| <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> |
| <org.eclipse.epf.uma:PracticeDescription xmi:version="2.0" xmlns:xmi="http://www.omg.org/XMI" xmlns:org.eclipse.epf.uma="http://www.eclipse.org/epf/uma/1.0.6/uma.ecore" xmlns:epf="http://www.eclipse.org/epf" epf:version="1.5.1" xmlns:rmc="http://www.ibm.com/rmc" rmc:version="7.5.1" xmi:id="-UGMg9CCG8I3qxV2ew6EVLw" name="new_practice,_6C4sMB4rEd2bS8fFOQ7WWA" guid="-UGMg9CCG8I3qxV2ew6EVLw" changeDate="2008-10-13T02:58:02.000-0700" version="7.5.0"> |
| <mainDescription><p>
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| Whole teams are self-organizing, cross-functional, fluid, and highly collaborative.&nbsp;
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| <i>Self-organization</i> means&nbsp;that&nbsp;everyone on the team works together to determine the best way to perform
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| the&nbsp;work required fulfilling the goals of the team.&nbsp;
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| A <i>whole team</i> is cross-functional, containing people with the combined expertise to perform the work.&nbsp;This
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| includes people with modeling skills, testing skills, management skills, and programming skills. It also includes
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| stakeholders with the required domain knowledge.&nbsp;
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| <i>Fluidity</i> refers to the idea that the team composition will vary over time.&nbsp;For example, at the beginning of
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| the project, you may need someone with deep build experience to help organize the team's build strategy, but after this
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| work is finished, this person leaves the team.&nbsp;Whole teams work in&nbsp;a highly collaborative manner, adopting
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| the most effective communication techniques for their situations and striving to work together as closely as possible.
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| It is through collaboration that people make each other better.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| The goal of the&nbsp;Whole Team&nbsp;practice is to ensure that:
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| </p>
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| <ul>
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| <li>
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| <strong>Everyone has a sense of belonging on the team, of being in it together.</strong>&nbsp;There should be no
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| "outsiders," no "them" but only "us."&nbsp;When everyone is on the team,&nbsp;people&nbsp;avoid&nbsp;blaming
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| others. Instead, there is&nbsp;a sense of&nbsp;collective ownership.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong>The team includes everyone required to build the system.</strong>&nbsp;Ideally, you want a self-contained
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| team that has the skills and knowledge to get the job done.&nbsp;Realistically, this is not&nbsp;always possible at
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| all points, and sometimes you will need to bring in outside experts for brief periods of time for specific
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| goals.&nbsp;For example, you might need someone with experience at setting up the database at the beginning of the
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| project or, in the middle of the project, someone with specific expertise in a certain aspect of the domain.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong>Everyone on the team contributes any way that they can.</strong>&nbsp;With a whole team approach there is a
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| move&nbsp;away from specialists who focus on a specific category of work, such as&nbsp;analysis or&nbsp;database
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| administration,&nbsp;towards generalizing specialists who may have that expertise&nbsp;but will also work outside
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| of their specialty to help&nbsp;address the current need.&nbsp; &nbsp;
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong>The team is self-organizing.</strong>&nbsp;The people best-suited to plan and organize the work are the
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| ones who do the work. This results in&nbsp;better estimates (particularly when people know that they'll be held to
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| those estimates), more realistic schedules, and increased acceptance of the plan by the team.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong><strong>The team maintains a sustainable pace.</strong></strong>&nbsp; Just as you don't sprint throughout
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| a marathon, you can't go for weeks or months at a time working unrealistic levels of overtime.&nbsp;Tired people
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| are not productive people.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <strong>Everyone works together closely.&nbsp;</strong>Not only is it safer, it is better to ask others for help
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| when you need it.&nbsp;Another&nbsp;strategy for improving collaboration within the team is to have daily standup
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| (scrum) meetings where you share your current status and explain any problems that you might have.&nbsp;Non-solo
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| development practices, such as pair programming and modeling with others, are also common in the Whole Team
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| approach.
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| </li>
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| </ul></mainDescription> |
| <additionalInfo><p>
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| For more information on the Whole Team approach:
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| </p>
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| <ul>
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| <li>
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| <p class="parseasinTitle">
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| <span id="btAsinTitle"><i>Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change</i> (2nd Edition)</span> by Kent Beck
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| and Cynthia Andres (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2004)
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| </p>
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| <p class="parseasinTitle">
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| <a href="http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/generalizingSpecialists.htm" target="_blank">Generalizing
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| Specialists</a> by Scott W. Ambler
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| </p>
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| </li>
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| </ul></additionalInfo> |
| <problem><p>
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| The single most important productivity factor is the people on the team and the way that they interact.&nbsp;The Whole
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| Team practice describes strategies to increase overall productivity through streamlining the organization structure of
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| the team and through streamlining collaboration within the team.
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| </p></problem> |
| <application><p>
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| These are the three best ways to understand this practice:
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| </p>
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| <ol>
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| <li>
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| Familiarize yourself with its overall structure -- what it is in it and how it is organized.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| Read the main description to understand the thinking behind the practice.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| As appropriate, read these detailed guidelines: <a class="elementLink"
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| href="./../../../practice.mgmt.whole_team.base/guidances/guidelines/maintain_a_sustainable_pace_A132240B.html"
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| guid="_KzYHYMLmEdysDsQChI42QQ">Maintain a Sustainable Pace</a>, <a class="elementLink"
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| href="./../../../practice.mgmt.whole_team.base/guidances/guidelines/daily_meetings_3690A7AD.html"
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| guid="_251UMCmREdyy6Oss2-0s1g">Daily Meetings</a>, and <a class="elementLink"
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| href="./../../../practice.mgmt.whole_team.base/guidances/guidelines/self_organize_work_assignments_F47FC314.html"
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| guid="_rmBEkJjsEduad8I_c-ogIA">Self-Organize Work Assignments</a>.
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| </li>
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| </ol>
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| <p>
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| For more instructions on how to adopt this practice, see <a class="elementLink"
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| href="./../../../practice.mgmt.whole_team.base/guidances/roadmaps/how_to_adopt_F55EBFB2.html"
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| guid="_oHdNYOMPEdyM47cGD2jiaQ">How to Adopt the Whole Team Practice</a>.
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| </p></application> |
| </org.eclipse.epf.uma:PracticeDescription> |
