There are as many answers to this question as there are teams, but certain key factors do make team experiences far better, or far worse. Let's take a look at some top strategies for creating strong development teams, so that you can turn around and apply these approaches in your own workplace.

A Strong Team Lead

According to developers, a top criteria for making a team really work is the issue of a “strong” team lead. Strong doesn't refer to a dictator or someone who has to have everything their way. In fact, just the opposite. The team lead needs the self-confidence to not always have to be right She also allows other team members to hash things out amongst themselves when there are disagreements over how to best do things. After all, if you don't value the opinions of each team member, what are they doing on your team?

Unfortunately, when not handled well, even a well-chosen team can fail because of poor leadership. Ray Lischner, an independent contractor, points out that, “I think the biggest problem... was that our manager was not a good manager. He was the best programmer I have ever known, but he lacked the people skills needed to manage a group of highly talented, highly opinionated developers. This group had the most PhDs, the most skill, and the most experience of any group I've ever worked in. It was fun while it lasted, but it was doomed without a stronger leader.”

As Jessica Burdman, North American VP of Delivery for AGENCY.COM and author of Collaborative Web Development: Strategies and Best Practices for Web Teams succinctly put it, when asked what one thing she would tell a manager trying to build a team: “Be a good listener.”

It also helps if a strong team lead is backed up by strong management. When problems cannot be resolved by the lead, the probably typically are passed up the chain. Weak management can dilute the effectiveness of the strongest team leader, especially if individual team members use this factor to their advantage—or other (corporate) political groups do. Ultimately, though (whether it's fair or not), it is the team lead who is responsible for the team's success or failure. No wonder it can be so difficult to find anyone willing to head aproject!

A Strong Project Vision

Teams work best when they actually know where they're going. As April Wells, a Senior Oracle DBA with Corporate Systems says,, “Start with the end well defined. Product ABC is the product, the target date is XYZ, and here are the specifications. Sure, the specs change, they always change, but the first two (the end product and the target date) should be pretty well defined and set. So, everyone knows where they are going and when they can expect to get there.”

Lee Drake, Managing Partner of Aztek Computer Solutions, Inc., agreed, to the point of recommending that developers. “sit quietly at the first meeting. If the vision seems unclear, or there is a lack of communication between the team members or between the team and the client, get out of it however you can, unless you're prepared to clarify it yourself.”

Finally, there's the overburdened team. Misunderstandings over how much work will be involved in a project, and changing timelines, can wreak havoc on how workloads are divided. According to Lischner, assigning too many responsibilities to individual team members can severely dilute a team's productivity. After all, building a team should be about properly dividing up the work. If your team members are all overworked, it's time to add more people to the team.