It’s All About the Team

This post was previously on the Pathfinder Software site. Pathfinder Software changed its name to Orthogonal in 2016. Read more.

Quick! Think back to your most fond projects. Were they the most challenging or the most profitable? Maybe, but I bet you had a great team. I’m convinced that the most rewarding and successful projects share a common attribute, an outstanding team.

What makes a good team?

Is it a collection of rock stars that work 90 hours a week? Nope. Instead, it’s people that work well together with copious amounts of respect and willingness to help other team members even if they don’t have the same role (developer helping BA, BA helping tester, etc). Good team members are:

• honest. It’s hard working with people that can’t be trusted.
• good listeners. They don’t need to put forth their opinion on every topic.
• on time. You don’t have to be on time, you can be early.
• mentors. They enjoy developing junior team members
• willing to fill in gaps. Isn’t it great when a developer speeds up the build or cleans up the CSS?
• not complainers. Complaining is really contagious and has a big effect on morale.
• skilled, but always improving their craft
• respectful