Session 1.3 – Common Team Problems
Chapter 2: The Logic of the Team Software Process | Duration: 1 hr
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, students will be able to:
- Identify the seven most common problems faced by student software teams
- Understand the causes and consequences of each team problem
- Recognize early warning signs of team dysfunction
- Apply strategies to prevent and address common team issues
- Understand how TSPi helps mitigate these problems
Introduction
Although working on teams can have tremendous advantages, there can also be significant problems. Understanding these common pitfalls is essential for building effective software teams and avoiding project failures.
7
Common problems identified in student team research
Recurring
Patterns - same problems appear across different teams
Preventable
With proper processes and awareness like TSPi provides
Key Insight
Studies have found that the most common problems for student teams concern leadership, cooperation, participation, procrastination, quality, function creep, and evaluation. Recognizing these problems early allows teams to address them before they become critical.
Why Study Team Problems?
Research on student software teams has consistently identified recurring patterns of dysfunction. By studying these problems:
- Teams can proactively prevent issues before they arise
- Members can recognize warning signs and take corrective action
- Organizations can design processes (like TSPi) that systematically address these challenges
- Students can develop professional teamwork skills that transfer to industry
Overview of Common Team Problems
Based on extensive research of student teams in software engineering courses, seven major problem areas have been identified:
The Seven Common Team Problems
Figure: Seven common problems that affect software team performance
1. Ineffective Leadership
Teams struggle without clear direction and discipline
2. Failure to Cooperate
Members unwilling to compromise or work together
3. Lack of Participation
Unequal contribution and effort among members
4. Procrastination
Missing deadlines and lacking clear goals
5. Poor Quality
Inadequate reviews and testing practices
6. Function Creep
Uncontrolled addition of features
7. Ineffective Peer Evaluation
Reluctance to fairly assess teammates' contributions
1. Ineffective Leadership
The Problem
Without effective leadership, teams generally have trouble sticking to their plans and maintaining personal discipline. Although effective leadership is essential, few people are natural leaders.
Understanding the Issue
Leadership is one of the most critical factors in team success, yet it's often the most challenging to develop. Consider these key points:
Leadership is Learned
Most of us need to develop our leadership skills and to get practice using them. Until engineers have seen effective leadership in action, they often don't know what skills to practice.
Impact on Team Performance
Without a leader to maintain discipline and keep the team on track, projects drift, deadlines slip, and team members lose focus on common goals.
How TSPi Addresses This
- Defines the Team Leader Role: TSPi explicitly assigns and defines leadership responsibilities
- Provides Leadership Training: The launch process teaches leadership skills through practice
- Establishes Clear Processes: Leaders have defined scripts and procedures to follow
- Regular Leadership Practice: Weekly meetings provide ongoing leadership experience
Key Leadership Skills for Software Teams
- Setting clear goals and priorities
- Facilitating team meetings and decision-making
- Maintaining team discipline and accountability
- Monitoring progress and addressing issues early
- Communicating with stakeholders and instructors
- Motivating team members and resolving conflicts
Effective vs. Ineffective Leadership Impact
Figure: Contrasting outcomes of effective versus ineffective leadership
2. Failure to Compromise or Cooperate
The Problem
Occasionally one or more team members may not be willing or able to work cooperatively with the team. Although this does not happen often, teams need to deal with this problem when it arises.
Understanding the Issue
Cooperation is fundamental to teamwork. When members refuse to compromise or work together, it undermines the entire team's effectiveness.
Signs of the Problem
- Refusal to accept team decisions
- Unwillingness to compromise
- Working in isolation
- Dismissing others' ideas
- Creating conflict
Common Causes
- Personality conflicts
- Different work styles
- Lack of trust
- Poor communication
- Competing priorities
Solutions
- Team discussion of issues
- Peer pressure
- Mediation by leader
- Instructor intervention
- Role reassignment
Important Note: Peer pressure can often resolve such problems, but if a person continues to be intractable you should discuss the problem with your instructor. Don't let one uncooperative member derail the entire team.
How TSPi Addresses This
- Clear Team Goals: Everyone commits to common objectives during launch
- Defined Roles: Each member has specific responsibilities, reducing overlap and conflict
- Regular Communication: Weekly meetings surface issues early
- Peer Evaluation: Provides accountability for cooperation
Cooperation Breakdown vs. Effective Collaboration
Figure: Impact of cooperation on team communication and effectiveness
3. Lack of Participation
The Problem
Team members have different skills, abilities, motivations, energy, and levels of commitment. Although some variation is normal, it becomes problematic when some members are not making a serious effort.
Work Contribution Distribution
Figure: Impact of participation balance on team morale
The Equality of Sacrifice
Lee Iacocca describes the importance of equal effort:
"If everybody is suffering equally, you can move a mountain. But the first time you find someone goofing off or not carrying his share of the load, the whole thing can come unraveled."
Understanding Contribution Variance
Research shows that variation among team members' contributions generally increases with increasing group size. This is natural, but extreme disparities damage team morale and effectiveness.
Impact of Unequal Participation
Others become resentful
More work for fewer people
Overworked members cut corners
Normal vs. Problematic Variation
Normal Variation
- Different skill levels
- Different work speeds
- Variable weekly commitments
- Everyone making serious effort
Problematic Lack
- Not attending meetings
- Missing deadlines regularly
- Not responding to communication
- Openly avoiding work
How TSPi Addresses This
- Individual Role Assignments: Each member has clear, defined responsibilities
- Weekly Status Reports: Individual contributions are visible to the team
- Planned Task Assignments: Work is explicitly distributed and tracked
- Peer Evaluation: Members assess each other's contributions
- Regular Team Meetings: Attendance and participation are expected and visible
4. Procrastination and Lack of Confidence
The Problem
Some teams do not set deadlines or establish goals and milestones. Others set deadlines they never meet. Such teams generally don't track performance and often fail to make decisions in a timely or logical way.
Characteristics of Procrastinating Teams
Symptoms
- Take excessive time to get started
- Drift through projects rather than attacking them
- Set deadlines but never meet them
- Don't track performance metrics
- Fail to make timely decisions
- Lack urgency and momentum
Root Causes
- Inexperienced Leadership: Leader doesn't know how to drive progress
- Lack of Clear Goals: Team doesn't know what to achieve
- Lack of Defined Process: No clear path forward
- Lack of Plan: No roadmap or milestones
- Lack of Confidence: Fear of failure paralyzes action
The Procrastination Cycle
How TSPi Addresses This
- Defined Process: Step-by-step scripts eliminate ambiguity
- Clear Goals: Team sets specific, measurable objectives during launch
- Detailed Plan: Task-level planning with dates and assignments
- Milestones and Tracking: Weekly progress monitoring against plan
- Regular Meetings: Scheduled checkpoints force decisions and action
- Experienced Leadership Training: Leader learns how to maintain momentum
5. Poor Quality
The Problem
Quality problems can come from many sources. Examples are a superficial requirements inspection, a poorly documented design, or sloppy implementation practices. When teams do not use personal reviews or team inspections, they usually have quality problems.
Sources of Quality Problems
Requirements Phase
- Superficial inspections
- Incomplete specifications
- Misunderstood requirements
- No stakeholder validation
Design Phase
- Poorly documented design
- No design reviews
- Weak architecture
- No design standards
Implementation Phase
- Sloppy coding practices
- No code reviews
- Inadequate testing
- No coding standards
Consequences of Poor Quality
Extensive Testing
More time fixing bugs
Delayed Schedules
Quality issues delay delivery
Long Hours
Scrambling to fix problems
Unsatisfactory Product
Poor final quality
How TSPi Addresses This
- Personal Reviews: Engineers review their own work before team inspection
- Team Inspections: Formal inspection process for requirements, design, and code
- Quality Standards: Defined coding and documentation standards
- Quality Metrics: Track defects found and removed in each phase
- Quality Manager Role: Dedicated role for ensuring quality practices
- Prevention Focus: Find and fix defects early when they're cheaper to address
6. Function Creep
The Problem
During product design and implementation, engineers often see ways to improve their products. These well-intentioned modifications are hard to control because they originate from a legitimate desire to produce a better result.
The Function Creep Dilemma
This problem is particularly difficult because there is no clear dividing line between the functions that stem from interpretations of the requirements and those that are true additions to the requirements.
Good Intentions
Why engineers add features:
- Genuine desire to improve the product
- See opportunities for better user experience
- Want to showcase technical skills
- Believe additions are "obvious" requirements
- Enjoy implementing creative solutions
Negative Consequences
What happens with function creep:
- Schedule delays from unplanned work
- Budget overruns (time and resources)
- Increased complexity and maintenance burden
- More defects in untested additions
- Team loses focus on core requirements
Legitimate Enhancement vs. Function Creep
| Legitimate Enhancement | Function Creep |
|---|---|
| Clarifies ambiguous requirement | Adds entirely new feature |
| Necessary for requirement to work | "Nice to have" addition |
| Discussed with team/stakeholders | Individual engineer decides alone |
| Documented and planned | Undocumented and unplanned |
| Fits within schedule | Impacts schedule and other work |
Function Creep: Scope Expansion Over Time
Figure: How uncontrolled feature additions lead to scope creep and project failure
How TSPi Addresses This
- Clear Requirements: Explicitly defined and inspected requirements baseline
- Change Control Process: Any additions must go through formal change process
- Size and Time Tracking: Team tracks actual vs. planned product size
- Team Agreement: Features must be approved by team, not individual decisions
- Planning Manager Oversight: Role monitors scope and schedule impacts
- Regular Reviews: Weekly meetings surface unplanned work
7. Ineffective Peer Evaluation
The Problem
Experience has shown that peer evaluation can be invaluable for student teams. However, students are often reluctant to grade their teammates and rarely do so with complete candor.
The Peer Evaluation Challenge
Students often feel that the grading in team courses is not entirely fair, particularly to the highly motivated students. This perception can cause competition among team members and can reduce the willingness of team members to fully cooperate.
Why Students Are Reluctant
- Fear of damaging friendships
- Concern about retaliation
- Discomfort with judging peers
- Desire to avoid conflict
- Worry about being too harsh or too lenient
- Lack of confidence in assessment
Consequences of Ineffective Evaluation
- Free riders get same grade as hard workers
- High performers feel cheated
- No accountability for poor contributions
- Competition instead of cooperation
- Resentment builds in the team
- Future teamwork suffers
Value of Effective Peer Evaluation
When done properly, peer evaluation:
- Provides accountability for individual contributions
- Rewards team players and hard workers
- Discourages free riding
- Gives feedback for improvement
- Helps instructors identify problems
- Teaches professional assessment skills
- Promotes fair outcomes
- Builds trust and cooperation
How TSPi Addresses This
- Objective Metrics: Evaluation based on concrete data (tasks completed, quality, participation)
- Clear Criteria: Defined standards for what constitutes good performance
- Regular Feedback: Continuous feedback rather than one final evaluation
- Multiple Perspectives: Multiple data sources beyond just peer opinion
- Anonymous Process: Protected evaluation process reduces fear of retaliation
- Instructor Oversight: Instructor reviews evaluations for fairness
Session Summary
Key Takeaways
| Problem | Symptoms | TSPi Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Ineffective Leadership | Plans ignored, lack of discipline | Defined leader role, training, scripts |
| Failure to Cooperate | Conflict, unwillingness to compromise | Clear goals, defined roles, peer pressure |
| Lack of Participation | Unequal effort, team spirit suffers | Individual assignments, visible tracking, peer evaluation |
| Procrastination | Missed deadlines, drifting projects | Defined process, clear goals, detailed plans |
| Poor Quality | Extensive testing, delayed schedules | Reviews, inspections, quality metrics |
| Function Creep | Uncontrolled feature additions | Clear requirements, change control, tracking |
| Ineffective Evaluation | Unfair grading, resentment | Objective metrics, clear criteria, oversight |
Critical Insights
- Early Recognition is Key: Identifying problems early allows teams to address them before they become critical
- Prevention Over Cure: TSPi systematically prevents these problems through defined processes and roles
- Common Patterns: These seven problems appear consistently across student teams, making them predictable and preventable
- Structural Solutions: Many problems stem from lack of structure (process, roles, plans) rather than individual failures
- Team Awareness: Simply being aware of these common problems helps teams avoid them
Next Session Preview
In the next session, we will explore What is a Team? We'll define teams, discuss team size, examine the concept of "jelled teams," and understand the basic conditions required for effective teamwork.