James Shore

in 99 words

For maximum productivity, team members must rely on each other for help. They must take joint responsibility for their work. Trust is essential. To improve trust, foster empathy. Learn about your teammates' joys and concerns. Sitting together helps, as does eating together. Preserve productive teams by keeping them together for multiple projects.

Organizational trust is also essential. Be energetic, deliver on your commitments, and be honest about problems. Show that you care about your stakeholders' goals. Promote your work through friendly openness. Always be honest about your achievements. Avoid the temptation to whitewash problems or misrepresent partially-done work.

as haiku

Tadpole gazes up:
"Will the sun ever return?"
"Ribbit," replies Frog.

Inside This Section

• Trust
• Team Strategy #1: Customer-Programmer Empathy
• Team Strategy #2: Programmer-Tester Empathy
• Team Strategy #3: Eat Together
• Team Strategy #4: Team Continuity
• Impressions
• Organizational Strategy #1: Show Some Hustle
• Organizational Strategy #2: Deliver on Commitments
• Organizational Strategy #3: Manage Problems
• Organizational Strategy #4: Respect Customer Goals
• Organizational Strategy #5: Promote the Team
• Organizational Strategy #6: Be Honest
• Sidebar: The Challenge of Truth Telling
• Questions
  • Our team seems to be stuck in the "Storming" stage of team development. How can we advance?
  • Isn't it more important that we be good rather than look good?
  • I thought overtime didn't solve schedule problems. Why did you recommend overtime?
  • Why bring big problems to stakeholders' attention before smaller, already-solved problems? That seems backward.
  • You said programmers should keep jokes about the schedule to themselves. Isn't this just the same as telling programmers to shut up and meet the schedule, no matter how ridiculous?
  • What if we've committed to finishing a story and then discover that we can't possibly finish it this iteration?
• Results
• Contraindications
• Alternatives
• Further Reading

Exercise

Download this worksheet!

Trust can be a scary proposition. So often, we wait for the other party to make the first move--to show that he trusts us. He's doing the same thing, so we stand like teenagers on opposite sides of the dance floor, staring at the floor and shuffling our feet.

One of the key tools I use is empathy. What's it like to live the other person's life? What are they passionate about, and what worries them? What do they expect from you, and what do they need?

Typically, I try to figure these things out through casual conversation and interaction. For today's feature, however, I thought it would be interesting to provide an exercise for you and your teammates to try.

To follow this exercise, start by downloading and printing out one copy of the worksheet for each participant. Split into pairs, and take turns interviewing each other. (This works even better if you interview someone who has a different job than you.) Then come back as a group and share what you've learned.

After you've finished the exercise, talk as a group about how you want to apply what you've learned. How can you change the way you interact to make others' lives better? Follow through on your decisions.