TDD: Team-Driven Development

Developing software as part of a team introduces a host of challenges. A strong, motivated development team working together can marshal the strengths and specialities of each of its members to create something much larger than the sum of its parts. Teams that don’t work together can drain resources and make the workplace a miserable place to spend the day. The fact is, strong teams need strong leaders, and strong leadership is something that each of us can cultivate within ourselves. No matter your experience level or seniority, if you work as part of a team, you have the capacity to help lead your colleagues toward success. We’ll discuss strategies for dealing with conflict, ideas on how to become stronger communicators, and ways to help you and your teammates get the best from one another.

Transcript

1. TDD (Team-Driven Development) Samantha Quiñones
2. Samantha Quiñones (keen-YO-ness) @ieatkillerbees http://samanthaquinones.com
4. mainframes360.com
5. Photo Credit: ChrisM70 via Compfight CC
6. “Dog Walker” © by Anthony Arrigo licensed under (CC BY 2.0)
7. “Ramen - Super H Mart” © Wes Bryant licensed under (CC BY-SA 2.0)
8. Copyright © Twentieth Century Fox
9. Photo © Terry Shuck licensed under (CC BY 2.0)
10. “If there’s no user group in your area, congratulations, you’re it.”
11. If your team has no leader, congratulations, you’re it.
12. –Ken Kesey “You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.”
13. – RADM Grace Hopper “If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It is much easier to apologize than it is to get permission.”
15. Photo by © Adib Wahab licensed under (CC BY-ND 2.0)
16. Photo © Christoffer A Rasmussen
17. Image © David Celis
19. Growing Your Team • The whole team should be involved in the hiring process. • Bad first impressions happen. Be careful about dropping people after the 1st meeting • Focus as much on social & cultural IQ as much as technical skills
20. Care and Feeding
21. 1 in 5 Americans are effected by mental illness nimh.org, 18.2% of US adults
22. Many people hide their problems.
23. Photo © Margie Korshak Associates, public domain
24. Develop an honest interest in your teammates.
25. Empathy
26. Empathy Is… (Wiseman’s 4 Attributes) • The ability to take the perspective of another person. • The ability to understand another person’s feelings. • The ability to communicate that understanding. • The ability to avoid judgment.
27. Empathy is Not Sympathy • Empathy is sharing another person’s experience. • Sympathy is acknowledging another person’s experience.
28. Empathy is a skill that can be learned and improved.
29. We must allow ourselves to be vulnerable
30. You are not alone.
31. We are all human.
32. Your teammates are worth the effort.
33. © Disney*ABC Domestic Television. All rights reserved.
35. Are You Listening? • Speculating about our partner’s agenda • Trying to remember that amazing article that refutes our partner’s argument • Thinking about our own problems • Thinking about that one time (times?) that our partner was a jerk
36. Slow down and pay attention.
37. Share your partner’s context.
38. Ask good questions.
39. Proceed when… • You understand the topic your partner is trying to address, • You understand your partner’s key points, and… • You understand what your partner expects from the interaction.
40. It’s OK… • To suck at this. It takes practice! • Pause or reschedule when you are (meaningfully) distracted
42. Photo © unknown, via mthruf.com
43. Photo by Josh Plueger USAF, public domain
44. Photo © Carsten ten Brink, licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
45. Productive Arguments • Have a topic and a goal • Allow all interested parties equal time to make a case • Have a neutral referee
46. Be timely. Don’t let conflicts fester.
47. Stick to your main points. Explain your reasoning.
48. Be attentive, and listen to comprehend.
49. Don’t let it be personal. You are not your ideas.
50. Focus on the end, not the means.
51. It’s not about winning or losing.
52. Strong teams are built on trust.
53. Trust build bonds. Bonds make teams unbreakable.
54. Diversity of Educational Background
55. Diversity of Work History
56. Diversity of Language & Culture
57. Diversity of Gender and Sexuality
58. Diversity of Socioeconomic Status
59. Establish Community Space
60. Open Source the Workplace
61. • Discuss projects in the community space • Make side-conversations open to interested parties • Adopt a pull-request ethic
62. Develop a culture of service
63. Play Together
64. • Host hack-a-thons • Code contests • Obfuscated X • Slowest useful SQL query
65. Learn Together
66. • Attend conferences together • Have a weekly in-house conference
68. Mental Health Resources
69. • Prompt - http://prompt.engineyard.com/ • Mental Health First Aid - http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ • Open Sourcing Mental Illness - http://funkatron.com/osmi.html
70. Other Resources
71. • Brené Brown on Empathy - http://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw • Servant Leadership - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership
72. Feedback • @ieatkillerbees • https://joind.in/13446