Teamwork

A professional knows how to work with other people effectively and confidently to achieve specified goals at the specified time. This doesn't just infest itself in the ability to manage resources, but also the ability make the right impressions.

1. Project Management

Managing projects is hard, especially when you never work with the same team across projects. Every team does things differently. Each team has its own internal conflicts, strengths and weaknesses. And every project itself has its own special challenges.

A project usually starts from some desire to solve a stakeholder's business problem. To deliver something that is desired, the team must ask questions to gather functional and non-functional requirements. Then, the team starts solving the problem at hand, and craft a demonstrable solution very early on, so that the stakeholder can verify that the team is on the right track.

Scrum - Agile

• A lightweight framework for iterative delivery, optimizing value

• Predefined roles

• Changes not allowed (during sprint)

• Measures team velocity

• Based on Empiricism (believing that knowledge comes from experience), having pillars: transparency, inspection, adaptation

• Values: commitment, courage, focus, openness, respect

• Deadlines may cause developers to sacrifice quality

Kanban - Lean

• A management method designed to continuously improve service delivery, minimizing waste

• No predefined roles

• Changes allowed

• Measures cycle time

• Work in progress limits force collaboration

• No deadlines may cause developers to spend too much time on a task

Scrum is more suitable for fast delivery of complex products. Kanban is better suited for continuous delivery and improvement of services. This evolutionary development framework and methodology respectively help teams optimize value, or minimize waste.

You may have heard about the t-shape analogy:

Where the horizontal bar represent the small bit of experience in different disciplines, and the vertical bar represents a lot of experience in a particular discipline. Instead of separating teams based on disciplines, it is valuable to have people with different disciplines mixed together in cross-functional teams.

Multidisciplinary people	Cross-functional team

As each team has its strengths and weaknesses, so does each member within these teams. It is important to be aware of this fact to optimize productivity, creativity, stability, and precision of the team.

2. People Management

There's a universal language of behavior called the DISC Personality System. Research has shown that behavioral characteristics can be grouped together in four major groups.

Styles

Description of each DISC style:

• D = Dominant, Driver: Someone who's assertive, to the point, and wants the bottom line.

• I = Influencing, Inspiring: Someone who's a great communicator, friendly to everyone.

• S = Steady, Stable: Someone who's a great listener, and a great team player.

• C = Correct, Compliant: Someone who enjoys gathering facts and details, who is thorough in all activities.

Strategies

How each DISC style should be approached:

• D: Don't ramble or waste time, stay on task, be clear and specific, and to the point, don't chitchat or try to build a personal relationship, come prepared and organized, present facts logically, provide alternatives and choices, and if you disagree focus on the facts.

• I: Talk and ask about their ideas and goals, allow time for relating and socializing, don't drive to facts and alternatives, help them get organized, provide ideas, don't leave decisions in the air, provide testimonials from people they see as important, offer incentives for their willingness to take risks.

• S: Don't rush, show interest in them as people, draw out their personal goals and objections, don't force them to make a quick response, don't interrupt when they speak.

• C: Approach straightforwardly, ask if they see the issue the same way you do, provide information and time, be specific about expectations and deadlines, prove with data and facts if you disagree, don't be informal, casual or personal, and build credibility by looking at each side of the issue.

Skills

Besides choosing a particular strategy, it is essential to develop your all-round communication skills:

• Body Language: your (and the other person's) non-verbal presence can heavily impact communications

• Listening: active listening is understanding and remembering what a person is saying, which involves asking questions to clear up uncertainties

• Clarity & Concision: think about what you want to say before you say it, say something clear enough depending on our audience, with just as many words as required (this also holds for writing)

• Friendliness: personalize the conversation, "I hope you had a good weekend", and engage in open and honest communication

• Confidence: it shows that you believe in what you're saying and will follow through, can be as simple as making eye contact, or using a firm tone

• Empathy: "I understand where you're coming from", even when you disagree, express some empathy

• Open-Mindedness: be flexible, and at least consider other peoples input, be productive in disagreements

• Respect: people will be more open if you convey some respect to their ideas, using a person's name, don't play with your phone, and make a person feel appreciated

• Feedback: being able to appropriately give and receive feedback is an important skill, because it allows you to improve yourself and others around you

• Delivery: the ability to choose the form of communication is also important, serious conversations should be in person, but when conveying lots of information an email in black and white may be better suited

Body Language

Apply these in all situations:

• Don't ever yawn

• Don't keep your knees together (or crossed)

• Keep your hands alongside your body, or lay your arms on your upper leg

• Stand up straight with your shoulders back, or sit up on the front of your seat

• Maintain a healthy expression of confidence and agreeableness

• Initiation of gestures demonstrates confidence, normally the person with more power will initiate the handshake (if you wish to show respect, you may wish to wait)

• Before a handshake, make sure you hands are dry, slap them on your thy to dry them up. Match the level of pressure you receive

• Keep eye contact (don't stare) when talking to someone to express confidence (firm expression) or respect (warm expression)

• Firmly look away when someone is talking to you to express dominance (firm expression) or disrespect (nonchalant expression)

• Smile to express comfort and friendliness

Apply the following in specific situations:

Situation	Advice
Job interview	Showing determination and confidence by initiating with a firm handshake with eye contact. Let yourself be led to your seat. Be thankful, but don't come over as someone that needs a babysitter.
Political meeting	Showing dominance over another using an aggressive or controlling handshake. Lead the other person through doors, or to the position where he should stand or sit. Show a determined but controlled expression. Show a closed posture, not open to the ideas of your political opponent. Use the "it's just so", palms vertically with a rigid slicing motion gesture. Palms down position shows "listen to me".
Business meeting	Offer a trustworthy double-handed handshake where you bend your shoulders forward a little bit. Only do this if you have had a time to form an emotional bond. Use your hands, fingers pointing up, to express seriousness. Always show an open posture, hands up with 45 degrees, fingers loose from each other. Move your hand or gesture upward or outward to make the implication to growth.