Many managers actually forget the “group” part of “group project” seemingly often.  They pay a lot of lip service to “teamwork” without actually knowing what it means.  Teamwork on a time-set, clear-goaled project is oftentimes quite different than teamwork in an organization at large.

Step#1: Understand what being staffed on a group project is like for a peon?

• It’s a change from your ordinary duties.  Most managers don’t realize the psychological effect of this fact on an employee.  After doing a particular job for an extended period of time, a change of scenery–no matter what that change is–is often a welcome respite from the monotony.  This change of responsibilities, perspectives, etc. has the effect of raising employees’ productivity and motivation to do good work.
• It makes one feel a little special. While it’s not true in some cases, being pulled in on a special project usually an unofficial pat on the back, saying to employees, “we value you and therefore would appreciate your input on this initiative.”  That makes an employee feel pretty damn good from the outset.  However, what it also creates is an expectation that one’s opinions are going to then be heard and appreciated.

Step#2: Run your team project accordingly.

• Keep everyone involved (beyond the brainstorming phase).  What tends to happen is that the group meets up and spends a bunch of time discussing options, strategies, and perspectives.  Then comes the time for action and all of a sudden a only subset of the group (if not just the group leader) is responsible for taking the next steps.  Contrary to popular belief, it’s not enough to just listen to an opinion; you have to let people act on them.  Otherwise, they’ll always just be opinions.  As stated above, people are willing to get work done and considering you picked them (or someone in the know did), those people are generally trustworthy.
• Make sure all members participate in the major decision making and know of external decisions affecting their work before the rest of the company does.  One of the worst feelings of betrayal I’ve had as an employee is when I, with my assigned project group, met with a larger group of employees and managers and witnessed the project leader get up and say that the group had accomplished such-and-such, and that was the first time I, as well as most everyone else in the group, had heard of anything being final.  This partly goes back to my point about not pretending other people have control over decisions when they don’t.  However, it is sometimes embedded in the corporate structure and culture that only project leaders report to higher ups and serve as liaisons.  But, this does not mean that the project leader doesn’t pull the group aside first thing after he hears the news to give them the primary heads up (so that a. they know and b. don’t sit in these types of meetings with deer-in-headlights expressions).  Additionally, by keeping them in the dark like this, you make your group members feel anything but special.
• Allow all group members to take turns presenting and taking credit for group achievements. It’s easy for the project leader to take credit — he is clearly responsible for the actions of the team.  What separates a good leader from a bad one, however, is his ability to share the credit and allow others to bask in its glory.  Allowing each member of the team to be a representative of the group at some point in the group’s life makes each person feel like the team leader, which obviously makes him or her more satisfied with the group experience, regardless of how it turned out practically.