Proven Practices


Proven practices, sometimes called best practices, are relative. They are good for the situation(s) in which they apply and might or might not be good for other situations. In other words, a proven practice in one situation might not be a proven practice in another. Given that, some practices seem to apply to a wide array of projects and project types. Although descriptions of some of these are dispersed throughout subsequent chapters, here are a few general ones to consider:

  • Use small, multidisciplinary teams

  • Enable teams to work together at a single site

  • Define and design a solution with all roles represented (discussed in depth in Chapter 4)

  • Motivated teams are more effective

  • Get specific early

Use Small, Multidisciplinary Teams

Small, multidisciplinary teams (i.e., typically no bigger than 10 members) have inherent advantages, including the ability to respond more quickly than larger teams can. Therefore, one recourse for large project teams is to create a team of teams (e.g., a lead team or an integration team)with smaller groups working in parallel. Team members with expertise or who focus in specific areas are empowered with control to act when necessary. Within a team or even within a subteam, multiple disciplines need a specific set of skills. People from various backgrounds, training, and specialization who make up teams or roles all add to the overall solution quality. That results from the unique perspective each brings to his or her role and, ultimately, to an entire solution.

Enable Teams to Work Together at a Single Site

Teams work best in a low communications overhead environment where ideas are free flowing and decision making is real-time. Experience has shown that this is best fostered by teams working together at a single physical site. Because organizations increasingly have global delivery teams, it has become more challenging to be physically colocated. Therefore, virtual colocation is an increasing reality.

Physical colocation, such as working in the same section of a building, sharing offices, or setting aside space specifically for teams to gather, has in the past proved to be the most effective method to promote open communications. This process is an essential ingredient to the MSF team formula for success. Team members must be cognizant of team dynamics in this shared space and be ready to adjust things because colocation does not equal collaborationit just reduces collaboration barriers. However, there are some colocation risks to be aware of such as disruptive cross-team chatter. For example, if a team is colocated in a team room, goals of free-flowing ideas and real-time decision making are likely achieved, but sometimes a team can be derailed in conversations that consume the whole team unnecessarily. The obvious intent is to keep these eventualities to a minimum.

Although working together at the same physical location is the preferred choice, the nature of business might necessitate virtual teaming. Virtual teaming involves team members communicating and collaborating with each other primarily by electronic meansincluding team members who telecommute. Communication occurs across organizational boundaries, space, and time. Virtually working together could be as simple as everyone being readily available through an instant messaging service. It could also be as elaborate as continual, multiparty video teleconferencing.

Note that without physical organizational boundaries to encapsulate roles in a coordinated unit, virtual teaming requires even stronger communication, trust agreements and relationships, explicit action plans, and automation tools that support tracking of projects and tasks so that action items do not get lost.

A vital component of a virtual team is the ability for each role to depend on and trust in other roles to fulfill their responsibilities. This develops through a blend of culture, good management, and, when possible, time spent working together at the same site. Industry research often finds that little attention is given to communication skills or team fit when members are chosen for virtual teams. This oversight is a key factor in the failure of many of these teams. When setting up a virtual team, look for members with the following characteristics:

  • Able to work independently

  • Demonstrates leadership skills

  • Possesses specific skills required for delivery of a solution

  • Able to share knowledge with an organization

  • Can help develop effective methods of working

Lesson Learned

If working virtually is necessary, teams should first physically work together to establish working relationships and team dynamics. Having teams work together at a single site also helps to enforce their sense of team identity and unity. Once team members know and understand each other, working virtually becomes more successful.


Motivated Teams Are More Effective

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Anonymous

Motivation is a key factor in team member productivity. Some organizations, be it willingly or unwillingly, create an environment that saps away motivation. For example, some organizations use the threat of punishment to motivate teams. These organizations are losing out on being able to take advantage of benefits of highly motivated teams. Any entity, an organization, team, or individual, with low motivation realizes a cascading negative effect. For instance, low motivation usually lowers individual performance, leading to lower quality and lower quantity of output. In an attempt to avoid scrutiny, these entities often resort to the illusion of progress by undercommunicating reductions of goals, scope, and tasks. Usually, an impact of this behavior is discovered too late in the process to recover without significant effort and added costs.

Conversely, there are many positive benefits of a motivated team. Motivating a team involves planning and nurturingrarely does it happen spontaneously. To achieve this, identify what is likely to motivate each team and attempt to create an environment whereby each team can foster creativity and innovation. With these two base elements of motivation in place, team morale builds. This in turn stimulates team motivation. People who work at Microsoft recognize this as one of the company's defining characteristics. Other techniques that might be used to build motivation are the following:

  • Clarify team vision.

  • Build team identity using project code names and team paraphernalia, including mascots, T-shirts, and gadgets.

  • Spend time getting to know colleagues by way of social or team events.

  • Schedule team-building sessions in which team members are able to experiment with different ways of collaborating and interacting; normally outside a work setting.

  • Ensure that an individual's personal goals are considered, such as providing opportunities for personal or technical competency development or managing the impact on worklife balance.

  • Maximize empowerment felt by individuals and listen to their views.

  • Celebrate success.

Get Specific Early

When a team first defines a solution delivery effort, many aspects of a solution are abstract and conceptual. Abstract thinking about a solution is necessary to help paint a broad-brush, conceptual picture of a solution and to establish a shared vision. However, abstractions and conceptual solutions by their very nature intentionally lack definition and detail to foster diversity of thought. This can lead to inconsistent understandings and different interpretations of a solution. Although useful initially, designing in the abstract for too long adds risk to a project and undermines team effectiveness.

A team should attempt to evolve the abstract and conceptual into tangible concepts as quickly as possible. Otherwise, they risk losing time procrastinating about the big picture instead of tackling solvable problems. A team should quickly drive to defining specific examples rather than prolonged analysis of the problem space. By getting to specific examples early in the design process, and developing concrete examples (as exemplified in Figure 3-4), a team better aligns its thinking and reaches consensus on how to implement a shared vision. Using specific examples helps a team not only to reach a shared vision more quickly, but it also helps more quickly drive to consensus on how to approach solution delivery. In addition, it helps to draw out stakeholders' needs and expectations. As such, this approach, supported by clarity about what and how to deliver, reduces project risk.

Figure 3-4. Example of moving from abstract to specific





MicrosoftR Solutions Framework Essentials. Building Successful Technology Solutions
Microsoft Solutions Framework Essentials: Building Successful Technology Solutions
ISBN: 0735623538
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 137

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