In Information Technology (IT) industry, people always work in teams. The team is a small unit organized to achieve a goal.
For example, a software team is organized to achieve a goal of develop a
software product; An Information Technology team is formed to achieve a
goal of transfer data storage to a cloud computing service provider.
Teamwork skill is defined as the ability to work effectively as part of a
team to achieve a common goal.
The goal is the reason to organize the team. Without a clear reason, no one would understand why they need to work together. No one would know about their roles or responsibilities or what they are doing in a team. Teamwork requires the sharing of information as members are working with each other. Every team has members with various skills and some have more experiences, some have less. Teamwork is where they learn from each other. Team members must understand their assigned roles so that they appreciate the efforts put in by everyone. This is important as without clear roles and responsibilities, when things do not work well, members often blame others. This is the reason why the roles of project manager and team leader are important. A team leader’s job is to provide the leadership to the team and assign works to members according to their skills and experiences.
One of the most important factors in teamwork is effective communication. Today, most IT projects are distributed in several countries or having team members come from different countries. Having a common language such as English is important. Many IT students do not understand the language requirements and do not consider learning another language is important. According to a recent industry study, if IT workers do have a second language such as English, their chance of getting a good job can be reduced by 75%[I think it can be increased by 75%, may be it is a typing mistake ]. Communicating effectively means that information is shared among all team members. It also means all members must participate in team discussion and technical reviews so everybody can be informed of what others are doing.
According to a teamwork theory, most teams often go through four stages before they can function well. The first is the “Forming stage” when the team comes together and begins to know each other. Each member is often carefully to avoid any conflict but they have not trust each other. Work is slow since members want to defense their views and not say much. It usually takes few days to few weeks to move to the next stage, depending on the size of the team. The second-stage is the “Storming stage” when conflicts breaks out. Team members begin to argue and form subgroups, each with their own view on how to do the work. They do not want to share anything and often avoid each other. It could last few weeks to few months as each subgroup is holding on to its own idea and only share with members who share the same view. Most IT people call this stage “The cold war” as distrust is the rule. Slowly, through fatigue and despair, each subgroup begins to realize that they cannot work toward the goal as sharing of information is essential. The third-stage is the “Norming stage” in which team members begin to cooperate and compromise with each other. The effectiveness of the team begins to improve as team members contribute and discuss more openly. Finally the team enters the four-stage or “Performing stage” when trust is built among members as they recognize their roles, responsibilities and the sum of their individual efforts in achieving the common goal.
By understand the principle theory; a good team leader could shorten the time it takes to develop an effective team. I often advise team leaders to have more team meetings at the beginning of the project to allow members to talk with each other and share information. Experienced manager will watch the team to understand what stage they are in. If the team is in “Cold War” for more than a week, manager should interfere by having frequent meetings to have members to share their views and emphasize on their roles and responsibilities. Teamwork development often takes several weeks to reach the performing stage, depending on the skills and experienced of team members and the talent of the team leader. I often remind students: “If you work together, you will finish faster.”
Teamwork is often a weakness of Asian students when they go to school in the U.S. because their tradition education systems promote individual work instead of teamwork. Many Asian students do not get along with other members. They want to be the “only one” who does the work rather than sharing information with their teams. Some prefer to do thing on what they want instead of following the team process. Global companies also told me that they have difficulty when operate in Asia as their workers often have conflict with others when working in team.
As a team member, you need to understand that everyone on the team is depending on others to get their works done. You have an assigned role and responsibility within the team and it is essential to follow the team rules to make sure that you will function well within the team. Teamwork should be encouraged early in college where students are still developing their skills.
Since teamwork is required in the industry, some students often write on their resume certain phrases such as “Ability to work in a team” or “participate in teamwork” as one of their strengths. But in fact they never work in team and only learn about it in books or articles. This is dangerous because during the interview, there will be questions on teamwork and without participate in team or have real experience, many applicants cannot answer. If interviewers believe that applicants are not honest than what would be the chance to get hired? Please remember that talking about teamwork is easy but it is not good unless you practice it.
The goal is the reason to organize the team. Without a clear reason, no one would understand why they need to work together. No one would know about their roles or responsibilities or what they are doing in a team. Teamwork requires the sharing of information as members are working with each other. Every team has members with various skills and some have more experiences, some have less. Teamwork is where they learn from each other. Team members must understand their assigned roles so that they appreciate the efforts put in by everyone. This is important as without clear roles and responsibilities, when things do not work well, members often blame others. This is the reason why the roles of project manager and team leader are important. A team leader’s job is to provide the leadership to the team and assign works to members according to their skills and experiences.
One of the most important factors in teamwork is effective communication. Today, most IT projects are distributed in several countries or having team members come from different countries. Having a common language such as English is important. Many IT students do not understand the language requirements and do not consider learning another language is important. According to a recent industry study, if IT workers do have a second language such as English, their chance of getting a good job can be reduced by 75%[I think it can be increased by 75%, may be it is a typing mistake ]. Communicating effectively means that information is shared among all team members. It also means all members must participate in team discussion and technical reviews so everybody can be informed of what others are doing.
According to a teamwork theory, most teams often go through four stages before they can function well. The first is the “Forming stage” when the team comes together and begins to know each other. Each member is often carefully to avoid any conflict but they have not trust each other. Work is slow since members want to defense their views and not say much. It usually takes few days to few weeks to move to the next stage, depending on the size of the team. The second-stage is the “Storming stage” when conflicts breaks out. Team members begin to argue and form subgroups, each with their own view on how to do the work. They do not want to share anything and often avoid each other. It could last few weeks to few months as each subgroup is holding on to its own idea and only share with members who share the same view. Most IT people call this stage “The cold war” as distrust is the rule. Slowly, through fatigue and despair, each subgroup begins to realize that they cannot work toward the goal as sharing of information is essential. The third-stage is the “Norming stage” in which team members begin to cooperate and compromise with each other. The effectiveness of the team begins to improve as team members contribute and discuss more openly. Finally the team enters the four-stage or “Performing stage” when trust is built among members as they recognize their roles, responsibilities and the sum of their individual efforts in achieving the common goal.
By understand the principle theory; a good team leader could shorten the time it takes to develop an effective team. I often advise team leaders to have more team meetings at the beginning of the project to allow members to talk with each other and share information. Experienced manager will watch the team to understand what stage they are in. If the team is in “Cold War” for more than a week, manager should interfere by having frequent meetings to have members to share their views and emphasize on their roles and responsibilities. Teamwork development often takes several weeks to reach the performing stage, depending on the skills and experienced of team members and the talent of the team leader. I often remind students: “If you work together, you will finish faster.”
Teamwork is often a weakness of Asian students when they go to school in the U.S. because their tradition education systems promote individual work instead of teamwork. Many Asian students do not get along with other members. They want to be the “only one” who does the work rather than sharing information with their teams. Some prefer to do thing on what they want instead of following the team process. Global companies also told me that they have difficulty when operate in Asia as their workers often have conflict with others when working in team.
As a team member, you need to understand that everyone on the team is depending on others to get their works done. You have an assigned role and responsibility within the team and it is essential to follow the team rules to make sure that you will function well within the team. Teamwork should be encouraged early in college where students are still developing their skills.
Since teamwork is required in the industry, some students often write on their resume certain phrases such as “Ability to work in a team” or “participate in teamwork” as one of their strengths. But in fact they never work in team and only learn about it in books or articles. This is dangerous because during the interview, there will be questions on teamwork and without participate in team or have real experience, many applicants cannot answer. If interviewers believe that applicants are not honest than what would be the chance to get hired? Please remember that talking about teamwork is easy but it is not good unless you practice it.
Prof John Vu
Carnegie Mellon University
Original source:http://www.segvn.org/forum/mvnforum/viewthread_thread,1409
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