High-Performing Teams: A Response
Introduction
I’m always a fan of Ben Rogojan’s posts, so I had to check out his post on high-performing teams (co-written with Phil Dakin) when it showed up in my inbox last night. As someone who is currently a tech lead for a DE team, I always want to think of ways that I can help raise the bar for our performance, and so this post was one that I certainly looked forward to.
Here are my thoughts on the points that were covered, and what I’d add if I had to provide any advice.
Habits Of High-Performing Teams
So, what exactly were the habits mentioned in SeattleDataGuy’s post?
- Be exemplary
- Meet on Mondays
- Lean into writing
- Relate transparently
- Define priorities clearly
- Celebrate
I’m going to get more into what I agree and disagree with in the following sections, but overall, I thought this covered some very relatable points. Meeting on Mondays, for starters, is a good way to snap right back into work mode at the beginning of the week (TBT to when I used to not have meetings on Fridays).
The Good
I couldn’t agree more with leaning into writing, and that just doesn’t apply to project-related documentation. Writing about the finer details on your team (responsibilities, releases, etc.) helps to get everyone to buy into the team vision. I can never share GitLab’s data team handbook enough as the golden standard when it comes to this.
Transparency is also a critical one. In a previous post that I had on effective teams, openness was one of the key values I had mentioned, and I certainly embody that, for better or for worse. 1:1 notes (a practice I also got from Meta, as SeattleDataGuy mentioned) are a great way to keep the conversation going between you and your team.
Prioritization is a never-ending challenge sometimes, but it’s a critical part of being a high-functioning team. We have a bi-weekly meeting with our PM on our items for upcoming sprints, and this really helps clear up any doubts for us ahead of the sprint. We also document all of this (hooray for documentation!) so that the whole team is on board.
The Questionable
There’s not much to question in this list, but one point I’d clarify is the first one (be exemplary). I have no qualms with defining expectations (after all, you need to do that as a team leader), but I’d be careful when it comes to mirroring work style. This won’t apply to everyone, but as someone who works way too much, the last thing I want for my team members is to follow my lead (work-life balance is critical; I just choose my own suffering), and in fact, I feel like I’ve been resented as of late due to this disparity.
All in all, tread lightly when it comes to this point. Set the bar, but within reason (and stay honest to that). If you’re too far gone like myself, change the perception however you can, so that mirroring isn’t a bad thing.
Conclusion
Thanks to Ben and Phil for this post, as it definitely raised some points I hadn’t considered myself. I definitely agree with any points regarding communication and collaboration, as they are the keys to getting a team to hit its stride, so it was good to see that mentioned as often as it was.
