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I spoke to guy once who was researching what makes a high functioning team for some large (unarmed) company. His insight over the various studies he’d looked at

by w4tson 9y ago

I spoke to guy once who was researching what makes a high functioning team for some large (unarmed) company. His insight over the various studies he’d looked at was as follows. 1. High functioning teams are in the order of 5–10 people 2. Everyone in the team is respected for what they bring to the group regardless of experience. If you’ve 20 years experience you’re valued for your knowledge of pitfalls etc. If you’ve 2 years you might be valued for your enthusiasm. Or if your a fresh graduate you could be valued on your ability to question conventions that others do not. My question is: given this, how would an interview ever hope to sift out a potential candidate. Especially when the qualities of the final aren’t (could never?) be properly specified relative to the team they were due to go into.

koopuluri 9y ago
> 2. Everyone in the team is respected for what they bring to the group regardless of experience. I agree with this. I think there are ways to notice this during interviews. I'm a fan of a junior engineer interviewing a candidate for a senior position - as a way to see how well they interact. Perhaps the question could be more open ended (e.g. explain x,y,z concepts - maybe oven ones that the interviewer doesn't know but wants to learn). If the junior feels like they had a good interaction, were able to learn, and felt respected through the process, great. If the candidate seemed offended by the lack of experience of the interviewer, then not great. A highly subjective signal though.
- w4tson 9y ago
  That might be a start. But there’s even more subtle things going on. What about the person who can resolve conflict. The person who always takes on a task to the bitter end regardless how bad it smells. The person who thinks ahead. The developer who loves process and documentation. The developer who can code you out of a tricky situation. The person who’s always trying new things. Personally I think it’s a lottery. Like putting together a football team but we don’t even know the positions yet. We just know they can play football

by w4tson 9y ago

koopuluri 9y ago

> 2. Everyone in the team is respected for what they bring to the group regardless of experience. I agree with this. I think there are ways to notice this during interviews. I'm a fan of a junior engineer interviewing a candidate for a senior position - as a way to see how well they interact. Perhaps the question could be more open ended (e.g. explain x,y,z concepts - maybe oven ones that the interviewer doesn't know but wants to learn). If the junior feels like they had a good interaction, were able to learn, and felt respected through the process, great. If the candidate seemed offended by the lack of experience of the interviewer, then not great. A highly subjective signal though.

w4tson 9y ago
That might be a start. But there’s even more subtle things going on. What about the person who can resolve conflict. The person who always takes on a task to the bitter end regardless how bad it smells. The person who thinks ahead. The developer who loves process and documentation. The developer who can code you out of a tricky situation. The person who’s always trying new things. Personally I think it’s a lottery. Like putting together a football team but we don’t even know the positions yet. We just know they can play football