CSE Senior Design I Building a High Performance Team Instructor: Mike O’Dell

1 CSE What SD Students Say (about team/projects)  Nobody wants to work with someone who will not pull their load.  Most want to work with someone who thinks and works like they do.  Everyone wants to work on a "meaningful", or "real world" product.  Most want their project to be a success.  Most would like to work on a project that is directly relevant to their future/current job.

1 CSE What SD Student Say (about team/projects)  Everyone wants all of their teammates to be honest, trustworthy, and hard-working.  Only a few of you want to be a team leader.  Many of you don't understand why you need to work on a team - i.e., with other people.  Not everyone is a “technical expert”.  Many of you are nervous about your presentation/oral communication skills.  Each of you has a unique set of skills that can contribute to your teams/projects success.

1 CSE Characteristics of High-Performance Teams  Discussion: Amish Barn Raising (pp )  Team structure  Team dynamics  Other team characteristics  Why did it work?  Discussion: Case Study 12.1 (pp )  Team structure, dynamics & characteristics  Why didn’t it work?  Discussion: Case Study 12.2 (pp )  Team structure, dynamics & characteristics  Why did it work?

1 CSE Team Productivity productivity  Studies have shown that productivity of teams can vary significantly 1  As much as 5 to 1, in studies where backgrounds and experience varied between teams  Typically 2.5 to 1 between teams with similar backgrounds and experience 1 Boehm, 1981; DeMarco & Lister, 1985; Weinberg & Schulman, 1974; Boehm, et. al., 1984; Valett & McGarry, 1989

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? sharedvision or goal  They have a shared, elevating vision or goal  Buy-in… every single member of the team  Streamlines decision making on smaller issues  Provides focus and avoids wasted time  Builds trust… and cooperation  Small issues stay small… focus is on BIG GOAL  The vision MUST be important to the organization, and create challenging work

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? shared identity  They have a sense of shared identity  A sense that you belong together  A way to distinguish your team from others  Shared sense of humor  Satisfaction in teammates’ accomplishments  “WE,” instead of “I” in your team language  Competitive FIRE!  Thoughts/ideas on how you go about building this shared identity for YOUR team?

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? results-driven structure  They have a results-driven structure  Organized with max. development speed and efficiency in mind  Clear, and clearly understood, roles for everyone  Accountability for each individual  Effective communication system & rules (up- down, down-up, across)  Performance monitoring/measurement  Decisions are based on FACT, not opinions or mandate

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? competent team members  They have competent team members  Teams are a blend of individuals, each with different key competencies and skills  Key Competencies Strong technical skills in relevant areas Strong desire to contribute Strong collaborative skills  Mix of roles… every team must have: Organization and Leadership Communication capabilities Specific technical capabilities But… Flexible, not Rigid

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? commitment to team  They have a common commitment to team  Involves personal sacrifices for the team (that you may not make for the larger organization)  Calls for a commitment of your personal time and energy… everyone!  Each member must know and buy-in to exactly what you and your team are committing to… VISION… CHALLENGE… TEAM IDENTITY

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? trust  They trust each other  Four components of trust: Honesty Openness Consistency Respect  Breach just one… trust is gone!  Trust is learned, not mandated

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? interdependence  They have interdependence among members  Understand and rely on each other strengths  Everybody gets to contribute… in the way(s) that they are best qualified to do so  Everybody gets to participate in critical decisions that affect the team  Everybody looks for ways to make other members successful  Result: everyone gravitates to the role in which they are most productive!

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? communicate effectively  They communicate effectively  Establish preferred ways to communicate  Stay in touch with each other  Establish their own “team language” based on mutual understanding (Recall Case Study 12.2)  Express true feelings, without any fear of retribution or embarrassment Even (or, maybe, especially) the “bad news”

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? sense of autonomy  They have a sense of autonomy  Feel like you can do whatever you need to do to make the project/product successful  Based on trust within the organization (a.k.a. management) No micro-managing No second-guessing No overriding tough decisions Full support in those “impossible” situations

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? sense of empowerment  They have a sense of empowerment  The organization gives you the power to do what is right for your team  You can make decisions, within the context of your project, and not have them over-turned  You can make a few mistakes, and not have them held against you

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? “right-sized”  They are “right-sized”  Small enough to communicate effectively  Small enough to work efficiently  Small enough to bond as a team  Large enough to form a group identity  Large enough to get the job done  Large enough to include the right key competencies and skills  Larger projects can usually be broken into smaller, more efficient, teams

1 CSE What Makes a High-Performance Team? enjoy what they are doing  They enjoy what they are doing  Not every enjoyable team is a high- performance team… but  Every high-performance team is enjoyable! FUN  Shared sense of humor, secret hand-shakes, team vocabulary, secret jokes… done in good taste, these things can be FUN.

CSE Senior Design I Building Your Teams

1 CSE Assignments your proposed team (due Wednesday).  Submit a short paper that identifies your proposed team (due Wednesday).  Key points: 4 or 5 Each team must have 4 or 5 members No close friends/significant others on same team CpE, CS and SwE students will be equitably distributed among the teams (per diagram in “Day 1” slides) leader Must have a strong leader on each team Consider times of availability, travel, project choices, etc.

1 CSE Assignments  Due at beginning of Lab next week:  Individual Assessment Forms Make a copy for your and your teams use and reference later  During the next Lab, each new group will:  Prepare and turn in a Team Assessment form Recommend preparing duplicate for team to keep  Select top 3 projects in order of preference  Verify/identify your team leader  Begin the process  Begin the process…..

1 CSE Self-Assessment Form  Complete using the form on the website  Clearly mark your answers on the form  Keep a copy of the form, turn in the original on the due date  After completing your form, get together with potential partners and evaluate the possibility of forming a competent, high performance team

1 CSE Ratings on the Form  Rate yourself from 1 to 5  1 – definitely not a skill that you possess  2 – classroom/limited knowledge only  3 – ok: can do it, but not really well yet  4 – one or more successful team projects where you used this capability  5 – professional. This is what you do for a living

1 CSE Team Assessment/Needs  In our next lab period, you will begin to evaluate your proposed team using the team assessment vehicle.  Total score in each skill for all team members is the team score  You may need to assess other skills than those listed on the form for your team’s project  If your team score is low in some areas, you will need to be sure your planning includes additional education

1 CSE First Lab After Teams and Projects Set  First Team Status Report Team name!! Preliminary roles and responsibilities of individuals Team weaknesses identified and plan to resolve Early assessment of risks associated with your project

1 CSE An Effective Team  Is not an individual, or two  No “geniuses”  No “heroes”  Everyone contributes equally  Need not be experts on anything  Must have a leader  Must have a balance of key competencies  Must have a balance of relevant skills  Must have identity/cohesiveness

1 CSE Individual Capabilities  Organizational  Communication  Technical

1 CSE Organizational Capabilities (e.g.)  Planning  Personnel management  Scheduling  Tracking  Reporting  Ability to stay on track  Ability to keep others on track

1 CSE Communication Capabilities (e.g.)  Written reports/presentations  Clear and correct English  Proper format  Timely  Good with presentation/visual aids  Verbal  Oral reviews/team meetings  “Sales” presentations  Training

1 CSE Communication Capabilities (e.g.)  Critical Analysis  Reviewing materials, plans  Reviewing/evaluating customer and sponsor input  Clearly conceptualizing difficult ideas/issues  Understanding and integrating other approaches/opinions  Considering alternative design approaches  Objective, open-minded, clear-thinker

1 CSE Technical Capabilities (e.g.)  Requirements analysis  Architectural design  Detail design  Test design  Coding to meet specifications  Test supervision and execution  Product packaging  Hardware interface  Source control  Change control  Knowledge of specific languages  Knowledge of specific technologies

1 CSE Team Capabilities…  are the union of individual capabilities  BUT, a team must have (develop) a sufficient level of ALL required capabilities.NB……  A high-performance team maximizes its capabilities AS A TEAM.  A high-performance team matches individual skills with the job(s) to be done.

1 CSE Projects and Teams  Case Study 13-1: Mismatch  Characteristics of the team?  Why it failed?  Case Study 13-2: Good Match  Characteristics of the team?  Why it succeeded?