1. Teams Paul Sorenson Department of Computing Science
University of Alberta
CMPUT Software Engineering
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Teams & Teamwork

2. Introduction Barn Raising What are the ingredients of a good team?
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Teams & Teamwork

3. Topics of Discussion Teamwork Team characteristics
Why teams fail ?
Teamwork guidelines
Team structure
Team models
Roles of managers and technical leads
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Teams & Teamwork

4. Definition
Team is “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” [Katzenbach & Smith, 1993]
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Teams & Teamwork

5. Teams and Software
When do they come into play? * requirements - JAD * design - the architecture and the technical environment (libraries) * coding - coding standards * reviews - design, code * testing - unit, integration
Groups vs. Teams - is there a difference?
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Teams & Teamwork

6. Team Characteristics Variations in Team Productivity
Individual productivity varies 10 to 1.
Three studies of teams indicates productivity differences of 4:1, 5.6:1, 2.6:1
Cohesiveness and Performance
Lakhanpal’s study indicated that group cohesiveness contributed more to productivity than individual capabilities or experience - what does this imply?
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Teams & Teamwork

7. High Performance Teams
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High Performance Teams
Characteristics
commitment
developed identity
shared vision and goals
competence as individuals
complementary skills
desire to achieve (results-driven)
trust
interdependence (empowerment)
small size (5-8 members)
effective communication
high-level of enjoyment
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Teams & Teamwork

8. Achieving Team Results
What must be in place . . .
roles must be clear
effective communication system in place
performance monitoring in place with feedback and rewards (team & individual)
decisions made on facts not subjective opinions whenever possible
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Teams & Teamwork

9. Leadership Roles Not everyone can be the team leader, but
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Leadership Roles
Not everyone can be the team leader, but
in effective, empowered teams everyone has
some leadership properties.
Driver - controls team at detailed, tactical level
Coordinator - controls team at a highest, strategic level
Originator - new ideas, innovations & strategies
Monitor - analyzes and evaluates ideas & decisions
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Teams & Teamwork

10. Leadership Roles (continued)
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Leadership Roles (continued)
Supporter - builds team spirit and good
communication.
Implementer - efficiently converts concepts
& plans into work procedures or products
Finisher - ensures all necessary work is completed in detail and maintains focus on task.
Investigator - explores and reports on ideas,
developments and outside resources and contacts
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Teams & Teamwork

11. Team Self-Assessment
Ask team members to do a self-assessment providing strength ratings (1=very little, 2=some, 3=avg, 4=lots, 5=major).
Create an assessment matrix and then analyze your teams overall strengths and how well you complement each other as a team
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Teams & Teamwork

12. Assessment Matrix Jim Mary Steve Avg Driver 4 3 4.5 3.8 Coordinator
3.5 3 2 4
Mary 4
4.5
3.5
2.5 3 3 4
1.5 5 2
4.5
Steve
Avg
3.8
3.7
3.5
2.5 3 4
Driver
Coordinator
Originator
Monitor
Implementer
Supporter
Investigator
Finisher
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Teams & Teamwork

13. Mutual Trust Honesty Openness Consistency Respect
Larson and LaFasto found that it consists of four main components
Honesty
Openness
Consistency
Respect
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Teams & Teamwork

14. Managing High-Performance Teams
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Managing High-Performance Teams
Establish a vision
Create change to match the vision
Manage team as a team - make individuals responsible for their actions
Delegate tasks
Leave details to the team
Use MOI (Motivation, Organization or Information) model to remove roadblocks
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Teams & Teamwork

15. 12/7/2018
Why do teams fail?
. . . because they lack the attributes of a high-performance team
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Teams & Teamwork

16. Team Member’s Creed As a team member I will:
Demonstrate a realistic understanding of my role and accountabilities.
Demonstrate objective and fact-based judgements.
Collaborate effectively with other team members.
Make the team goal a higher priority than any personal objective.
Demonstrate a willingness to devote whatever effort is necessary to achieve team success.
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Teams & Teamwork

17. Team Member’s Creed (cont.)
Be willing to share information, perceptions, and feedback appropriately.
Provide help to other team members when needed and appropriate.
Demonstrate high standards of excellence.
Stand behind and support team decisions.
Demonstrate courage of conviction by directly confronting important issues.
Demonstrate leadership in ways that contribute to the team’s success.
Respond constructively to feedback from others.
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Teams & Teamwork

18. Team Leader’s Creed As a team leader I will:
Avoid compromising the team’s objective with political or personal issues.
Exhibit personal commitment to the team’s goal.
Not dilute the team’s efforts with too many priorities.
Be fair and impartial towards all team members.
Be willing to confront and resolve issues associated with inadequate performance by a team member.
Be open to new ideas from team members.
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Teams & Teamwork

19. 12/7/2018
What We’vw Learned
Team cohesion is important and high-performance teams who can be 2.5 to 6 times more effective than poor teams.
Choosing your personnel based team cohesiveness is just as important as based on technical expertise.
Doing a leadership analysis can unveil some “expertise holes” in your team.
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Teams & Teamwork

20. Team Structure Considerations
Must begin with team objectives * Problem resolution * Creativity * Tactical execution
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Teams & Teamwork

21. Kinds of Teams
Problem-resolution teams - (swat team) * focuses on complex, poorly defined problems * need to be trustworthy, intelligent & pragmatic (e.g., Peritus)
Creativity team - (research team) * focuses on exploring possibilities & alternatives * need to be self-motivated, independent, creative, and persistent. (e.g., AvraSoft)
Tactical-Execution Team - (surgical team) * focuses on carrying out a well-defined plan * need to be highly focused with clear roles with success criteria clear (e.g., Saville)
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Teams & Teamwork

22. Team Models
Business team * Peer group headed by technical lead * hierarchical organization
Chief-Programmer team (IBM’73) * surgeon model recognizing high powered prog. * other defined roles back-up programmer, administrator, toolsmith,documentation speclst.
Skunkworks Team * isolated from upper management * isolates group of talented, creative individuals to accomplish a specific, difficult task
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Teams & Teamwork

23. Team Models (cont.)
Feature team * Team of specialists responsible for certain part of a product, empowered group
Search-and-Rescue team * focuses on solving specific problem * example, medical systems specialist team
SWAT team * “skilled with advanced tools” * specializes in certain areas, e.g., Peritus process
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Teams & Teamwork

24. Team Models (cont.)
Professional Athletic team * Coach of a set of stars, coach facilitates the stars needs
Theatre team * team members audition for certain roles under a strong “director” * members can be moved in and out as determined by director
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Teams & Teamwork

25. Team Size nodes arcs tot. arcs 1 2 2 3 3 4 6 4 5 10 5 6 15 6 7 21
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26. Summary Problem Res Creativity Tactical Exec Dominant feature
Typical software example
Process emphasis
Appropriate lifecycle models
Team selection
criteria
Appropriate
software-team
models
Trust
Correc. Maintenance
on live systems
Focus on issues
code-and-fix,
spiral
Intelligent, people
sensitive, high
integrity
Business team.
Search-and-rescue
team, SWAT team
Autonomy
New Product Development
Explore possibilities
and alternatives
Evol prototyping,
evol delivery,
spiral, design-to- sched., d-to-toold
Cerebral, independ.
thinkers, self-
starters, tenacious
Business team,
chief-prog team,
skunkworks team,
feature team,
theatre team
Clarity
Product upgrade development
Highly focused tasks, clear roles,
clear success/fail
Modified Waterfalls.
staged delv, spiral,
design-to-sched.,
design-to-tools
Loyal, committed,
action-orient.,
responsive
SWAT team,
prof athletic team
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Teams & Teamwork

27. Managers & Technical Leads
What are the differences?
Project Managers
Technical Leads
Management Liaison
Documentation
Estimates and Schedule
System Design
System Testing
HR-related Activities
Documentation
System Requirements
Customer Liaison
Program Design
Training
Unit Testing
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Teams & Teamwork
Service and Supplies