Workshop: Teamwork practicalities

Kauppinen, M.Ylikangas, M.

Signup practicalities

• Register your group via email (cse-c3600@aalto.fi), due before 25.9

• Registration info at noppa pages at ”Group formation and signup”

• If you don’t have a group yet, use the Google spreadsheet in addition of other means

• Be proactive, contact other peers!

Critical success factors in software projects

• Start on the right foot– Set realistic goals, build the right team, set up environment

• Maintain momentum– Attrition, quality, management

• Track progress• Make smart decisions

– Select appropriate technologies, prepare for change

• Institutionalize post-mortem analyses– Evaluate schedule estimates, work practices..

Reel, J.S., 1999. Critical success factors in software projects. IEEE Software 16, 18–23. doi:10.1109/52.765782

How are different characteristics related?

• Start on the right foot– Set realistic goals, build the right

team, set up environment

• Maintain momentum– Attrition, quality, management

• Track progress• Make smart decisions

– Select appropriate technologies, prepare for change

• Institutionalize post-mortem analyses

– Evaluate schedule estimates, work practices..

• A shared vision or goal • A sense of team identity• Competent team members• A commitment to the team• Mutual trust• Effective and open

communication• Interdependence among team

members• A sense of autonomy• A sense of empowerment• A high level of enjoyment• Small team size

Critical success factors in group assignment?

Let’s figure it out!

A small set of good teamwork practices

• Kick-off meeting

• Good team name

• All team members should participate in defining the team goals and

tasks to be performed.

• Open communication – inform if there are problems

• Informal and formal communication

• Constructive feedback

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Typical problems in the Group Exercise

• Team members don’t have a clear and common understanding of what to do.

Discuss before starting to do assignments.

• Team has great difficulties to find time to meet.

Agree about formal and informal communication

• Team doesn’t have enough time to finalize the task.

Plan, start early and do assignments iteratively

• One person does the whole task / One team member doesn’t do anything.

Negotiate about division of roles and contributions

Work together

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