Teamwork is Hard Work!

Sprint 2 — Friday

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash

Sprint 2 is where teams realize that technology is the easy part of a project. The hard part is working effectively and in harmony as a team.

This is especially true for teammates who up to now haven’t had a lot of team experience. You don’t know what you don’t know until you know it, which is why we believe it’s important for individuals and teams to reflect on their workflow and how they deal with problems when they are encountered.

You don’t know what you don’t know until you know it

Problems and conflict will occur and it’s important to not ignore them. Reflecting on them starts by asking hard questions for each one.

• What was the issue?
• How was it discovered?
• What different options, alternatives, or opinions were available to best to resolve it?
• Did conflict arise when deciding which solution to pursue?
• Was the discussion civil and respectful? If not, when did it become difficult and why?
• Did everyone on the team have the opportunity to express their thoughts?
• Were everyone’s opinions given thoughtful consideration? Did I listen to what others had to say?
• Was I open to other opinions or was I constrained by my ego?
• What could the team and I do differently to manage situations such as this?

To get the most from this type of reflection you can structure the conversation in this way to get the best outcome:

1. Define the shared outcome you want
2. Conduct your discussion objectively, dispassionately, and without ego
3. Practice active listening (see https://tinyurl.com/m64qch3))
4. Agree on what you will do differently

Before you Go!

Chingu helps you to get out of “Tutorial Purgatory” by transforming what you’ve learned into experience. The experience to boost your Developer career and help you get jobs.

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

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