Working in Teams

1. Working in Teams “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.” --Andrew Carnegie

2. Goal Dysfunctional Functional

3. Software Development is a Team Sport • A team is two or more individuals working together with a shared commitment to a common purpose in an environment of mutual accountability. • Benefits of working in teams: • Shorter schedules. When a team works well together it is able to accomplish more than its individual members can working independently. • Complementary skills. No one individual may have the skills and expertise necessary to complete the work.

4. Context • This lecture covers the social aspects of working in teams. • Other team processes, such as planning, organizing, tracking and controlling are covered elsewhere. • Interpersonal issues are just as important to project success as technical issues. • Because humans are emotional, expect to spend some time and energy catering to human factors.

5. Humans are imperfect • We have egos • We crave recognition • We can lose motivation for a variety of reasons • We are less motivated to start a task when we lack confidence we will be successful. A lack of confidence may create a fear of failure and the negative emotions associated with failure. A lack of confidence may lead us to avoid one task in favor of another that has a greater probability of success. • Most people need some measure of external motivation—a cheering section. • If you expect perfection from your interactions with others, you are going to be disappointed.(Occupational hazard of working with computers.)

6. Four stages of team development • Forming • Storming • Norming • Performing

7. Forming • Team members get to know one another. Everyone is polite. Conflict and controversy is avoided. • There is a sense of excitement, anticipation and optimism. • Specific activities: • Define goals and objectives • Clarify roles and responsibilities • Decide how decisions will be made and work done • Establish ways of working together (rules for collaboration) • Develop conventions and procedures for communication • Each member wants to know, and is entitled to know: “How do I fit in?” and “What will be expected of me?”

8. Storming • Teams get a reality check during the storming stage of team development. This happens when the team begins to realize the task is different and more difficult than they imagined. • Individuals on the team may become frustrated and aggravated with the team’s progress and the way the work is being performed. • If problems aren’t resolved, members may withdraw—physically by leaving the team or emotionally by not caring any more. • Expect conflict during the storming stage of team development. (Conflict resolution techniques will be discussed shortly).

9. Norming • “During the Norming stage of team development, team members begin to resolve the discrepancy they felt between their individual expectations and the reality of the team's experience.” • Team members “accept the team, the team ground rules or “norms,” their roles in the team, and the individuality of fellow members.” • Team members find “ways to raise and discuss differences of opinion effectively.” • “If the team is successful in setting more flexible and inclusive norms and expectations, members should experience an increased sense of comfort in expressing their "real" ideas and feelings.”

10. Performing • “The team is now an effective cohesive unit.” • Productivity is high; need for supervision is low. • Members feel satisfaction in the team’s progress. • “Team members are able to prevent or solve problems in the team's process or in the team's progress” • Changing circumstances may cause a team to revert back to an earlier stage. For example, if leadership changes the team may revert to the forming stage.

11. Outline for learning to work together • Going dark • Foundation of healthy interaction: respect, humility and trust. (aka how to be a decent person) • Conflict resolution (recommended for happy home life!) • Constructive feedback (giving and receiving) • Some situations are hopeless (Some people are just impossible to work with)

12. Going Dark • Going dark is a term used to describe developers that go off on their own for long periods of time to perfect some work before springing their masterpiece on an admiring public. • Working along increases your risk of failure. • When you work alone you miss the opportunity for valuable feedback. You might end up solving the wrong problem or arriving at a suboptimal solution. • Delivering in large increments also makes it difficult to estimate delivery dates. • Yes, if you share your work that is under development others will see your mistakes and realize you are not a genius. However, unless you really are a genius they would have found that out soon enough anyway.

13. Foundation of healthy interaction • Respect – “You genuinely care about others you work with. You treat them as human beings, and appreciate their abilities and accomplishments.” (Example?) • Trust – “You believe others are competent and will do the right thing, and you’re OK with letting them drive when appropriate.” • Humility – “You are not the center of the universe. You’re neither omniscient nor infallible. You’re open to self-improvement.” “Nobody wants to work with someone who consistently behaves like he’s the most important person in the room.” If you do make a mistake, be willing to admit it.

14. Conflict • Conflict is a normal part of working in teams. It brings creativity and helps avoid groupthink. • Conflict arises from differences between people; the same differences that often make diverse teams more effective than those made up of people with similar experience. • A strong team will have people with varying viewpoints, experiences, skills and opinions. Any time you bring together people from differing backgrounds and experiences, it is inevitable that conflict will occur.

15. Resolving Conflict • It is often easier to prevent conflict from occurring rather than deal with it after it has happened. At the beginning of a project get to know each other. Establish ground rules and norms. Can’t get mad at someone for not responding to your emails unless it was made clear at the beginning of the project how soon emails would be returned. • Acknowledge the conflict. • Understand the situation and each team member’s point of view. Discuss facts, assumptions and beliefs underlying each position. The less emotion the better. Look for common ground. • Decide on a course of action. Many times the facts will make it easy to see the best course of action. May need to consider alternate solution options.

16. Range of response to a conflict • Do nothing • Private conversation between affected members • Impersonal mention during group meeting. Discuss general concerns (no names) at group meeting • In-group confrontation. Airing of grievances (professionally of course) during group meeting • Dismiss members from team. Last resort.

17. Collaboration before Compromise • Collaboration. First look for a solution that meets everyone’s goals—a win-win solution. • Compromise. If collaboration does work, compromise may be appropriate. With compromise, everyone gives up something and everyone gains something. This is sometimes called a lose-lose strategy because everyone gives up something.

18. Constructive Feedback • Two important skills: giving and receiving constructive feedback • Feedback could be positive or negative. If you regularly give positive feedback when it is appropriate, the receiver is more likely to be receptive of negative feedback when it occurs. • Know when to give feedback. Don’t give feedback when: • The information you have is second-hand or your knowledge incomplete. • “Your, or the other person’s emotions are running high.” • You purpose is not really improvement but to make you feel superior or vindicated, etc. • “The feedback is about something the person has no power to change.”

19. Constructive Feedback [Cont.] • Know how to give feedback • Be objective, clear and specific. • Avoid emotionally charged words like “immature” and “unprofessional”. • “Don’t attribute motives to the behaviors you observe.” Example: He is just saying that because he doesn’t like the grade he got. • Don’t exaggerate. It invites the person you are talking with to argue with the exaggeration rather than respond to the real issue. • Speak for yourself. Don’t refer to absent, anonymous people. Avoid phrases like, “A lot of people here don’t like it when you …” • “Restrict your feedback to things you know for certain.” • Example: When you don’t respond to my emails I’m unsure if you are still with the project and available to take part in project activities. This makes it hard for me to plan. [Pause so the person can respond] I would like for you to respond to my emails within 24 hours. This will give me the information I need to schedule activities.

20. How to receive feedback • Listen carefully. Relax. Resist the urge to go on the defensive. • Ask questions for clarity. Example: What were the specific changes I made to the document that you didn’t agree with? • Paraphrase the message in your own words to verify there is a mutual understanding. • Try to understand the feedback from the point of view of the person giving the feedback. Example, I understand how you might get that impression and why it aggravates you. • If necessary, take time to contemplate your response. There is nothing wrong with saying, I need a day to think it over. Can I contact you tomorrow with my reaction.

21. Some people are just impossible to work with • No matter what you do there are some people that are just impossible to work with. • Impossible might not be the right word, but the extra effort needed to work with them is greater than the value of the work they produce. • There is a reason this is the last slide in the presentation. Removing someone from a team should be a last last resort. (Assuming it is in fact an option. Many times it isn’t.)

22. The End