RWDevCon Inspiration Talk – Teamwork by Ray Wenderlich

Being a Part of a Great Team: 3 Benefits

Today, I like to share with you three of the benefits that you can get by being a part of a great team.

The Backstreet Coders!

It really makes you feel connected, appreciated and part of a tight-knit crew. Recognize any of these guys? They’re here.

Great teams hold each other to this high quality standard by giving each other feedback both in terms of what we did well and what we can improve upon in the future. This helps us improve both our personal and our team reputation.

1. First, when you’re part of a great team, we have this incredible feeling of camaraderie and fun. When we’re part of a great team, we get to hang out with our teammates, talk about geeky stuff, ask questions about bugs we’re working on, even Photoshop each other’s faces on silly pictures.
   
2. Second, just like we have our own personal reputations, teams have reputations too. By being a part of a great team, we can benefit from that reputation. Great teams have reputation for doing something really well whether it’s making great apps, making great open source software, or making great tutorials.
3. Third, and this one is the most important to me. Teamwork lets you dream bigger. As individuals, we thought in terms of making apps. As a team, we think in terms of making businesses. As individuals, we thought in terms of hosting meetups. As a team, we think in terms of hosting conferences. Teamwork expands the scope of what’s possible. Teamwork lets you dream bigger.

What Does This Mean to You?

What does this mean to all of you right now?

Indie Developers

I know there’s a few of you in this room who are currently indie iPhone developers or independent contractors. By indie, I mean one person, totally on your own. Can I have the indies in the room raise your hand? Okay, fair amount.

First of all, congratulations. It is not easy doing what you’re doing especially in this market and not a lot of people can do what you’re doing, but just because you can be successful all on your own, doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the best thing for you.

I encourage all the indies out there to at least consider teaming up with somebody else on a future project of yours, somebody who’s just as passionate about what you’re working on. Somebody who brings just as many skills to the table. Who knows what you might be able to accomplish together.

Those who are Happy with their Team

Most of us in this room are already part of a team, but there’s two cases, right? Either we’re happy with our team and we’re getting some of the benefits that we’ve just talked about or we’re not so happy with our team. So let’s talk about both of these cases.

Say you’re happy with your team. I encourage you to just take a moment and appreciate what you have, because I don’t want us to just have being an indie iPhone developer as the only thing we have up here on this pedestal as the one thing that we all look up to and admire and wish we could be and as the one benchmark we have for our success.

I also want us to put being a part of a great team right up there with them, because it’s just as challenging. It’s just as important, and you get just as many benefits, if not more so.

2 Pillars for Success

Take a moment and appreciate the great things you’re able to accomplish with a group of people working together toward a common goal. Also think to yourself how can you take that great team and make it even greater.

Those Who Are Not Happy with their Team

What about those of you who weren’t so happy with your team? For those of you, I encourage you to think how can you make your team into what it can be and what it should be. How can you build that sense of belongingness. How can you improve your team’s reputation. How can you begin to dream bigger.

Now, I know what some of you were thinking. You’re thinking, “Ray, you just don’t understand, okay? My boss is an idiot. My clients are clueless. The guy next to me all he knows is Fortran.” I know that some teams are going to be more challenging than others, but I would argue they’re still a lot you can do.

Let me share with you a few ideas just off the top of my head.

Do something silly!

• You could try to convince your team to code according to a common style guide.
• You can start code reviews on your team if you’re not doing that already.
• You could do something silly like Nerf gun wars or singing a silly iPhone Christmas song or anything to build that sense of camaraderie across your team.
• You could start some periodic tech talks with your team to share some knowledge, maybe at lunch time.
• You could start a team chat room so you can, hang out, ask questions and have fun.
• You can start a board game group at lunch time.
• You could appreciate your team when they do something well.
• You can listen to your team. They often have the very best ideas.

These are just the few of the ideas I have. I’m sure you could come up with much better ones. You’re also going to get a lot more ideas from the inspiration talks at this conference.

The important thing isn’t necessarily what idea you choose, is that you try to do something. You see how it goes, you use that feedback to rinse and repeat. That is the power of iteration.

As you do this, this is going to become contagious. Your teammates will see you doing this and they’re going to start using the power of iteration too. Before long, you will go from an okay team to a great team. I truly believe no matter what our situation, we have the power to transform our teams into something incredible. Let’s make the most of it.