1. Culture of successful development teams
Marin Bezić, Concero d.o.o.

2. About me 8 years with MSFT in Redmond 4 years with MSFT in Europe
Shipped 3 releases of the first Microsoft BI product
Lead a team of 25 developers in the SQL Server product unit
4 years with MSFT in Europe
Business and marketing management
Founded Concero d.o.o.
Helping clients optimize software development processes and teams

3. The story of the “Plato” team
Start-up - V1 (OLAP Services 7.0)
Small “startup”
Agile & slow
Cowboys & heroes
Transition - V2 (Analysis Services 2000)
Larger team – communication challenges
Existing customers – quality challenges
Integrated into SQL Server – process challenges
Grown up - V3 (Analysis Services 2005)
Well “oiled” engine
Team that clicks
Productivity leaps
Becomes #1 product in the OLAP market (based on OLAPReport)

4. What does it mean “successful”?
Happy developers
Great products
What does it mean “successful”?
Happy customers
Happy shareholders/owners

5. What does it mean “culture”?
How things get done
Unwritten rules
What does it mean “culture”?
Invisible thing that glues the team together* *

6. Culture is critical for success
"Culture is everything," Lou Gerstner, IBM CEO
Culture is critical for success
long term

7. What makes culture?
Beliefs
Behaviors
Background

8. Purpose
Doing the right thing
Beliefs
Employees as partners

9. Believe in Making an Impact
Teams need big, bold, challenging goals
People like “thrill” – creating, competing, winning, …
They want to know the big picture
And work on something to be proud of
Employees who don’t understand why their work is important become disengaged.
How to do it?
“Paint” for the team the compelling future
Tell them how their work contributes
Tell them stories about real customers
Even better – get customers to tell the stories

10. Believe in Doing the Right Thing
“What is the right thing to do?”
“What is the best for our customer?”
Going the extra mile to help customers
Doing the right thing, not only feels good, but also creates happy customers

11. Believe in Employees as Partners
Share information with employees
Invest in employees (training, career plans)
Egalitarian atmosphere
Employees respond when they feel appreciated

12. Behaviors Empowerment Dealing with mistakes Having fun
Facing brutal facts
SWE Fundamentals

13. Meritocracy Rewarding people based on merit
Give more to people who deserve more
An element of performance oriented culture
Headache for managers
but helps retaining great talent
How to do it?
Set challenging goals
Give ownership, power, and responsibility
Review and Reward for performance
Celebrate real achievements

14. Empowerment “Let go” People own their work/code/components/team
Ownership must be “meaningful”
Everybody is accountable and responsible for their actions
Empowerment means fast decisions and agility.
How to do it?
Trust & Track
Push decisions down
Let people fail (and learn)

15. Dealing with mistakes No fear of failure
People should be willing to make risky decisions, innovate, think differently
Excuses are a waste of time
Enemies don’t believe them, friends don’t need them (John Wooden)
How to do it?
Put focus on end success/results
Fail fast
Make it easy to talk about a problem – “red flag”
Make sure that people learn from their mistakes

16. Self criticism Proactively giving and seeking feedback
Open and honest communication
Leverage collective knowledge and experience
How to do it?
Set the bar (expectations) high
Make continuous improvement a goal
Institute the review culture
Code review, spec review, plan review, strategy review

17. SWE Fundamentals
Focus on core software engineering principles and best practices
Examples:
Built in quality from the start
Think before you code
Realistic schedule
Transparent status
Make decisions based on data

18. Fun
Positive attitude and relaxed atmosphere make it easier to solve tough problems
Happy people are smart(er)?1
How to do it?
Make it easier for people to relax during the day
Fusbal, ping pong, video games
Add a touch of humor to a stressful situation
Manage those spreading negativism 1

19. Personalized environment
Background
Space
Dress code

20. Office environment Space per employee Dedicated space 100 ft2 = 10m2
Work surface 30ft2 = 3m2
Minimize noise
“Workers who reported before the exercise that their workplace was acceptably quiet were one-third more likely to deliver zero-defect work.”
DeMarco, Tom; Lister, Timothy R. ( ). Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Dorset House Publishing. Kindle Edition.

21. Personalized environment
Home away from home
Make people feel comfortable at work
Allow them to “personalize” their environment
Allow them to “personalize” their schedules
Because the only thing that matters is
RESULT

22. Appearance and dress code

23. Motivation and Culture

24. Motivation model by Dan Pink - MAP
Mastery
Autonomy
Purpose
Dan Pink: Drive
Mastery – the urge to get better and better at something that matters
Autonomy – the desire to direct our own lives
Purpose – the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves
Daniel H. Pink, Drive – The Suprising Truth About What Motivates Us

25. MAP-ing Culture Elements
Mastery
Meritocracy
Self Criticism
Dealing with mistakes
Employee learning and growth
Autonomy
Trust
Empowerment
Fun
Personalized environment
Space
Appearance
Purpose
Making difference

26. Summary - My observations on culture
The most important ingredient for a successful team
The management defines the culture
Culture is not learned by reading posters on the wall
It is contagious
And it is built over time

27. Thank you!
Marin Bezić

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