Brief Summary
This video provides five actionable tips to improve a software development team's performance. It emphasizes the importance of aligning the team with the company vision, focusing on systems rather than just symptoms, conducting one-on-one meetings, delivering small wins quickly, and upgrading the team or environment when necessary. The video encourages leaders to focus on processes and team morale before addressing individual performance issues.
- Align team with company vision
- Focus on systems, not symptoms
- Conduct one-on-one meetings
- Deliver small wins quickly
- Upgrade team or environment
Intro
Max introduces himself as someone with 15 years of experience building software in teams. He acknowledges the common problem of dev teams underperforming, missing deadlines, or not clicking. He advises against panicking, micromanaging, or rewriting code at odd hours. Instead, he promises to share five actionable tips to improve team performance and ship software effectively.
Tip 1 - Zoom out, then zoom in
The first tip involves taking a step back to assess the bigger picture. It's crucial to ask if the team is building the right thing, something valuable, and whether they understand their contribution. Alignment with the company vision is essential; otherwise, the team's efforts will be misdirected. The speaker shares an experience where a team struggled due to a product owner constantly changing the product's scope, emphasizing the need to ensure the team understands the product and its goals before blaming them for underperformance.
Tip 2 - Systems, not symptoms
The second tip focuses on examining the systems in place rather than just the symptoms of underperformance. This involves evaluating the task management tools and processes. The speaker highlights that team members often lack a clear understanding of their tasks, delivery criteria, or the overall goals of the sprint or release. Establishing effective systems for task assignment and goal envisioning is crucial for team execution.
Tip 3 - Have one on ones
The third tip suggests that one-on-one meetings are more valuable than stand-up meetings. While stand-ups are useful, individual meetings help uncover roadblocks and identify ways to improve individual performance. Addressing these small issues collectively leads to immediate improvements in overall team performance.
Tip 4 - Deliver small wins fast
The fourth tip emphasizes the importance of delivering small wins quickly to maintain team morale. When progress feels invisible, morale suffers. Breaking down large tasks into smaller, shippable tasks provides visible progress that can be celebrated. This benefits both the team and stakeholders, as developers and designers feel a sense of accomplishment, and stakeholders see continuous progress.
Tip 5 - Upgrade your team or environment
The fifth tip addresses the need to upgrade the team or environment when necessary. This may involve bringing in someone with stronger leadership skills or replacing chronically underperforming individuals. The speaker notes that a single underperforming team member can negatively impact morale, while a team of overachievers can drive faster and better results.
