Wednesday
Room 5
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 software consultant at Lean TECHniques who helps teams deliver high quality software. He works with teams to adopt various agile and lean practices, such as effective CI/CD, automated testing, and product management. With experience in developing software and consulting teams across several industries including financial, retail, and agriculture, he has fulfilled roles including technical coach, agile coach, tech lead, with a primary background as a software developer. He finds fulfillment in his work by working with others to understand their individual problems and working together to improve their products and professional enjoyment. The .NET ecosystem is where he is most comfortable and finds the most enjoyment.
He also enjoys playing piano, swing dancing, and his own personal programming projects in his free time, including game development, for which he has a company called Nightcap Games that he has released one game under.