Transcript Document
Professional Context of ICT Teams and Teamwork Topics of Discussion Teamwork Team characteristics Why teams fail . . . ? What is a team role? Teamwork guidelines Team structure Team models Roles of managers and technical leads 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 2 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] 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 3 Why Projects Fail? Demarco [Software Magazine, ‘88] The success or failure of a project is seldom due to technical issues. You almost never here “has the state of the art advanced enough so that this program can be written?” If the project does go down the tubes, it will be non-technical, human interaction problems that do it in. The team will fail to bind, or the developers will fail to gain rapport with the users, or people will argue interminably or meaningless methodological issues. 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 4 What is a team role? A team role as defined by Dr Meredith Belbin is:"A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way.“ The value of Belbin team-role theory lies in enabling an individual or team to benefit from self-knowledge and adjust according to the demands being made by the external situation. 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 5 Belbin Team Role Type Role Type Contributions Allowable Weaknesses PLANT Creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems. Ignores incidentals. Too pre-occupied to communicate effectively. COORDINA TOR Mature, confident, a good chairperson. Clarifies goals, promotes decisionmaking, delegates Ibrahim Elbeltagi well. Can often be seen as manipulative. Off loads personal work. 18 July 2015 6 Belbin Team Role Type (cont.) MONITOR EVALUATOR Sober, strategic and discerning. Sees all options. Judges accurately IMPLEMENTER Disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient. Turns ideas into practical actions. Lacks drive and ability to inspire others. Somewhat inflexible. Slow to respond to new possibilities. COMPLETER Painstaking, Inclined to worry FINISHER conscientious, anxious. unduly. Reluctant Searches out errors and to delegate. omissions. Delivers on 7 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi time. Belbin Team Role Type (cont.) RESOURCE INVESTIGATOR SHAPER TEAM WORKER 18 July 2015 Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores opportunities. Develops contacts. Over - optimistic. Loses interest once initial enthusiasm has passed. Challenging, dynamic, Prone to thrives on pressure. provocation. The drive and courage Offends people's to overcome obstacles. feelings. Co-operative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic. Listens, builds, averts friction. Ibrahim Elbeltagi Indecisive in crunch situations. 8 Belbin Team Role Type (cont.) SPECIALIST 18 July 2015 Single-minded, selfstarting, dedicated. Provides knowledge and skills in rare supply. Ibrahim Elbeltagi Contributes only on a narrow front. Dwells on technicalities 9 The Reptilian Metaphor Toads Chameleons Snakes Speak technobabble Speak technobabble and English Speak English Enjoy bugs Do planning Do business Read manuals, science fiction Read books Read menus Eat junk food Eat plain food Dine extravagantly Finish systems Understand Toads and Snakes Identify software opportunities Solve technical problems Solve system problems Solve business problems Live in the IT world Live on the interface Live in the real world Wear eccentric clothes Adapt dress to environment Wear suits 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 10 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 11 Reptile habitats Customer Land Interface Zone Silicon Pond TOADS CHAMELEONS SNAKES 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 12 Communication channels 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 13 The Snake's view of consumer 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 14 Reptiles and the Software Engineering Lifecycle Snakes initiate the cycle: Identify prospects and develop them into customers Seduces customers with soft systems analysis 18 July 2015 Get IT business Outline the solution Hand job over to the Chameleons Ibrahim Elbeltagi 15 Reptiles and the Software Engineering Lifecycle Chameleons Understand enough about user speak to churn out an appropriate user interface Work quickly to produce prototypes Prototypes lack robustness and ruggedness necessary for real production systems 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 16 Reptiles and the Software Engineering Lifecycle Toads Finish the systems off Debug the Chameleon’s prototype and tune it so that performance is acceptable. Prone to tinker with the system forever Snakes must step in and insist that the system is delivered to the customer when it is adequate 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 17 The Perfect Team Has the right mix of reptiles appropriate to the particular type of business problem to be tackled. Too many Snakes Teams will promise solutions to customers and never deliver anything Without Snakes Team will never get or start any useful work 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 18 The Perfect Team Chameleons on their own Without Toads Unable to identify and secure customers Will develop half finished prototypes for unimportant users Team will never deliver working systems The manager – should ideally conform to Belbin’s “Chairman” role – may be a nonreptile 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 19 The Perfect Team Toads Valuable and specialised resource – may need to “hop” between projects Snake and Chameleon continuity should be maintained throughout the project. Changing Snakes will upset Customers and undermine their confidence Changing Chameleons will upset users and waste time 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 20 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 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 21 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 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 22 Team Self-Assessment Ask team members to do a selfassessment 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 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 23 Mutual Trust Larson and LaFasto found that it consists of four main components Honesty Openness Consistency Respect 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 24 Managing High-Performance Teams Establish a vision (or goal) 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 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 25 Why do teams fail? . . . because they lack the attributes of a high-performance team 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 26 High Performance Teams Characteristics 18 July 2015 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 Ibrahim enjoyment Elbeltagi 27 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. 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 28 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. 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 29 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 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. 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 30 Team Structure Considerations Must begin with team objectives * Problem resolution * Creativity * Tactical execution 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 31 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) 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 32 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 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 33 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 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 34 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 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 35 Reference “Professional Awareness in Software engineering” Edited by Colin Myers Chapter 7 “The Reptilian World of Software Teams” By John Madsen McGraw Hill 18 July 2015 Ibrahim Elbeltagi 36