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Building a High
Performance Team
Adapted with inputs from: Mike ODell presentation

CSE 4316

What you have to Say (about

team/projects)

Would you like to work with someone who thinks

and works like you do?
Would you want to work with someone who will
not share the load?
What kind of project would you want to work? A
"meaningful project or any project?
Would you like your project to be unsuccessful?
Would you like to work on a project that is
directly relevant to your future job?

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What you have to Say (about

team/projects)

Would you want all of your teammates to be

honest, trustworthy, and hard-working?
Would you like to be a team leader?
Do you understand why you need to work on a
team, i.e., with other people?
Do you possess issue solving capabilities?
Lets have a role play!
Are you nervous about your presentation/oral
communication skills?
What unique set of skills can contribute to your
teams/projects success?
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Characteristics of High-Performance
Teams

Discussion: Amish Barn Raising

Team structure
Team dynamics
Other team characteristics
Why did it work?

Amish barn building.xspf

Discussion: Free Fall

Team structure, dynamics & characteristics

Why didnt it work?

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Free Fall.xspf

1 Team Productivity
Studies have shown that productivity of
teams can vary significantly1
As much as 5 to 1, in studies where
backgrounds and experience varied between
teams
Typically 2.5 to 1 between teams with similar
backgrounds and experience

Boehm, 1981; DeMarco & Lister, 1985; Weinberg & Schulman, 1974; Boehm, et. al., 1984;
Valett & McGarry, 1989

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They have a shared,

shared elevating vision or goal

Buy-in every single member of the team

Streamlines decision making on smaller issues
Provides focus and avoids wasted time
Builds trust and cooperation
Small issues stay small focus is on BIG GOAL

The vision MUST be important to the

organization, and create challenging work
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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They have a sense of shared identity

A sense that you belong together

A way to distinguish your team from others
Team identity n formation.xspf
Shared sense of humor
Satisfaction in teammates accomplishments
WE, instead of I in your team language
Competitive FIRE!

Thoughts/ideas on how you go about

building this shared identity for YOUR
team?
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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They have a results-driven structure

Organized with max. development speed and

efficiency in mind
Clear, and clearly understood, roles for
everyone
commitment of coach.xspf
Accountability for each individual
Effective communication system & rules (updown, down-up, across)
Performance monitoring/measurement
Decisions are based on FACT, not opinions or
mandate

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They have competent team members

Teams are a blend of individuals, each with

different key competencies and skills
Key Competencies
Strong technical skills in relevant areas
Strong desire to contribute
Strong collaborative skills

Mix of roles every team must have:

Organization and Leadership
Communication capabilities
Specific technical capabilities

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But Flexible,
not Rigid
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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They have a commitment to team

Involves personal sacrifices for the team (that

you may not make for the larger organization)
Calls for a commitment of your personal time
and energy everyone!
Each member must know and buy-in to exactly
what you and your team are committing to
VISION CHALLENGE TEAM IDENTITY

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They trust each other

Four components of trust:

Honesty
Openness
Consistency
Respect

Breach just one trust is gone!

Trust is learned, not mandated

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They have interdependence among

members

Understand and rely on each other strengths

Everybody gets to contribute in the way(s)
that they are best qualified to do so
Everybody gets to participate in critical
decisions that affect the team
Everybody looks for ways to make other
members successful
Result: everyone gravitates to the role in
which they are most productive!

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They communicate effectively

Establish preferred ways to communicate

Stay in touch with each other
Establish their own team language based on
mutual understanding (Recall Case Study 12.2)
Express true feelings, without any fear of
retribution or embarrassment
Even (or, maybe, especially) the bad news

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They have a sense of autonomy

Feel like you can do whatever you need to do

to make the project/product successful
Based on trust within the organization (a.k.a.
management)
No micro-managing
No second-guessing
No overriding tough decisions
Full support in those impossible situations

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They have a sense of empowerment

The organization gives you the power to do

what is right for your team
You can make decisions, within the context of
your project, and not have them over-turned
You can make a few mistakes, and not have
them held against you

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They are right-sized

Small enough to communicate effectively

Small enough to work efficiently
Small enough to bond as a team
Large enough to form a group identity
Large enough to get the job done
Large enough to include the right key
competencies and skills
Larger projects can usually be broken into
smaller, more efficient, teams

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What Makes a High-Performance

Team?

They enjoy what they are doing

Not every enjoyable team is a highperformance team but

Every high-performance team is enjoyable!
Shared sense of humor, secret hand-shakes,
team vocabulary, secret jokes done in good
taste, these things can be FUN.
FUN

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1 An Effective Team
Is not an individual, or two
No geniuses
No heroes
Everyone contributes equally

Need not be experts on anything

Must have a leader
Must have a balance of key competencies
Must have a balance of relevant skills
Must have identity/cohesiveness
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