Effective Teamwork & Leadership: Key Principles and Roles

1. Teams Paul Sorenson Department of Computing Science University of Alberta CMPUT 401 - Software Engineering Teams & Teamwork

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

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

7. 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 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 Teams & Teamwork

9. 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 Leadership Roles Teams & Teamwork

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

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

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

14. 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 Teams & Teamwork

15. Why do teams fail? . . . because they lack the attributes ofa high-performance team 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. 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. 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. Teams & Teamwork

19. 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. Teams & Teamwork

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

25. 1 1 2 3 2 3 4 3 6 4 10 5 5 6 15 6 7 21 Team Size nodes arcs tot. arcs Teams & Teamwork

26. 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 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 Business team, chief-prog team, SWAT team, feature team, prof athletic 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 Summary Teams & Teamwork

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