Team Chemistry: How to Use Interaction Styles to Move from Friction to Flow

Ever wonder why great project team members struggle to work together? In today’s increasingly diverse and distributed project environments, the way we interact - driven by cultural norms, individual styles, and invisible differences - can be the key to either dysfunction or dynamic success.

This session shows you how to understand common interaction styles and use them to transform friction into flow. You will learn to recognize these styles, bring together team members’ complementary strengths, and reduce conflict. You’ll leave equipped to foster healthier team dynamics and lead your team with greater versatility.

Whether you're leading a local team or managing a multinational program, mastering interaction styles can unlock deeper understanding, enhance teamwork, and elevate project outcomes. Join us to transform conflict into connection.

Learning Objectives: 

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Recognize common interaction styles and understand how they influence team dynamics and collaboration
• Strengthen team cohesion by applying complementary strengths and improving communication across diverse styles
• Lead with versatility by flexing your communication style to adapt to your team members' preferences

Jeff Oltmann shows clients how to accelerate results by creating thriving projects and teams. He specializes in strategy deployment, operational and project excellence, and project portfolio management. As a trusted advisor, he brings more than 30 years of experience empowering clients, managing successful global programs, and developing innovative technology. His work spans many sectors, showing leaders in healthcare, public service, research, bioscience, and technology how to implement practical systems that drive success.

Jeff is principal consultant at Synergy Professional Services (spspro.com) and is on the graduate faculty of the Division of Management at Oregon Health and Science University. He was previously on executive staff at IBM and is the founder of the Portfolio and Project Leaders Forum for senior managers of project-based organizations (pplforum.org). Jeff teaches and consults about project and portfolio management systems in both business and graduate settings. He holds an M.Eng. degree and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®).

Non-members ... $25.00
Chapter Members ... $15.00
Chapter Student Members and Veterans ... $10.00

PDU: 1.0 Power Skills