By James Tamm (January 16, 2006)

Project leaders can do their part to turn a blame-shifting “red zone” work environment into a “green zone” of shared vision and team collaboration by upholding these five principles.

Are you stymied by the collaboration void in your workplace? Wonder why, when you’ve struggled to select the best and the brightest for your project teams, tempers flare and productivity often grinds to a halt? Your workplace may be a “Red Zone” — an environment where turf is guarded and defensiveness abounds.

Red Zone organizations are made up of individuals who are short on “Green Zone” qualities such as trust, optimism and goodwill. When a project fizzles or fails in a Red Zone workplace, people turn to shame and blame — focusing not on what went wrong, but on who did wrong.