Growing test teams: Uncertain team composition Martin Jansson
This is a follow up from previous articles on Growing test teams based on the ideas from Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister.
Uncertain team composition
If you are newly assigned to be a team leader there is a big chance that you also have a team, but that is not always the case. Just as you want to start organizing the team, steer toward a set of goals, begin promising your stakeholders what you will be able to accomplish… you begin to wonder… why am I sitting alone on this team meeting? Where are they?
The test team will have a harder time growing when …
- you do not know who is in the team
- you do not know how much time in the resource plan each member is allocated to the team
- you do not know how much time in reality each member is allocated to the team
- your team members have other assignments that they spend time on that are not communicated
- your test manager does not see you as a team, but instead a resource pool where all members are to be plucked out at any time
- your team members does not see themselves as part of your team and continue to work on their own agendas
- you have hidden members that should be part of the team, but are safely tucked away in a hidden project
When you are uncertain about your team composition it will block you from going forward. You will be handicaped as a team leader and will most certainly fail, or burn out trying.
Good thoughts!
I found out a couple of additional factors that could play a role:
The test team will have a harder time growing when …
— there is too much focus on roles, instead of people.
— your appointment is of various political reasons, making it hard to cooperate with team members.
— you are not (noticed as) a leader *, but have been appointed as a Leader.
* leader = someone with skills in one or more of the areas: Motivation, Organization & Innovation (according to the MOI-theory).
There are lots of factors out there. I think the ones you are listing are closely related to the area “Leadership”, which I will discuss soon. Good catch though! I will bring those thoughts to that article.
This is how I see it. Team leader is a support role. As a team leader you are supporting/leading the team. That means you should know where you are heading and you should lead your team in that direction. And you should set the pace. If you are not able to do that you should communicate this to your leader. It could be that 1) you are a bad leader 2) there is no need for a leader 3) there are fundemental issues that cannot be addressed from within the team.
@Saam:
The team leader role can probably be different depending on project model. All you say is true about about leadership. Still, the issues above is an identification that the test team will no grow under these circumstances. Read Peopleware to phantom the concept.
Ok, I will try to find the book. Perhaps its time to visit a library, since I couldnt find it in any online store to a decent price..
@Saam: I don’t know what you consider a decent price, but on Amazon you will get it at a fairly good price:
http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-Second/dp/0932633439
And it is like 1 dollar for every 10 pages… Definitely worth the money! 🙂
Thanks! I checked amazon.co.uk, they had used books from £215.90… I never bought anything from amazon.COM, I guess due to customs and shipping times . Also, I never bougt a used book online. Do you have experience in used books from amazon.com? In other words can you recommend that – there are no special issues to consider? Just to order it and wait? 🙂
I have bought used books twice from Amazon and they have been in a remarkable shape. But I also think that the price varies a lot when buying used books; the cheaper the book is, the worse condition they come in. The first time I got a used book I had ordered it by mistake, but I did not realize that it was used until I had a second look at the delivery order a couple of days later…
I have almost always ordered the books from amazon.com and the only time I was disappointed with the shipping time was over the christmas and the new years.
——-
Update: I never realized that it was $399.99 for a new book!!! I am almost sure that it was $30 something when I looked, but either the prize went up the roof the last hours or I missed a digit… 🙂
Isn’t it awfully expensive???
It would be cheaper if you borrowed my book, or do you work nearby Martin in Gothenburg?
Saam work quite near me. In fact… 67 cm from my desk. Sadly, I lent my book to an ex-employee… I will buy a bunch for Qamcom, then I can lend it to you, Saam. =)
Quite expensive bunch of books then! 😉
Yes! I told you “I couldnt find it in any online store to a decent price” 🙂
But I will try the used books at amazon. Thanks for the tip Henrik!
There is something funny about several prices on Amazon these days.
Just look at Weinbergs ‘Introduction to General Systems Thinking’ (http://amzn.to/cPzjOm) I bought it in January for $29, now it is $160?
It seems like these are popular books and Amazon don’t have them in stock at the moment, thus 3rd party sources are trying to make some extra money off the desperate ones (notice it says ‘Awailable from These Selleres’ instead of ‘In Stock’).
Anyway, Peopleware is available at a more decent price at the original publisher:
http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/pw.html
[…] yet. I’ve also written two blog posts about growing test teams: Uncertain team composition [10] and Progress [11]. Both tries to focus on things you should not do in order to get a jelled test […]