Testers Tower

The third (and final) post of results of PEST2.

Who are the key members of a team?

It soon was agreed that there are no key concrete members – like developers, project managers or such. Every member of a team is important, no-one should be just a blind follower. It emerged that there are roles that need to be filled in order to make a team work. Additionally, the roles are not tied to specific person, but can be taken up by any member, according to circumstances. And the roles can differ depending on the actual goal of the team.

Here are some of the roles that were discussed:

•  Motivator
• Someone who keeps the motivation up and supports others to work toward the goal. Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of the forest with all the trees in the way, motivator should be the one to help us back on track.

• Inspirer
• Idea generator, for any problem or subject. She does not have to be expert in the field but a reasonably competent to offer ideas that provoke more ways to handle the problem.
• Facilitator
• Someone who makes sure that meetings are not derailed. Although it might be fun to discuss about underwater chess tournaments – it is only interesting to some people and others are bored and feel left out.
• Talker
• Someone who talks to team member on any subject – weather, personal interests, hobbies, etc. She creates trust and familiarity between members by enabling people to relate to each other.
• Listener
• Someone who can be talked to. Someone who can be discreet. It is not entirely necessary for her to take action based on the topic. Sometimes just getting things off the mind is best.
• Old-timer
• Someone with experience and expertise in the area. To ask for suggestions and advice.
• Leader
• Someone to act as catalyst and filter. Who gets things going inside the team and outside of it. Who  filters the incoming information so that members are not disturbed by conflicting and unimportant stuff. Someone to drive the team toward the goal.
• Solver
• Someone who helps to solve problems. Any kind of problem – personal, technical, social.
• Coach
• Someone to coach members who are new in the area. She should have experience with coaching, it is not something just anyone can do.

It is also important to understand who has the money, ergo the power. Either in the team or outside of it. To whom good ideas need to be sold in order to make them happen.