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What Defines an Healthy Team?

Posted at 06:59AM Dec 13, 2009 by Andrea Provaglio in category People

There was a post by Scott Berkun a while ago that defined the acronyms for many common dysfunctions in software development, in a way that was intended to be humorous and slightly provocative.

However funny (or sad) that post may be, I'm usually much more interested in what makes a team feel and work better, not worse; an interest that leads to defining what makes a team healthy.

To me, there are several indications that a team is healthy and functional. One is when each member feels that their voice is heard - or, in other terms, that everybody is seen.

This doesn't mean that everybody is always right or that there has to be full consensus to make a decision; instead, it means that the team is respecting one of the principles of organizational systemic, which is that everyone has an equal right to belong; it also means that the team values each of its members, whatever contribution, small or big, one could bring.

Another indication is when all the team members feel that they are, all together, moving forward, that they are focused and guided towards a shared goal, that there is strength as they flow towards that goal.

So, if you dream about the team in which you would love to work, how would that be? By which indications you will recognize the healthy team of your dreams when you find it?

Comments:

I find that meetings are a great litmus test. I once worked on a project (as a freelancer) where development team "meetings" were actually presentations: one person chosen from the very restricted topmost level of the team spoke, and everybody else just listened. Interruptions were frowned upon. One thing that surprised me was that nobody ever discussed this approach - it was just the way it was. By comparison, the teams I'm working with now take pride in letting everyone share her opinion during meetings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they tend to succeed, while the "fake meetings" team failed spectacularly.

Posted by Paolo Perrotta on December 13, 2009 at 11:35 AM CET #

Paolo, so meetings are a context in which one of the indications I mentioned above (everybody is heard) becomes particularly evident. Good point. Can we then say that one of the indications that will help you recognize the healthy team of your dreams is when meetings are lively, open and with everybody's contribution? Also, you used a work in your comment ("pride") that rang a bell. Is proudness also an indication of an healthy team? It's connected to values and beliefs.. My gut feeling is that proudness isn't necessarily an indication of team healthiness, but I'll have to think about that.

Posted by Andrea Provaglio on December 13, 2009 at 05:24 PM CET #

Shared pride is important in my own world. You recognize you're doing a good job, and you're proud of it. OTOH, no, I don't think that a proud team is necessarily healthy and functional. If every team member is proud of his knowledge and is suspicious of sharing it with others, then we have a problem.

Posted by Paolo Perrotta on December 13, 2009 at 05:31 PM CET #