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

CSE Senior Design ICSE Senior Design I

Building a High Building a High Performance TeamPerformance Team

Instructor: Mike O’DellInstructor: Mike O’Dell

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What SD Students Say (about What SD Students Say (about team/projects)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.

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What SD Student Say (about What SD Student Say (about team/projects)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.

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Characteristics of High-Characteristics of High-Performance TeamsPerformance Teams

Discussion: Amish Barn Raising (pp. 273-274) Team structure Team dynamics Other team characteristics Why did it work?

Discussion: Case Study 12.1 (pp. 274-275) Team structure, dynamics & characteristics Why didn’t it work?

Discussion: Case Study 12.2 (pp. 277-278) Team structure, dynamics & characteristics Why did it work?

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Team ProductivityTeam Productivity

Studies have shown that productivityproductivity of teams can vary significantly1

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

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What Makes a High-Performance What Makes a High-Performance Team?Team?

1.1. Goals and objectives. Goals and objectives. The team’s ability to understand and agree on commonly understood goals.

2.2. Utilization of resources. Utilization of resources. Team member resources are recognized as well as utilized.

3.3. Trust and conflict. Trust and conflict. The degree of trust among team members, and ability of team to handle conflict openly.

4.4. Leadership.Leadership. Sharing of leadership roles among team members.

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5.5. Control and procedures. Control and procedures. Effective procedures for team functioning that team members support and use to regulate team function.

6.6. Interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication. Communication between team members is open and individuals participate.

7.7. Problem-solving/decision-making.Problem-solving/decision-making. Established procedures for group problem solving

8.8. Experimentation/creativity. Experimentation/creativity. Ability to try new or different ways of doing work as a team.

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9.9. Evaluation.Evaluation. The frequency with which a team examines their own functions as a team.

10.10.Cohesion. Cohesion. The level of enjoyment of working together as a team.

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They have a sharedshared, elevating vision or goalvision 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

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They have a sense of shared identityshared 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?

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They have a results-driven structureresults-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

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They have competent team memberscompetent team members Teams are a blend of individuals, each with

different key competencies and skills Key Competencies

Strong technical skills in relevant areasStrong desire to contributeStrong collaborative skills

Mix of roles… every team must have:Organization and LeadershipCommunication capabilitiesSpecific technical capabilities

But… Flexible, not Rigid

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They have a common commitment to commitment to teamteam 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

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They trusttrust each other Four components of trust:

HonestyOpennessConsistencyRespect

Breach just one… trust is gone! Trust is learned, not mandated

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They have interdependenceinterdependence 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!

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They communicate effectivelycommunicate 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 embarrassmentEven (or, maybe, especially) the “bad news”

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They have a sense of autonomysense 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-managingNo second-guessingNo overriding tough decisionsFull support in those “impossible” situations

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They have a sense of empowermentsense 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

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They are “right-sized”“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

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They enjoy what they are doingenjoy what they are doing Not every enjoyable team is a high-

performance team… but Every high-performance team is enjoyable! Shared sense of humor, secret hand-

shakes, team vocabulary, secret jokes… done in good taste, these things can be FUNFUN.

CSE Senior Design ICSE Senior Design I

Effective High-Effective High-Performance TeamsPerformance Teams

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An Effective TeamAn Effective Team

Is not an individual, or two No “geniuses” No “heroes” Everyone contributes equally

Need not be experts on anythingMust have a leaderMust have a balance of key competenciesMust have a balance of relevant skillsMust have identity/cohesiveness

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Key competencies and relevant Key competencies and relevant skills…skills…OrganizationalCommunicationTechnical

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Organizational Competencies Organizational Competencies (e.g.)(e.g.)

PlanningPersonnel managementSchedulingTrackingReportingAbility to stay on trackAbility to keep others on track

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Communication Competencies Communication Competencies (e.g.)(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

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Communication Competencies Communication Competencies (e.g.)(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

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Technical Competencies (e.g.)Technical Competencies (e.g.)Requirements

analysisUI designProduct designTest designCoding to meet

specificationsTest supervision and

execution

Product packagingHardware interfacingSource controlChange controlKnowledge of

specific languagesKnowledge of

specific technologies

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Team Competencies…Team Competencies…

are the union of individual skills and competencies BUT, a team must have (or develop) a sufficient level of ALL required capabilities.

NB……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.

Documents

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