For me agile is about many things but first and foremost it is about people and dynamics between people, you get the right recipe going and anything is possible. I work with what I think is a great team, but what makes them a great team? I’m not entirely sure but here are some of my ideas of traits of a great team (in no particular order):
- There’s a good level of respect not only for each other as people, but in each other’s ability to do stuff.
- They trust each other.
- The team has built in redundancy so anyone can take time off at any time, no silo’d experts.
- There’s lots of laughter and healthy tomfoolery, they know when to work, but they also know when to play (at work!).
- They allow failure and learn from it, focusing on the problem, not the person.
- High levels of collaboration, both at work and at play. They help each other out constantly, no-one is ever “too busy” to help.
- They’re cross functional, there’s a good mix of skills amongst the team, helping with redundancy.
- Everyone feels they can talk openly about issues and problems.
- There is no fear (of failure, of specific people), they take chances and enjoy challenges.
- They self organize, there is no one leader, they all lead, they all follow.
There’s more I’m sure, but those are the ones I can think of right now. At the core of it I think people must feel like they belong, that they are respected for their skills and trusted with responsibility and above all treated like people, not resources.
Thoughts?
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