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WeAreDevelopers LIVE β€’ Nov 5, 2020

How to be balanced in a software development team

Martyna Zurek

The isolated developer stereotype is dead. Learn how a balanced, leaderless team utilizes pair programming and shared responsibility across engineering, UX, and product to build better software.

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#1 about 4 min

Defining group goals and the nature of collaborative teams

How working together requires shared goals and clear communication to move beyond individuals simply sharing space.

#2 about 2 min

Moving past the isolated developer stereotype

Why the classic model of developers working alone in isolation fails to foster true teamwork.

#3 about 3 min

Cross-functional roles and collaboration in a balanced team

How full-stack developers, product managers, UX designers, and agile coaches collaborate in extreme programming environments.

#4 about 2 min

Fostering self-organized and self-directing team environments

How balanced teams eliminate single leaders to equitably distribute responsibility across all members.

#5 about 2 min

Establishing ground rules for continuous review and trust

The importance of building continuous feedback loops, mutual trust, and time for team bonding.

#6 about 4 min

Pair programming, feedback, and shared backlog prioritization

Why coding in pairs, collaborative UX design, and shared feature prioritization improve product quality over isolated feature work.

#7 about 2 min

Rotating development pairs to eliminate knowledge silos and heroes

Rotating programming pairs daily prevents knowledge islands and encourages the sharing of diverse engineering opinions.

#8 about 3 min

Maintaining daily communication workflows in remote team environments

Using private channels, structured daily greetings, and open team calls to simulate office interactions during remote work.

#9 about 2 min

Aligning teams with daily standups and backlog reviews

How morning standups and structured backlog refinement keep cross-functional teams focused on agile goals.

#10 about 2 min

Improving team processes through biweekly rotating retrospective moderation

Rotating the moderator role allows all individual members to build soft skills and gauge team health firsthand.

#11 about 3 min

Structuring iteration planning meetings to evaluate acceptance criteria

Validating user needs, estimating story effort, and reviewing outcomes collaboratively defines sustainable development iterations.

#12 about 1 min

Resolving technical blockers quickly through on-demand team huddles

Creating temporary, time-boxed open calls allows teams to discuss specific technical problems synchronously.

#13 about 2 min

Scheduling weekly team events to improve retrospective psychological safety

Playing online mini-games before retrospectives encourages a positive mindset for open and honest feedback.

#14 about 2 min

Ensuring culture fit by hiring people aligned with collaboration

Why process frameworks and theory ultimately require team members who are genuinely open to collaborative working models.

#15 about 2 min

Assessing software team maturity through targeted self-reflection questions

A framework to evaluate mutual trust, open communication, and shared decision-making capabilities within agile engineering teams.

Matching moments

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Organizing cross-functional and balanced product teams

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4:40 min

Balancing autonomy and alignment in DevOps teams

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4:10 min

Preventing developer burnout by avoiding toxic productivity trends

Katja TrΓ€umner

2:48 min

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Principal Cloud Advocate, Microsoft

Pamela Fox
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