Effective team

Why are teams harnessing? Why are some teams full of enthusiasm, trust and passion, while others are apathetic and boring? Unfortunately, there is no recipe for creating a cool team. It is impossible to add 5 grams of trust, set fire, add some communication and cook until done.

Do we really need teams?

Work alone


Working alone is very cool. You do not need trust. Do you trust yourself by default? If not, then without a doubt you need qualified medical help. Also, you do not need communication skills. Of course, you can talk to yourself, but if this happens too often, you also need medical attention. All you need to work effectively is problem-solving skills, technical knowledge and passion . However, this is not enough for the effective work of the team.

If you work alone, you make any decisions quickly. No need to argue with anyone and prove something to someone. We decided how to do it, and go! You have minimal additional workload : no meetings, no discussions, no phone calls, noidiotic questions from the narrow-minded colleagues.

When working in a team, everything is not so rosy, is it? Suddenly, you have to attend meetings. You have to participate in various discussions on technical topics (nothing else), as well as on other uninteresting and boring topics. You have to answer questions, at least out of politeness, and often do things that you completely disagree with.

So why do people form teams? In fact, everything is simple, a team can solve a problem that is beyond the power of one person. Alone you can bring out a new theory, but alone it is impossible to realize any serious project. So the team is an inevitable evil necessity, but it carries with it a certain formalism:
  • Communication is needed to develop a common vision for solving the problem.
  • Coordination of work is needed for the team to work.
  • Team members must understand each other, otherwise the debate will last forever.

So, the team helps to solve complex problems, but also carries with it an additional load.

Teamwork


An effective team reduces this additional burden, minimizes it , and allows people to concentrate on important things, namely problem solving and development. If you look at the team from this point of view, you can effortlessly identify a lot of good, good practices to increase the effectiveness of the team:
  • Less people. Small teams have less workload.
  • One language. Everyone should understand each other as quickly as possible. That is why offshore teams always have additional problems.
  • Fewer meetings. Any meeting that does not solve a specific problem should be canceled. For example, the status report of rallies is a completely idiotic practice.
  • Team Isolation. One team - one room. In the same room should not be 2 teams that do different things.
  • Fast communication channels. In general, the goal is a minimum of communication. So if you need to discuss something, it is best to do it as quickly as possible, which means in person, and preferably near a large white board.

But there is one more point. In attempts to increase the effectiveness of the team, it is very easy to lower its creativity. It may happen that the team will solve problems quickly, but the solutions will not be the best. Sometimes it’s useful to get together and just chat about anything, starting from a discussion of the film and ending with the theory of super strings. It is impossible to predict what and when will push us to a cool solution. Do not drive the team into a tight framework and communicate only to solve the problem. Need some air, a place to chat. This is often the kitchen. Therefore, if the company does not have a kitchen or dining room - this is a big minus.

The trust


It is impossible to create a team without trust. And why, actually? Yes, simply trust reduces the need for a regular meeting or discussion. Trust reduces communication time and allows you to solve problems faster .

Imagine a team where people do not particularly trust each other. You immediately get political games, suspicious questions, streamlined phrases and ambiguous expressions. There are hidden conflicts in the team, although everything is polite and correct on the surface.

If you look at such a team in action, you will be struck by stupid decisions and stupid practices. The goal of any person in such a team is to cover his own ass with his back.

A team in which people trust each other is spared all this ugliness. Discussions are hot and to the point. People can even scream sometimes, discussing a problem, but it doesn’t really affect anything because they trust each other. People easily criticize bad decisions and are not afraid to offer fresh ideas.

Trust saves time and allows you to pay attention to real work, not politics.

Passion


We all saw people with an extinct gaze. We all saw boring half-dead teams where they work from 9 to 18 and cannot wait for the end of the working day. No one wants to work in such a place. Surprisingly, many work. I personally do not understand why people are engaged in such nonsense. I can not accept the arguments at the level of "stability", "salary", "habit". I can’t work in a boring place on boring projects. It's boring. It is not interesting. It's useless. It depresses and deprives the prospect.

A passionate team consists of passionate people. That's all. They really care about the success of the project. They are actually interested in what they do. They focus on important things and do everything to achieve a better result. Passion is the engine of the team.

Conclusion


A cool development team consists of several passionate, experienced professionals who trust each other. They effectively interact with each other to solve problems. And reach the stars.

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