Team Assessment

In software development, teams are how we accomplish more and better than what can be accomplished by an individual

Signs of Trouble - Ineffective Teams1. You cannot easily describe the team’s mission2. The meetings are formal, stuffy, or tense3. There is a great deal of participation but little accomplishment4. There is talk but not much communication5. Disagreements are aired in private conversations after the meeting

6. Decisions tend to be made by the formal leader with little meaningful involvement of other team members

7. Members are not open with each other because trust is low8. There is confusion or disagreement about roles or work assignments9. People in other parts of the organization who are critical to the success of

the team are not cooperating10. The team is overloaded with people who have the same team-player

style

11. The team has been in existence for at least three months and has never assessed its functioning

CS 480-81 Team CharacteristicsHigh Functioning Teams• Creative

– Innovative– Project and team focus– Generates many good

ideas and picks best

Low Functioning Teams• Lacks Imagination

– Can’t think out of the box– Duplicates previous year’s

documents with only minor changes

– Picks first idea that satisfices

CS 480-81 Team CharacteristicsHigh Functioning Teams• Hard working

– Enthusiastic– Stays on track– Produces work every day– Diligent– Commitment to project– Commitment to quality

Low Functioning Teams• Lacks Drive

– Not interested in project– Fizzled out at end– More talk than work– Slow to implement– Overwhelmed by task– Minimalist effort

CS 480-81 Team CharacteristicsHigh Functioning Teams• Harmonious, works well

together– Draws on each other’s

strengths– Well balanced– Helped each other– Communicated daily– Worked to improve as a

team– Had good leadership – Distributed work fairly

Low Functioning Teams• Cannot resolve

problems– Argues– Conflicts over who’s doing

what– Did not bring out the best in

each other– Lacked leadership– One or two people did all

the work

CS 480-81 Team CharacteristicsHigh Functioning Teams• Mature

– Independent– Self-motivated– Disciplined

Low Functioning Teams• Immature

– Procrastinated

CS 480-81 Team CharacteristicsHigh Functioning Teams• Interacted well with

client– Met with client at least

weekly– Client attended oral

presentations– Client viewed and

accepted prototype (or iterations)

Low Functioning Teams• Reluctant to interview

client and users– No regularly scheduled

client meetings, done on a as-needed basis

– Missed client meetings– Reluctant to email or phone

client for advice

CS 480-81 Team CharacteristicsHigh Functioning Teams• Interacted well with

faculty advisor– Everyone met with advisor

at least weekly for 30-50 minutes

– Carefully constructed agenda for meeting to get all questions answered

– Showed advisor draft documents for feedback

Low Functioning Teams• Fail to take advantage of

faculty advisor– Weekly meetings with

advisor not attended by all– Draft documents not ready

early enough for review by advisor

Common Phases of Team Development

Forming -Storming -

Norming -Performing

Bruce Tuckman, 1965