Dealing with Poor Performance - get the full picture from 3C Performance Mana...
Barriers & Pathways to Successful Collaboration
1. Barriers and Pathways to
Successful Collaboration
Anthony I. (Tony) Wasserman
Carnegie Mellon University- Silicon Valley
Keynote: OpenSym 2015
San Francisco: 19 August 2015
4. About the Winning Team
• 31 teams with less success than the champion
– But some may be very happy with their team's results
• Varied individual contributions to overall team success
• Possible to be a valuable contributor in limited role
• Possible to be part of a successful team without contributing
– Substitutes ready to play as needed
• No assurance that this team would be as successful again
– Luck, injuries, weather
• Not all team members are visible
– Trainer, physician, nutritionist, drivers, specialty coaches
• Management decides team membership and playing time
5. We don't often see such
celebrations for software!
KDE Release Party – WooHoo!
10. Is This the “Real” Beatles Team?
The Beatles with
Brian Epstein and
George Martin
11. The “Real” Beatles Team also included
• Album cover photographer
• Album design (Meet the Beatles and With the Beatles)
• Contributors from Capitol and Parlophone labels
• Fan club organizers and members
• And many more after 1963...
15. Can Team Members Be Easily Replaced?
• The Beatles replaced Pete Best
• Stuart Sutcliffe voluntarily left the band
• Some team members choose to leave a team
• Some team members go on to greater individual recognition
• Some team members are more easily replaced
– But frequent replacements may cause team stresses
How Do Changes Affect Teamwork?
17. Who is Successful in this Situation?
• Did the keeper succeed? (His team lost.)
• Did the shooter fail? (His team won.)
18. Factors for Team Success/Failure
• Shared goals
• Right place at right time (some luck)
• Right mix of skills on the team
• Superstar(s) on the team
• Departure of disruptive person(s) – team chemistry
• Cultural similarities and differences
• Location: co-located or distributed
• Funding and other external support
19. Back to Software
• Almost all of these concepts apply to software teams
• Differences between community FOSS teams and
traditional commercial teams
• But similarities outweigh differences
20. Community FOSS
• Dependent on volunteers
• Project lead(s), committers, contributors, viewers
• “Flat” organization
• Types of contributors
―Coders
―Documenters
―Translators
―Testers
―Community managers
21. Collaboration Challenges in Community FOSS
• “Managing” volunteers
Finding people with the needed technical skills
Keeping key people actively involved
Minimizing disruptions to team harmony
Developing a technical decision-making process
Developing a leadership style
Setting project priorities
Adjusting to staff transitions and forks
22. Commercial Software Product Teams
• Paid employees and contractors
• Typically hierarchical organization
• Product roadmap
• Work with non-technical business units
Marketing, support, sales, finance, training
• Schedules
• Budgets
23. Collaboration Challenges in Commercial
Product Development
• Recruiting, managing, and retaining staff
• Reporting up and sideways
• Improving team effectiveness
Handling disruptive people
Adjusting to cultural differences
Handling disruptive events
Development processes and tools
• Setting feasible priorities and schedules
24. Disruptive Events
Large and Small
• Management and organizational changes
• Schedule changes
• Counterproductive activities
• Personal conflicts
• Interviewing job candidates
• Phone calls, message streams, and email
25. Elements of successful collaboration
• Agreement on goals and plans
• Availability of needed technical skills
• Team leadership and management
• Resolving conflicts and disruptions
• Accommodating team arrivals and departures
• Celebrating key milestones
• Recognizing individual contributions
26. Many things can go wrong...
• Absence of shared vision and focus
• Lack of clarity on important details
• Unforeseen technical complexities
• Budget overruns (or an unrealistic budget)
• Schedule problems
• Key people leave
• Conflicting individual goals
• Logistical problems
• Cultural, personal, political differences
• Discrimination
28. Pathways to Successful Collaboration
• Setting expectations for teamwork
– Code of conduct
– Termination of those who violate code
• Setting expectations for work
– Regular and consistent reporting – beyond daily standups
– Changed assignments for those who don't produce
• Setting realistic budgets and schedules
– Early pushback against “death march” projects
• Encouraging collegiality
– Informal meetings (in person if possible)
– Getting to know one another
– Management or third-party coaching on teamwork and leadership
29. Additional Resources
• Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister, Peopleware (3rd
ed.), 2013
• Jono Bacon, The Art of Community (2nd
ed.), 2012
• Paul Glen, Leading Geeks, 2003
