Virtuoso Project Teams: Beyond high performance, a study of the teaming success of the Motorola Satellite Communications System IRIDIUM® Program

Abstract

High performance teaming has always been the gold standard for project management in general and new product or new system generation in particular. Within the realm of high performance, however, there are special factors that must come together in both temporal aspects and technical content to be truly accomplished. These project teams may be referred to as virtuoso teams. As an illustration of the principles of high functioning teaming, it is helpful to look back at one of the systems projects of the last century considered to be a hallmark of technical success and examine, from a behavioral perspective, what principles illustrate this "best of the best" teaming genre. The Motorola IRIDIUM® Satellite Communications System is one such project. Through published memoirs, case studies and retrospective articles, recent publications, personal notes and documentation, and unpublished project artifacts, aspects of the project team are examined to illustrate some of the theoretical principles of high performance teaming.