep up the enthusiasm and healthy competition.