Creating and Enabling High Performing TeamsKCDC 2014

May 15, 2014

Titanium Sponsors

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Who are we?

Susan Smith

Director, IT Program Management

Agile Coach

Tami Flowers

Senior IT Project Manager

PMI-PMP, PMI-ACP, and Certified Scrum Master

We helped take an organization from waterfall to Agile.

Why do we focus on Teamwork?

“Hey, let’s bring Agile into our organization.

It will be GREAT!

Let’s get started!”

Today

A few minutes on the topic

An “experience”

Debrief/Reflection

Experience: Ice Breaker

What is a high performing team?

They are self-organizing rather than role or title based

They are empowered to make decisions

They believe that as a team they can solve any problem

They are committed to team success vs. personal success

The team owns its decisions and commitments

Trust, vs. fear or anger, motivates them

They are consensus-driven

They live in a world of constant constructive disagreement

Stages of team formation and development

FORMINGA working group that is learning about each other

STORMINGA pseudo team that is challenging each other and developing into a

potential team

NORMINGA potential team that is working with each other

and developing into a real team

PERFORMINGA real team that is working as one and

becomes a high performing team

Situational leadership modelFORMING

Team MembersLow competence, high commitmentLeaderHigh directive, low supportive behavior

STORMINGTeam MembersLow/some competence, low commitmentLeaderHigh directive, high supportive behavior

NORMINGTeam Members

Moderate/high competence, variable commitmentLeaderLow directive, low supportive behavior

PERFORMINGTeam MembersHigh competence, high commitmentLeaderLow directive, low supportive behavior

Directing

Coaching

Supporting

Delegating

Stage 1: Forming

What it may look like:

New kid on the block

Questioning and withholding

Low accomplishment of tasks or goals

Steep learning curve

Suspicion, fear or anxiety about the project

What you can do:

Ice breakers, lunches, ways to learn about each other

Understand personalities

Ensure team understands end goals

Iteration Retrospectives

Working Agreements

FORMINGTeam Members:

Low competence, high commitmentLeader:

High directive, low supportive behavior

Nuggets of Goodness:• Crucial Conversations• Crucial Confrontations• Agile Retrospectives: Making

Good Teams Great

Personalities and Impacts on the Team

Soft skills!

Interpersonal and general analytic abilities such as

Teamwork

Empathy

Leadership

Negotiation

Adaptability

Problem solving

Personality Tests Extraversion and Introversion

Distinguishing between the two worlds in which all of us live; where we get our energy

When we are dealing with the world outside of ourself, we are "extraverting".

When we are inside our own minds, we are "introverting".

Sensing and INtuition

How we gather information

The "Sensing" preference absorbs data in a literal, concrete fashion.

The "Intuitive" preference generates abstract possibilities from information that is gathered.

Thinking and Feeling

When someone makes a decision that is based on logic and reason, they are operating in Thinking mode.

When someone makes a decision that is based on their value system, or what they believe to be right, they are operating in Feeling mode.

Judging and Perceiving

our attitude towards the external world, and how we live our lives on a day-to-day basis

People with the Judging preference want things to be neat, orderly and established. Judgers want things settled.

The Perceiving preference wants things to be flexible and spontaneous. Perceivers want thing open-ended.

Personality Tests

Myers-Briggs

The Big Five: extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience

Jung Typology Profiler for Workplace (JPTW): Power, Assurance, Visionary, Rationality, etc.

DiSC: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness

Experience: Personality Types

Congratulations! You’ve been invited to speak at a conference in Hawaii!!

Work with your team to put together a plan for the trip and presentation.

Stage 2: Storming

What it may look like:

Adolescence

Power/control/trust issues

Air differences of opinion, arguments, disagreements

Competition for formal and informal leadership roles on the team

Team beginning to understand each other

What you can do:

Give and Receive Feedback

Temperature Reading

Celebrate Small Team Achievements

Socialize

FORMINGTeam Members:

Low competence, high commitmentLeader:

High directive, low supportive behavior

Nuggets of Goodness:• Crucial Conversations• Crucial Confrontations• Agile Retrospectives: Making

Good Teams Great

Giving and Receiving Feedback

Make sure your feedback is constructive

Give feedback with caring and respect

What do I want for me?

What do I want for the other person?

What do I want for our relationship?

No praise, no blame

Be direct

Don’t sandwich it between compliments or complaints

Don’t sugar coat it

Don’t say things such as “Others think…” “The perception is…” : Own it “I saw/heard/observed..”

Give positive feedback too…but not at the same time as constructive feedback

How to Give Feedback Create an opening.

“Can we talk? Julie, I’d like to tell you about one specific thing that you did that was a problem for me.”

Describe the behavior or results.

“When I saw/heard/learned that you (describe the behavior you want to discourage), …”

State the impact.

“I felt ___ because (describe the impact).”

Make the request.

“What I would prefer to happen is (state what you would like to happen instead). Can you do this next time?”

How to Receive Feedback

Remember that feedback is a gift.

Breathe.

Listen carefully. Don’t interrupt or discourage the person giving you feedback.

Ask for specific examples, get clarity.

Take time to think about what you heard.

Keep what you can use.

Consider if you are willing to make a change and let the person know.

Experience: Giving and Receiving Feedback

Partner with someone you do not know.

Take turns delivering the feedback on the cards to each other.

Stage 3: Norming

What it may look like:

Cohesive group

Significant progress made on task goals

Conflicts are more substantial

Team members face their issues, accept feedback and act on it

What you can do:

Encourage problem identification and problem solving

Beware of Group Think; encourage Devil’s Advocate

Celebrate team accomplishments

Release retrospectives

Model and teach conflict management

FORMINGTeam Members:

Low competence, high commitmentLeader:

High directive, low supportive behavior

Nuggets of Goodness:• Teamwork is an Individual Skill

Experience: Teamwork

52 card pickup

The rules:

2 minute iterations

Only 1 card in each hand

Sort cards in order

Teamwork and Responsibility

Accountability vs. Responsibility

Accountability – others hold you accountable

Responsibility – you choose responsibility. Your ability to respond.

Responsibility is not

Denial

Lay Blame

Justification

Shame

Obligation

Quit

Experience: Non musical chairs

Do not let facilitator sit in a chair

No moving chairs

If you stand up, you must sit in the empty chair and you cannot sit back in your chair

No calls to HR: no touching or pushing the facilitator

Team Dysfunction

As you evaluate where teams are in terms of maturity and what you can do to help, also consider these (hard) questions:

Is the system in place in your organization causing team issues?

Is the company or department causing team issues?

Are you causing team issues?

Are the wrong people on the team?

Conflict

Conflict is going to happen.

Conflict can be constructive or destructive.

Conflict can be good, helpful and healthy.

Conflict can escalate and create a negative team environment.

Before rushing in to fix conflict, observe the situation to get a better view of the issues. Listen to the language and see if the team can resolve the conflict on their own.

Conflict – a framework

Level

Name Characteristic

Language Type

Environment

1 Problem to Solve Information sharing and collaboration

Open and fact-based People have differing opinions Conflicting goals or values Not comfortable but not emotionally charged

2 Disagreement Personal protection trumps resolving the conflict

Guarded and open to interpretation

Self-protection becomes important Team members distance themselves from the

debate Discussions occur off-line Good natured joking moves to half joking barbs

3 Contest Winning trumps resolving the conflict

Includes personal attacks

The aim is to win People take sides Blaming flourishes

4 Crusade Protecting one’s own group becomes the focus

Ideological Resolving the situation is not good enough Team members believe that members “on the

other side” won’t change and need removed

5 World War Destroy the other! Little or non-existent “Destroy!” is the battle cry The combatants must be separated No constructive outcome can be had

Framework from Speed B. Leas

Stage 4: Performing

What it may look like:

Highly productive and high morale

Satisfaction at team progress

Trust that each team member will do his or her part

Commitment

Close attachment to team; team is like a clique

Conflicts resolved

What you can do:

Mentoring

Focus on continuous improvement

Manage transitions out of the team

Retrospectives

Keep celebrating

FORMINGTeam Members:

Low competence, high commitmentLeader:

High directive, low supportive behavior

Nuggets of Goodness• The Human Side of Agile• Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Experience: The Chair Exercise

Rules

3 teams

Select a team lead for your team

NO TALKING

NO mouthing of words

NO trips to the ER

NO calls to HR

Temperature Reading

Appreciations

New Information

Puzzles

Complaints with Recommendations

Hopes and Wishes

Stage 5: Adjourning/Mourning

What it may look like:

Team members may move to different teams

Sadness or sense of loss

What you can do:

Don’t ignore it!

Help bring closure

CELEBRATE!

Nuggets of Goodness:• C

Nuggets of Goodness

Crucial Conversations, Kerry Patterson

Crucial Confrontations, Kerry Patterson

Crucial Accountability

Influencer

Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great, Esther Derby and Diana Larsen

The Deadline: A Novel about Project Management, Tom DeMarco

Teamwork is an Individual Skill, Christopher Avery

Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management, Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby

Johanna Rothman books: http://www.jrothman.com/books/

The Human Side of Agile, Gil Groza

Nuggets of Goodness

Free Myers Briggs test http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

Problem Solving Leadership workshop: http://www.estherderby.com/problem-solving-leadership-psl

Coaching Beyond the Team: http://www.estherderby.com/coaching-beyond-the-team-influencing-the-organization

Manager Tools

Appreciation cards

Have each member put their name and date on the card

Pass the card to the right and have everybody write one thing they appreciate or want to thank the person for during the <sprint> <release> <project>

Experience: Switching Costs

Each team selects someone who knows the following

How to count to 10

First 10 letters of the alphabet

First 10 Roman Numerals

Each team selects a time keeper

Thank you!

Twitter: @tamilflowers

LinkedIn: Tami Flowers

Slideshare: www.slideshare.net\tamiflowers

LinkedIn: Susan Smith