Principles for Successful Teams
We don't need the thousands of several-hundred-page books to understand what makes a team, department, or firm successful.
There's a heck of a lot of blabbering that's been written on the topic of what makes a team, department, or firm successful. It's (almost) entirely crap, in my experience. The bulk of it seems to be an exercise in justifying the unjustifiable jobs that middle managers and consultants take up; this is a relatively wealthy bunch so I suppose it makes some sense to sell snake oil to them.
No doubt we've all had experiences with incoherent decisions from higher-ups, illogical constraints on work, or even micromanaging. We look at each other and wonder "what if we just had the space to get our work done." Indeed it seems more often than not that altogether engineers, QAs, and the like are able to make better decisions collectively than in the typical top-down structure.
On realizing that, the principles that underlie the success are quite clear: we're all professionals who can A. deliver their work and B. collaboratively agree on decision points. In that spirit, here are (I think) the only four principles that are really needed between us and our colleagues in any team, department, or firm.
1. Each Colleague is Independent #
Everyone must have ownership over their own efforts and must be able todeliver their work without micromanagement or unnecessary restrictions. Where each colleague is a professional capable of particular tasks, they must be unburdened in fulfilling them.
The diversity of thought and approaches to work strengthens the whole effort; each colleague must be able to communicate their ideas, opinions, and feedback.
2. All Colleagues Form the Whole #
Our teams, departments, and firms are formed, entirely, by the sum of the contributions by colleagues. The whole cannot be formed without the contributions from everyone; each colleague is necessary irrespective of title or experience.
Effort must be distributed across all colleagues, and no individual should find themselves a "linchpin" in holding others back.
Each colleague must have access to the same resources, and all colleagues should have the same information available to them. Everyone should be "on the same page."
3. Each Colleague Supports Each Other #
Collaboration is the only way to deliver efforts involving more than one colleague; competition (however friendly) and rugged individualism (however ideal) only prohibit progress on work.
Each colleague must have camraderie with each other; each must share their knowledge, time, and ability with each other.
4. All Colleagues Compromise #
There can't be a proper balance between individual and team effort without compromise, and compromise is required to maintain the other principles.
Each colleague must have a voice in decision-making, feedback, and leadership over their efforts; all colleagues in turn must bring these together into a productive decision.
Each colleague must participate in the activities of the whole team, department, or firm.