Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules

Creating a High-Performance Team

Productive teams are sometimes characterized as teams that have jelled or as teams that are highly cohesive. What characteristics does a high-performance, jelled, cohesive team have? The team has:

• A shared, elevating vision or goal

• A sense of team identity

• A results-driven structure

• Competent team members

• A commitment to the team

• Mutual trust

• Interdependence among team members

• Effective communication

• A sense of autonomy

• A sense of empowerment

• Small team size

• A high level of enjoyment

In 1989, Larson and LaFasto published a study that found unusual consistency among the attributes of highly effective teams. This was true for teams as diverse as the McDonald's Chicken McNugget team, the space-shuttle Challenger investigation ...