Wednesday
Room 2
15:00 - 16:00
(UTC+01)
Talk (60 min)
Hearing and Being Heard - Getting the Entire Team to Speak
Many of us have been on teams where the same few people speak every meeting - likewise, another same few people very rarely ever speak. Often, we fall into one of those categories ourselves.
Unfortunately, research has shown that uneven communication among a team is an indicator of lower performance. Even individual IQ of team members has less impact on team performance than how well the team communicates! Regardless of what technical improvements we strive to make as a team, our performance will suffer if we fail to learn how to communicate effectively as a single unit.
I'll cover some reasons why some of us talk much more or less than others on our teams, as well as the effects that can bring. From my experience as a developer and a coach, I'll also go over some practical actions to take to encourage all individuals to share their opinions, and why it's beneficial for the entire team when that happens, regardless of each individual's role.
Daniel Ward
Daniel is a Microsoft .NET MVP and software consultant at Lean TECHniques. He helps teams deliver high-quality software while adopting modern practices such as effective CI/CD, automated testing, AI usage, and product management. With experience spanning multiple industries, including finance, retail, and agriculture, he has served as a technical coach, agile coach, and tech lead, with a primary background as a software developer. Outside of work, he enjoys playing piano and guitar, swing dancing, and game development.