Surely each of us has ever thought about what it is, this same dream team? Ocean's cool friends team? Or the French national football team? Or maybe a development team from Google?
In any case, we would like to be in such a team or even create one. Well, against the backdrop of all this, I want to share with you a little experience and a vision of that very dream team.
The stars are so aligned that my dream team is agile, so everything I write here is more related to agile teams. But who knows, maybe this article will help guys with a good imagination who don't need this agile.
What is your dream team?
I would like to dwell on the three main team ties that I consider a must have: self-organization, joint decisions and mutual assistance. We will not take into account such parameters as the size of the team or roles in it. We believe that we have a team with this, so everything is fine.
Self-organization. How to understand that you have already achieved it or how to achieve it?
If your team does not have the evil Pinocchio with a whip, and together you manage to complete all the tasks, then you can read the next paragraph.
I believe that the key to achieving this goal lies, firstly, in the personal acceptance of the team atmosphere (its rules and customs), and secondly, in the work on the self-organization of each participant. Probably, somehow it is possible to contribute to the development of this direction by initiation into the team, regular team building and all kinds of incentives (not for nothing, of course). The main thing is not to overdo it and not demotivate teammates.
By the way, I know a couple of good games that will help strengthen self-organization in a team: и . In these games, at least two teams are needed - it is advisable to bring a team from outside here. In the first game in time, you need to assemble such a stable structure so that the marshmallow is raised as high as possible above the table. And in the second game, you need to iteratively (from sprint to sprint) increase the number of balls produced in your factory. I had a chance to play these games, and it's a very good experience!
In the Marshmallow Challenge, our team did not take first place, but I liked the way we played. Here's what I saw here:
- during planning, we made attempts to take into account the opinion of everyone within our overall goal;
- we did not have a leader who handed out tasks or shared powers;
- we had reached such a level of self-organization and self-awareness that everyone took the initiative and took on tasks from our mental imaginary backlog.
In the Ball Point Game (aka Ball Factory), our team won and we produced about 140 balls in a couple of minutes (there is a rumor that there is a team that made about 300 balls). Self-organization did not occur at the push of a magic button. It appeared intuitively and was based on our overall goal of "more balls in the same time." We lost a lot of performance on the penultimate sprint (fell into a tailspin storm), sacrificing it for the sake of a radical improvement. Which in the end allowed us to win.
Joint solutions. What is this?
This is when the team, when making decisions, is at least interested in the opinion of each participant. Even if someone else is not competent enough, then we can at least explain where we are being taken at all. Don't forget about mutual respect. Well, in case of deadlocks, you can always play good old scrum poker.
Mutual assistance.
Agree that when you come new to the team, and no one explains anything to you, a stupid feeling of hopelessness arises (followed by thoughts like “maybe he’s ...”). And in order for this not to happen, here, I think, two important components should be present:
- “shouting SOS” when you need help, and not being silent and not waiting for someone to guess about it;
- Cultivate healthy empathy for your teammates and not stand aside.
Well, do you already feel what a cool team you have? It's okay, now let's see what can help us.
Team Good Weather Catalysts aka Team Incubator
Location.
Yes, it's an incubator. And to be more precise - one single location. The most important thing, in my opinion, with which you need to start “flattening” the team is a close location to each other. And even better if it is a separate room and no one from the huge space interferes with you. Firstly, some minor problems are solved on the fly, and are not shelved. The availability of a teammate at arm's length is much more profitable than the availability limited by Skype. Secondly, the atmosphere of joint work reigns in the room. You feel that you are benefiting the project and the friend sitting and working next to you too. This is about the same as when we were children, we sculpted a snowman in a crowd or made a house out of snow, digging it out in a huge snowdrift. And everyone brought some improvements from themselves and everyone was fine.
I had a chance to work for 9 months away from my team. This is extremely inconvenient. My work dragged on. My tasks hung in the In Progress state longer than most of my teammates' tasks. There was a feeling that they were already sculpting the fiftieth snowman together, and I was sitting here and still trying to cut a carrot for the first one. In general, productivity is the level of a snail.
But when I moved to the team, the situation changed radically. I felt like I was on the cutting edge. In a couple of weeks, I began to close more tasks than I did in a month. I wasn't even afraid to take on the middle task!
Empathy and general atmosphere.
Don't stand aside when a teammate is ambushed. Mutual respect, and just a good attitude towards each other, is also a kind of key to success. Ideally, there should be joy for the success of a teammate and pride in your team - and this is already a good motivation for further advancement.
It reminded me of a video where a crowd of passers-by together managed to push away parked cars that prevented an ambulance from passing. They did it together and they were able to move two cars that were on the handbrake. It's really cool. And I think after the success everyone felt inside their usefulness to the process, felt that he contributed to more serious help.
For me, the worst dream is when an awkward situation reigns in the team and almost everyone is afraid to say a word, so as not to make a mistake somewhere or seem stupid or dumb. This should not be. I understand that everyone has a different character, but each member of the team should feel comfortable in it.
An antidote to the situation described above, and just a good prevention will be communication with the team in an informal setting. It is communication, and not spending free time, where everyone is buried in their smartphone. It will not be superfluous to get together with the team in the evening to play board games, or go on a quest together, or paintball. Fight for your atmosphere in the team!
Team facilitator. What is this Pokemon?
It seems like I want to say that it should be a leader. But, there is a thin and slippery line. It is not the team facilitator's interest to lead the team. He wants to increase the motivation of the whole team and maintain a comfortable atmosphere in it, he is an excellent "resolver" of intra-team conflicts. His goal is high team performance.
It is desirable that it be a person from outside. Each team goes through the stages of its formation according to . So, if you introduce a facilitator into the team at the Forming stage, then the team will more easily survive the Storming stage and reach the Norming stage faster than without it. But at the Performing stage, ideally, the facilitator is no longer needed. The team does everything on its own. Although, as soon as someone leaves the team or joins it, it falls back into the Storming stage. Well, then: “Facilitator, I challenge you!”
It would be another big plus if the facilitator sold the idea to the team. I think that if you “ignite” a spark in teammates and infect them with the idea of common success in the future, which we should all strive for now, then you can succeed so well in multiplying team motivation.
Brutal murder of conflicts.
I really hope that in dream team there will never be conflicts. We are all kind and know how to adequately respond to jokes, extraordinary situations, and we ourselves do not go into conflict. It is so? But I know that sometimes a fight is inevitable (especially in the Storming stage). At such moments, you need to urgently throw a pokeball at an opponent and call a facilitator! But often teammates are already aware of the current situation in the team and are ready to throw pokeballs at both of them. It is very important to stop the conflict as soon as possible so that there is no understatement and hidden resentment.
Joint planning.
In joint planning, the team should make a good assessment of the current and future work. I think this is a good chance to evenly distribute the load on each teammate. All comrades must inform their team about everything (difficulties, suggestions, etc.). Otherwise, the team may throw more tasks at the silent man, from which he will not only become discouraged, but may also hold a grudge - and this is already dangerous for the dream team! A constant and open dialogue is the key to effective planning.
Transparency is as important an attribute to planning as a magic potion is to Asterix. Transparency is needed for more effective work and effective decision making. After all, when we see the full picture of what is happening, we can always make a good decision, which then does not force us to spend time figuring out the reasons for poor performance or failure.
Dailies.
Dailys are daily team meetings to learn and understand their current work status. This is the cherry on top of the dream team cake. Especially if these daily events are not held on Skype, but over a cup of coffee and in an informal setting. I had the opportunity to participate in such daily events several times, and, to be honest, when I return to my workplace, I want to work and create more and more! Wahaha! Seriously guys. Dailys, if they are properly organized and the teammates in them are open to each other, kill several birds with one stone. This is transparency, joint planning (I know there is a retrospective, but here you can learn about problems much faster), joint decision making, an idea for the team and just time spent together with the team!
So let's create this same dream team!
I would like to believe that each of us works in a dream team. Then everyone would be fine. And there would be no queues or delays, because the dream team manages to cope with everything, and there would be no negativity, because the dream team loves their work, etc. and so on.
Personally, I am proud and inspired by my team. And to say that I work in a dream team would probably be wrong, because dreams are created to be out of reach, so that there is something to strive for.
Source: habr.com