In the quest for team success, how can organizations and/or decision makers find the right balance between quantitative and qualitative approaches? Considering that every team is unique and influenced by different factors such as sociocultural, legal, or political environments, and remote work, what are some effective strategies for striking the right balance? Also, what role does gut feeling and experience play in achieving this balance?
I think the success metric for teams should be quantitative because people need to know explicitly when they are achieving those goals. How the team is performing, how well it's working, etc. are seemingly better answered with qualitative approaches.
In software engineering, there's a significant shift from purely quantitative metrics like story points to more qualitative assessments through developer surveys. This trend acknowledges the limitations of traditional quantitative measures in capturing the full spectrum of team dynamics and productivity. Developer surveys offer insights into the team's morale, collaboration quality, and overall satisfaction, providing a more holistic view of team health and effectiveness. By valuing qualitative feedback alongside quantitative data, decision-makers can better understand the nuances of team performance and create environments that foster innovation and productivity.
Many company surveys now ask employees about their feelings of psychological safety. As a leader, it's important to help them understand the components of true psychological safety. As you correctly highlight, is not an environment that is "nice" and absent of tough conversations. On the contrary, a lack of those types of conversations is likely a symptom of an absence of psychological safety. I've found that in order to get accurate feedback on the level of psychological safety in an organization, it's important that everyone has the same definition and indicators of a safe environment.
The ability to speak openly about challenges without fear of humiliation is important. It can be a little tricky as a leader because you must get adept at realizing the time and place to share such things, but within the context of teams executing on goals, healthy dialog is absolutely crucial. Really enjoyed this article, thanks for the links to check out!
In the quest for team success, how can organizations and/or decision makers find the right balance between quantitative and qualitative approaches? Considering that every team is unique and influenced by different factors such as sociocultural, legal, or political environments, and remote work, what are some effective strategies for striking the right balance? Also, what role does gut feeling and experience play in achieving this balance?
I think the success metric for teams should be quantitative because people need to know explicitly when they are achieving those goals. How the team is performing, how well it's working, etc. are seemingly better answered with qualitative approaches.
In software engineering, there's a significant shift from purely quantitative metrics like story points to more qualitative assessments through developer surveys. This trend acknowledges the limitations of traditional quantitative measures in capturing the full spectrum of team dynamics and productivity. Developer surveys offer insights into the team's morale, collaboration quality, and overall satisfaction, providing a more holistic view of team health and effectiveness. By valuing qualitative feedback alongside quantitative data, decision-makers can better understand the nuances of team performance and create environments that foster innovation and productivity.
Thank you, Mike, I appreciate it!
Many company surveys now ask employees about their feelings of psychological safety. As a leader, it's important to help them understand the components of true psychological safety. As you correctly highlight, is not an environment that is "nice" and absent of tough conversations. On the contrary, a lack of those types of conversations is likely a symptom of an absence of psychological safety. I've found that in order to get accurate feedback on the level of psychological safety in an organization, it's important that everyone has the same definition and indicators of a safe environment.
The ability to speak openly about challenges without fear of humiliation is important. It can be a little tricky as a leader because you must get adept at realizing the time and place to share such things, but within the context of teams executing on goals, healthy dialog is absolutely crucial. Really enjoyed this article, thanks for the links to check out!