In this podcast recorded at QCon New York 2017 Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Debbie Madden, CEO of Stride on communication advice and techniques for technical teams and what it takes for build truly great teams.
Key Takeaways
- The most effective teams have a true advantage in today’s organisations
- The danger of coddling “rock star” performers
- Create working environments that are flexible, welcoming and diverse
- The value of healthy conflict - having a team environment where it is safe to disagree, not just within the team but across organisational levels
- Becoming a really effective team needs constant effort, it doesn’t just happen and it must be maintained
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0:15 Introductions
0:50 The most effective teams have a true advantage in today’s organisations
1:00 Five things to do for team effectiveness
- Recognize the difference between chaos and calm states
- Change the things that are simple to change (eg meeting rhythms and team roles)
- Have a clear Why that everyone on the team understands and believes in
- Protect team productivity (which is distinct from individual productivity)
- Protect team health
1:55 The mismatch between individual incentives and team collaboration
2:15 The danger of coddling “rock star” performers
2:40 Create working environments that are flexible, welcoming and diverse
3:20 Example of individual desires vs team needs
3:50 There is no substitute for getting everyone in the same room when in-person collaboration is necessary
4:07 The types of events when in person collaboration is most important
4:40 Exploring the ideas of team self-selection, and questioning whether this can work at scale
5:10 The balance between empowerment and common goals
6:30 You don’t have to like everyone you work with, but you need to have respect for each other
7:07 Diverse teams are the best teams
7:25 Bringing together a diverse group of people and having them achieve a common goal is very powerful
Exploring different types of conflict
8:32 Defining healthy conflict - having a team environment where it is safe to disagree, not just within the team but across organisational levels
9:10 Achieving this balance is very hard to attain and takes time
9:45 This is harder with distributed teams, but it is harder
10:00 The importance of having a set of working agreements which the team is accountable for, with examples
11:25 Exploring what it takes to embrace and welcome diversity
12:18 Every team member is accountable for balancing empathy and advocacy – inviting and welcoming differences of opinion
13:05 Describing a technique for avoiding groupthink
13:50 Being able to come to the table with an opinion and being prepared to be wrong
14:30 Find ways to give people equal mental space in any collaborative session
15:10 As the CEO knowing the importance of being quiet
15:38 Example of how Stride works and the level of safety
15:57 Describing what it feels like to be on an awesome team
17:25 Becoming a really effective team needs constant effort, it doesn’t just happen and it must be maintained – continuous investment in the day to day, like exercise it takes effort
18:33 Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, a great team doesn’t form and it is important to know when to remove yourself from the environment
18:48 If you’re drinking from a toxic water source, you need to find a different well
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