Team Management I - Basics

Common Sense ManagementBasic of Team Building, Nick Krym 05-25-07

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Agenda• A few questions on teams and their pros and cons

• Definition and a few formulas

• Team Cornerstones

• Basics of building Team Cornerstones

• Core Team-building Skills

• Running Productive Meetings

• Identity, Values, and Guidelines

• Basics of Team Composition

• Establishing Team’s Organizational Structure


Teams – a few questions and some answers• What is a team?

– A group of people organized to work together with an overall common purpose and a shared accountability for the outcomes.

• What are benefits gained from using teams?

– Increased productivity– Reduced costs– Increased flexibility– Greater speed and efficiency– Higher quality– Increased customer satisfaction– More innovation and work

improvement– Higher personal commitment and

development– Enhanced communication

• What differentiates a team from just a group?

• What are the common characteristics of high performance teams?

– A shared elevating vision or goal– Challenging work– A sense of team identity– A results-driven structure– Competent team members– Commitment to the team– Mutual trust– Interdependence among team

members– Effective communication– A sense of autonomy (independence)– A sense of empowerment (authority)– Optimal team size– A high level of enjoyment

• What could be the reasons for a team to flounder or fail?

• What institutes a team player?


Team Cornerstones• Nick’s formula for success

– S = ∏oi*P – success is a product of organizational factors and team’s productivity

– P = (∑ei)T – team’s productivity is sum of employees’ contribution in a power of the team

– e = ∑fi*aC – employee contribution is sum of environmental factors times employee ability in power of commitment

• C - Employee Commitment– Focus - Clear goals, expectations, and values are established.– Involvement - Employees have input into planning, problem solving, and

decision making that affect their job.– Development -Development of knowledge, skill, and experience that build

competence and confidence occurs.– Gratitude - Recognition and appreciation are shown for employee efforts and

accomplishments.– Accountability - Responsibility is given and producing results at high standards

expected and upheld.


Team Cornerstones, cont.• Nick’s formula for success

– S = ∏oi*P – success is a product of organizational factors and team’s productivity

– P = (∑ei)T – team’s productivity is sum of employees’ contribution in a power of the team

– e = ∑fi*aC – employee contribution is sum of environmental factors times employee ability in power of commitment

• T – Team– Common Purpose – bringing together efforts of the team members towards

common goal, result or an outcome.– Team Composition – appropriate for the purpose knowledge, skills, experiences,

background and personalities of the team members. – Synergy – cumulative effect of capitalizing on members strengths, cross-

pollination, cross-training, multiple perspectives.– Leadership – abilities of the team leader to inspire team members to perform at

their best and achieve beyond of what is expected– Shared Accountability – the reinforcement of high standards and the shared

responsibility for the results the team needs to produce.– Organization – an appropriate structure of the team that corresponds to the

team purpose, enables the synergy, and mitigates the risks – Atmosphere – environment allowing each member to perform at their best.


Building the Team Cornerstones• Common Purpose

– Set team Identity.– Define core values.– Set the team vision and purpose statements.– Set team guidelines.– Set SMART performance goals for the team.

• Team Composition– Define resource needs of the team.– Hire for competencies and talent, use fewer and better people. – Select people for a well-balanced and harmonious team.– Fit tasks to the capabilities and motivation of the people available.– Someone who does not fit the team should be removed.

• Shared Accountability– Do team presentations to management reporting results.– Conduct periodic review meetings on progress with goals and track status of action items.– Carry out peer feedback sessions.– Evaluate team meeting efforts.– Do a team self-evaluation.– Provide recognition and rewards, celebrate accomplishments.– Conduct post-mortem evaluations on projects.


Building the Team Cornerstones, cont.• Synergy

– Plan major projects or assignments as a team– Cross-train, develop back-up coverage– Build relationships and promote understanding.– Create shared responsibilities, joint efforts on projects– Use team oriented problem solving techniques.– Have team-wide training sessions.– Involve the team in the interviewing process.

• Leadership– Exemplifying personal integrity, support for values and following the team guidelines.– Providing vision, strategy and tactical guidance, ongoing communicating it to the team. – Source of ongoing motivation and inspiration for the team members.

• Organization– Define team organizational structure. Any structure is better than no structure.– Scalar Principle: a clear line of authority must run throughout the organization.– Define roles and responsibilities of team members, make them clear to the team members.

• Atmosphere– Upheld the team’s values, employ the team’s guidelines– Establish an environment of mutual trust: honesty, openness, consistency, respect. Actively

promote good will– Create an environment when the team enjoys contributing. Have fun.


Core Team-building Skills• Running productive meetings.

• Setting team identity, values, and guidelines.

• Creating balanced teams, embracing diversity.

• Selecting and establishing team’s organizational structure.

• Group decision making techniques.

• Collaborative problem solving.

• Collaborative conflict resolution.

• Basics of project management.

• Conducting post-mortem evaluations on projects.

• Building relationships.


Meetings - a few questions and answers• Why do we dread, fear and loath meetings?

• Based on your experience what makes meetings ineffective?

• What are good reasons for meetings?

• What are not so good reasons?

• What types of meetings are common in our industry?– Information distribution / sharing (status, company updates, etc.) – Project Activities (kick off, post mortem, milestone acceptance, etc.)– Knowledge transfer (training sessions, release hand-over)– Professional activities (JAD, collaborative problem solving, group

decision making, design review, code walk through)– Staff meetings (performance review, feedback sessions, etc.)

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Running Productive Meetings• Sailing Mentality: Prepare – Perform – Clean Up• Prepare

– Participants – who to be invited and why– Outcomes – what is the purpose of meeting / what are the expected outcomes

• List meeting goals and objectives• Whenever feasible establish SMART goal(s) for the meeting

– Agenda• List of topics• Outline of process to work through each topic• Time frames for each topic

– Meeting’s entry and exit criteria– Supporting materials

• Perform– Present Purpose of the meeting and its Agenda / Plan– Stick to your plan / agenda– Employ meeting facilitation techniques

• Clean up– Prepare and communicate meeting minutes– Communicate essential findings / decisions– And do not forget to say Thank You…

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Example: meeting plan and agenda

13:1513:00VoteAll, AW – facilitatorElection for ISO, see suggested list

13:3013:15Group DiscussAll, AW – facilitatorNext Steps

12:1512:00Multi-voteAll, TJ – scribeISO Charter prioritization

12:3012:15Individual InputAll, AW – facilitatorAdjusted ISO Charter discussion

13:0012:45Group ConsensusAll, AW – facilitatorKey roles in ISO

12:4512:30Group ConsensusAll, AW – facilitatorFrequency and Timing of ISO meetings

12:0011:45AW – facilitator, TJ – scribeBlack Hat Session

11:4511:30AW – facilitator, TJ – scribeRed Hat Session

12:0011:00AW – facilitator, TJ – scribeGreen Hat Session

11:3011:00BrainstormAllISO Charter discussion

11:0010:45PresentationAllen WongIntroduction, ISO Charter Overview

FinishStartMethodPresenter Topic

• Main Objective: To define the role of Information Security Office.

• November 21, 2005 (10:45 - 12:30)

• Location: Main Conference Room

• Participants: Sr. Management Team, IT Team

• Prerequisites: Please read and be prepared to discuss ISO Charter document distributed on 11/15/2005

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Basics of Meeting Facilitation• Let participants know what they should come prepared to do.

• Listen actively and stimulate group participation.

• Summarize key points or decisions made along the way.

• Record key points on a flipchart as they come up.

• Record action items, decisions, and other key points and publishthem.

• Call on quiet people sometimes to ask for their thoughts and ideas.

• Employ gate-keeping and focusing to manage participation.

• Establish checklist of factors for meeting effectiveness.

• Use at the end of each group meeting to evaluate how the meetingwent.

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Team Identity, Values, and Guidelines• Team Identity

– Team Identity is basically a unique name most likely portraying some of the team’s attributes such as purpose, modus operandi, organizational place.

• Team Values– Value is a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable. It includes

foundational beliefs, core priorities, things the team won’t compromise on.– The values should be called out as in a clear precise form. A soft approach could be

considered that combines establishing values and team guidelines by using “We value…”form.

– Hierarchy of values should be established as often it is a value on its own.

• Team Guidelines / Code of Conduct– Behaviors, developed and agreed to by the team, that spell out expectations of how team

members will work with one another in and outside of meetings so the team performs productively.

– Each guideline developed should:• Be an observable behavior• Be stated in positive terms• Be written in a clear sentence

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Team Identity• Use of Team Identity in the industry. Examples?

• Why bother?– Caters to the need to belong.– Promotes common goals.– Emphasizes shared responsibility. – Promotes healthy competitiveness.– Could be used for organizational clarity.

• Exercise. Suggest Team Identity– for a team charged with a task of supporting customer

implementations in most technically complex situations;– for a group of managers charged with assimilation of employees

from recently acquired company; – for a group of developers charged with application maintenance.

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Team Values• University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H) conflict resolution

team’s core values– Integrity: Be consistently ethical; honest; maintain allegiance to the standards of one's

profession, calling, or position.– Honesty: Refuse to deceive or defraud.– Mutual Respect: Consider each other worthy of esteem.– Accountability: Assume responsibility for one's actions.– Fairness: Be consistent in treatment of others; be unbiased.– Collegiality: Share power and authority vested among colleagues.

• TPI (sourcing advisory industry)– Trust: Being open and honest with ourselves, our co-workers and clients in all TPI

operations.– Integrity: Performing our roles and responsibilities in accordance with our values and

professional standards.– Respect and Diversity: Valuing co-workers, clients and service providers for their unique

qualities and cultural richness.– Entrepreneurial: Keeping flexible and responsive to changes in client expectations,

employee skill sets, market requirements and TPI tools and processes.– Balance: Maintaining an appropriate balance between work, family and community.– Mentoring: Acting as an advisor or coach to clients and co-workers.

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Apple Values• Apple Values are the qualities, customs, standards, and principles that the company believes will help it and its employees succeed.

They are the basis for what we do and how we do it. Taken together, they identify Apple as a unique company. These are the values that govern our business conduct:

• Empathy for Customers/Users: We offer superior products that fill real needs and provide lasting value. We deal fairly with competitors and meet customers and vendors more than halfway. We are genuinely interested in solving customer problems, and we will not compromise our ethics or integrity in the name of profit.

• Aggressiveness/Achievement: We set aggressive goals and drive ourselves hard to achieve them. We recognize that this is a unique time, when our products will change the way people work and live. It is an adventure, and we are in it together.

• Positive Social Contribution: We build products that extend human capability, freeing people from drudgery and helping them achieve more than they could alone. But beyond that, we expect to make this world a better place to live. As a corporate citizen, we wish to be an economic, intellectual, and social asset in communities where we operate.

• Innovation/Vision: We built our company on innovation, providing products that were new and needed. We accept the risks inherent in following our vision, and work to develop leadership products that command the profit margins we strive for.

• Individual Performance: We expect individual commitment and performance above the standard for our industry. Only thus will we make the profits that permit us to seek our other corporate objectives. Each employee can and must make a difference. In the final analysis, individuals determine the character and strength of Apple.

• Team Spirit: Teamwork is essential to Apple's success, for the job is too big to be done by one person. Individuals are encouraged to interact with all levels of management, sharing ideas and suggestions to improve Apple's effectiveness and quality of life. It takes all of us to win. We support each other and share the vistories and rewards together. We are enthusiastic about what we do.

• Quality/Excellence: We care about what we do. We build into Apple products a level of quality, performance, and value that will earn the respect and loyalty of our customers. At Apple, quality management is critical to our continued success.

• Individual Reward: We recognize each person's contribution to Apple's success, and we share the financial rewards that flow from high performance. We recognize also that rewards must be psychological as well as financial, and we strive for an atmosphere where each individual can share the adventure and excitement of working at Apple.

• Good Management: The attitudes and behaviors of managers toward their people are of primary importance. Employees should be able to trust the motives and integrity of their supervisors. It is the responsibility of management to create a productive environment where Apple Values flourish.

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Team Guidelines: The Team Code• As a team leader I will:

– Avoid compromising the team’s objective with political issues– Exhibit personal commitment to the team’s goal– Not dilute the team’s efforts with too many priorities– Be fair and impartial toward all team members– Be willing to confront and resolve issues associated– with inadequate performance by team members– Be open to new ideas and information from team members

• As a team member I will:– Demonstrate a realistic understanding of my role and accountabilities– Demonstrate objective and fact-based judgments– 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– 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

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Team Values & Guidelines: Spear Code• We are a team. • We always exercise the highest level of

personal and corporate integrity — we do what’s right.

• We value our employees as our fundamental source of business wealth.

• We are committed to personal and professional growth along with a balanced quality of life.

• We are extremely focused on exceeding customer expectations, providing great customer care.

• We are a goals-oriented enterprise that rewards performance and results.

• We encourage balanced risk taking. • We communicate with each other openly

and frequently. • We meet our commitments.

• We provide high-quality products and services consistent with market desires.

• We expect to win. • We are driven to achieve high returns for

our employees, shareholders, and customers — We create value.

• We make informed business decisions aligned with our mission, strategy, goals, and code.

• We behave in an open, direct, and candid manner.

• We have fun. • We create an environment that nurtures

and embraces diversity. • We encourage the respectful expression

and acceptance of feedback.

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Creating Balanced Teams

• Focus on team composition.– Start with the Problem not the Solution.– Identify technical and organizations needs.– Identify skill, knowledge, experience, competency, talent and personality profiles.– Hire against predefined profiles, stay focused.– Team composition mistakes are some of the most expensive and difficult to fix.

• Use fewer and better people.– Communication complexity increases exponentially with the size of the team.– Need for management overhead increases drastically with the size of the team. Typically a person should not be managing over 10

direct reports.– Productivity and even a shier output of the team doesn’t necessarily increase with the size of the team.

• Working with pre-existing teams.– Fit tasks to the capabilities and motivation of the people available.– Select most appropriate organizational structure.– Select most appropriate leadership style.

• Deal with your biases.– See how your personality aligns / conflicts with existing personalities within the team.– Do not create a revolution where an evolution would suffice.– Lear from existing team first before teaching them.

• Someone who does not fit the team should be removed.– Even a star performer with lack of team skills could be a candidate for dismissal.– It only takes one counter-team player to ruin a productivity of the team.– Team player issues come in a lot of shapes and forms. Let’s discuss.

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Personality Biases

rigid, unyielding, inflexible, stubborn, lacking perspective, process nazi, controlling, apt to making decisions too quickly and jumping to conclusions

JudgersPerceiver

disorganized, messy, procrastinators, lazy, unproductive, irresponsible and unreliable, incapable of making decisions and sticking to them

Perceivers Judger

cold, heartless, insensitive, uncaring, lacking humane perspective; social bias - women “should be” feelers.

ThinkersFeeler

irrational, week, overemotional, moody, hysterical, illogical; social bias - men “should be”thinkers.

FeelersThinker

simplistic, lacking depth, unimaginative, uncreative, boring, close-minded, stodgy, lacking vision

SensorsIntuitive

confusing or confused, lacking focus, evasive, erratic, unrealistic, impractical, overly theoretical, absentminded, lost

IntuitivesSensor

secretive, withdrawn, lacking initiative, self-centered, overcautious, impersonal, unfriendly, slow, uncooperative, socially awkward

IntrovertsExtrovert

loud, obnoxious, overbearing, lacking concentration, superficial, overwhelming, intrusive, pushy, phony, rude, invasive, bossy

ExtrovertsIntrovert

Asyou may seeIf you are

• What is correct – “opposites attract” or “birds of feather flock together”?

• The further we are apart the stronger the biases.

• Deal with your biases, embrace and capitalize on diversity…

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Organizational Structure• Main rules of or Organization

– Scalar Principle: a clear line of authority must run throughout the organization.

– Any structure is better than no structure.– Team members will not know their roles and

responsibilities until you make them clear.• Types of Team Organizations

– Hierarchical– Business– Matrix– Chief Programmer– SWAT– Open Structured– Search and Rescue Team– Professional Athletic Team

• Hierarchical– Project is divided into major subsystems– Each subsystem is headed by a project

manager, if a subsystem is complex, it may be further divided into smaller components

– Most of the work done at the leaves of the tree

– Rewards management more for rising up the tree

– Peter Principle: In a hierarchical organization each employee in general rises until reaching a level at which he is incompetent

• Business– Most common of the team structures– Peer group headed by a technical lead

• Aside from the leader, the team members are all equal in status and differentiated by expertise

• Technical lead is also an active technical contributor but also responsible for final decisions and communicates externally for the team

– Streamlines communication with management, allows team members to work in their area of expertise, allows the team itself to sort out who should work on what

– Strength and weakness is its generality• Matrix

– Basic units with specializations– Individuals with their specialty assigned to

projects requiring those talents– Each feature team is responsible for

developing one feature of the product– Good for problem resolution teams

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Organizational Structure, cont.• Chief Programmer

– The chief programmer is the team leader. This person must be a superstar and design/code much of the project

– Other people just provide support services for the star. They act as assistants in various capacities, documentation, administration, etc.

– Makes good use of superstars; but hard to find anyone “super” enough

– Can have conflict with the leader who makes all decisions

• SWAT– Members must be experienced with multiple skills– Skilled With Advanced Tools– Based on the RAD methodology– Typically used for high profile and extremely

challenging tasks– Could be used for less glorious assignments

• Open Structured– Combine open management style with clear structure

on the way the team acts– Technical leader responsible for resolving issues for

which no consensus can be reached– Moderator for meetings, rotate among members for

various tasks– Tried to combine a focus on individual specialists as

well as centralized coordination of activities

• Skunk Works– Take a bunch of talented people, hide them from the

rest of the world, and see what they can do – Based on the “black program” model - covert

development of sensitive systems– May get extremely high creativity in exchange for low

visibility and high risk

• Search and Rescue Team– Focuses on solving a particular problem– Needs very specialized product knowledge– Like a “tiger team” to attack a specific problem– Consists of software and hardware specialists with

detailed business environment knowledge– Often used for emergency maintenance

• Professional Athletic Team– The developers are the stars of this team.– Managers and everyone else are secondary.– Roles are very specialized– Good for tactical execution teams, which need

specialized skills– Lots of stars may not get along

Education

Team Management I - Basics