collaboration collusion conspiracy

This section covers teamwork and team building practices

Like most context sections, this section starts and ends with an assessment

Topics include learning and teaching, mobbing and co-creating, social grease, and observation

The ending video talks about team dynamics and a scenario for team building and team

Teaching and Learning

Why it should matter to teams?

• Teams that learn and grow together tend to stay together, and they consistently produce better results

Strengthening team bonds

• The collective growth of a team is skill enhancement and forging stronger bonds and building a resilient team
• The team is getting the same inputs, approaching the same idea about the same time, learning the same skills relevant to the team workflow

Learning together

• Attend classes, meetups, and workshops as a group
• Tackle proof-of-concepts (POCs) and explore new ideas collaboratively
• Study and practice together
• Solve problems as a team

A culture of knowledge sharing

• Host demos and "Show Me" sessions
• Encourage mentoring and peer coaching
• Present at conferences and internal events
• Run "Tech-Backs" and Lunch ‘n Learns to share insights informally

Summary

• Teaching and learning are information-based ways to create connections within and outside teams
• Teaching internally and externally also adds value to those audiences
• Learning together also raises the general skill level of the team
• Creating and prioritizing learning and learning in an organization is essential in high-performing teams

Co-Creating and Mobbing

Why?

• The sum is often greater than its parts in IT - collective action fosters innovation, automation, and efficiency

Understanding the concepts

• Co-creating and mobbing emphasize joint action and shared responsibility in completing project tasks
• These practices promote alignment, communication, and a culture of accountability

Collaborating for enhanced outcomes

• The essence of co-creating and mobbing lies in harnessing the collective power of the team to achieve superior results

Strengthening team bonds

• These collaborative approaches are powerful tools for building unity, trust, and strong working relationships within a team

Pair and mob programming

• Pair programming involves two developers working together at a single workstation, one writes the code, while the other reviews in real-time
• Mob programming extends this concept to the entire team, where everyone works together on the same problem, at the same time, in the same space (physically or virtually)
• This facilitates learning, faster onboarding, and improved code quality

Quality today, speed later

• Collaborative approaches like pair and mob programming often lead to
  • Fewer errors
  • Less rework
  • More sustainable, high-quality solutions
• Though they may feel slower initially, they save time in the long run by reducing defects and increasing alignment

Summary

• Co-creating and mobbing are group concepts to increase long-term output and collaboration
• Co-creating is about co-creating documents, code, and tasks, while mobbing is similar but focuses on problem or troubleshooting
• Both are co-creation techniques where one person drives and one or more people "assist" or watch
• Both techniques enhance output and team cohesion

Social Grease and the Water Cooler

The power of social grease

• Social grease refers to the intangible yet vital element that facilitates smoother interactions and stronger connections within teams
• It's what helps conversations flow, relationships form, and collaboration thrive

Trust and informal interactions

• Trust is often built not during high-pressure project deadlines, but in the casual, informal moments that happen in between
• These interactions lay the foundation for more effective and authentic collaboration

Understanding the "water cooler"

• The "water cooler" has long symbolized a place where colleagues gather for informal chats
• These casual conversations can lead to
  • Unexpected insights
  • Stronger personal bonds
  • A more connected and resilient team

Being curious about our team members

• A little curiosity goes a long way
• Taking the time to understand your teammates as people builds a more cohesive, empathetic, and collaborative environment

Designing spaces for social interaction

• Just as formal meeting rooms are important, so are informal spaces whether physical or virtual
• Create opportunities for casual connection, such as
  • Virtual coffee breaks
  • Team-building chats
  • Social channels or informal hangouts

Why such interactions matter of DevOps cultures

• In DevOps, culture is just as critical as tooling
• Unstructured, informal interactions often spark
  • Creativity
  • Problem-solving
  • Morale and cohesion
• These moments humanize the workflow and reinforce a team-first mindset

Summary

• The concept of social grease is about this hidden currency we acquire through informal interactions
• These interactions based on curiosity about our co-workers and their lives outside of work create trust and cohesion
• The "Water Cooler" is a metaphor for a safe space for informal interaction
• Being intentional about safe informal spaces is part of an intentional crafting of a DevOps Culture

Observation and Context

Why this matters?

• Keen observation and contextual understanding are the lenses through which you can create collaboration and cohesion
  • Technical observation
    • Involves analyzing systems, metrics, and code behavior. This allows you to understand underlying problems, anticipate bottlenecks, and optimize performance
    • Examples include noticing unusual server loads, subtle code regressions, or configuration drift across environments
  • Interpersonal observation
    • Involves observing team interactions, communication patterns, and emotional cues. This supports more empathetic, effective collaboration
    • Examples include noticing when a teammate is disengaged, frustrated, or in need of support even if they don't say it out loud

The role of observation

• Technical acuity
  • Detailed metric analysis
    • Observing logs, dashboards, and performance metrics to detect inefficiencies or errors early
  • Pattern recognition skills
    • Identifying recurring trends, anomalies, or incidents that help optimize systems and processes
  • Proactive issue detection
    • Spotting issues before they escalate by noticing early warning signs in code, infrastructure, or deployments
• Building connections
  • Body language awareness
    • Picking up on facial expressions, posture, or gestures in video calls to gauge engagement or discomfort
  • Tone perception skills
    • Understanding how something is said (tone, pace, volume) to detect frustration, sarcasm, or enthusiasm
  • Response pattern recognition
    • Observing how team members typically respond under stress or in routine situations can help predict future dynamics and adjust accordingly
  • Empathetic connection building
    • Using observation to better understand others' experiences and respond in ways that build trust and rapport
• Enhancing communication skills
  • Audience response awareness
    • Watching for confusion, disengagement, or excitement to tailor your communication in real-time
  • Adaptive communication strategies
    • Changing your language, tone, or format based on the audience, technical vs. non-technical, junior vs. senior
  • Effective message delivery
    • Ensuring your message is not only sent but clearly received and understood. Observing non-verbal cues helps confirm this
  • Enhanced collaborative dynamics
    • Observing group interactions allows you to facilitate better teamwork, reduce friction, and amplify positive behaviors

Observing how communication "lands"

• Effective communication in DevOps teams depends on more than just the message, it's about how that message is received
• Pay attention to body language, follow-up questions, or silence after delivering information
• If a message isn't landing as intended, it may require clarification, repetition, or a different delivery method

Observe, hypothesize, and experiment

• Observation is the starting point of an iterative learning process
• Observe → Form a Hypothesis → Take Action → Seek Feedback → [Repeat]
• For example, if you notice decreased engagement in standups, hypothesize why (e.g., too long, not relevant), experiment with changes (shorter meetings, rotating facilitators), and assess results

Cultural context

• DevOps teams often include members from diverse cultural backgrounds
• For example, in some cultures, direct disagreement may be seen as disrespectful, while in others, it's expected
• Understanding these nuances can prevent misinterpretation and foster psychological safety

Timing and history

• Previous experiences influence current interactions
• For example, a team with a history of unresolved conflicts may react defensively to feedback, whereas a team with a history of supportive collaboration may be more open and trusting
• Acknowledging this context helps shape more effective communication strategies

Social context

• The emotional and relational state of the team matters
• For example, a team that recently succeeded in a challenging release may have high morale, while a team under ongoing pressure may be emotionally fatigued
• Understanding these dynamics allows for more compassionate and constructive interactions

Environmental context

• The setting, physical or virtual, affects how communication flows
• For example
  • In-person settings allow for richer non-verbal communication but may introduce hierarchy based on seating or presence
  • Virtual environments reduce spatial dynamics but can limit subtle cues like tone, eye contact, or side conversations
• Designing inclusive and intentional environments (e.g., cameras on/off policy, async-friendly tools) enhances communication equity

Summary

• Observation is the art and act of noticing and looking at people beyond words
• Observation is necessary to get feedback on how your communication is being received
• Context is the act of observing the different histories and environments in which your teams are interacting
• The four primary contexts to consider are cultural, historical, social, and environmental

Making Work Visible

What and why?

• Visibility and transparency are the spotlight that guide our steps toward efficiency, alignment, and collaboration
• When work is visible, it becomes easier to manage, support, and improve

Importance of making work visible

• What isn't seen, discussed, or measured can't be managed, improved, or optimized
• Visibility fosters shared understanding, accountability, and trust within teams

Pillars of transparency

• Scrum and Kanban are two widely adopted frameworks in DevOps that promote transparency
  • Scrum uses artifacts like sprint boards, standups, and retrospectives to share progress
  • Kanban boards provide real-time visualizations of work in progress, helping teams manage flow and capacity

Optimizing flow through visibility

• Making work visible allows for
  • Early detection of blockers
  • Clear identification of bottlenecks
  • More effective prioritization
  • Better alignment across cross-functional teams
• Ultimately, visibility improves delivery speed and predictability

Common barriers to visibility

• Resistance to showing "imperfect" work
  • Some teams hesitate to share work in progress due to fear of appearing unprepared or "not good enough"
  • Example: A developer avoids pushing early code to a shared repository until it's "perfect," delaying feedback and collaboration
• Fear of judgement being used against the team
  • Teams worry that exposing issues might reflect poorly on their competence or be used in performance evaluations
  • Example: A team avoids sharing missed deadlines in retrospectives, fearing blame rather than using the data to improve
• Not feeling "safe" in the workplace
  • When people don't feel safe to speak up or share transparently, visibility breaks down
  • Example: In a high-pressure culture, junior members may avoid raising red flags or asking for help to avoid negative attention

Strategies for enhancing visibility

• Talk about the work
  • Regular stand-ups, backlog grooming, and demo sessions help keep work visible
• Use visual tools
  • Kanban boards, Scrum boards, and project dashboards (e.g., Jira, Trello, Asana) provide clear overviews
• Manage dependencies openly
  • Call out cross-team blockers early to reduce delays
• Run retrospectives
  • Share lessons learned, review work done, and continuously improve transparency
• Maintain feedback loops
  • Foster open communication between team members and stakeholders
• Example: A team uses a Kanban board visible to all stakeholders, updates it during daily standups, and holds weekly retrospectives to discuss what's moving and what's stuck

Navigating resistance in visibility

• Skeptics
  • Provide data, examples, and case studies to show how visibility improves project outcomes
  • Example: Share stats from a previous sprint that saw 20% faster delivery after switching to a visible workflow
• Followers
  • Show personal benefits and provide encouragement to increase involvement
  • Highlight how visibility helped a peer get early recognition for solving a blocker, motivating others to share more
• Diehards
  • Acknowledge their experience and frame visibility as an enhancement, not a threat
  • Show how integrating their preferred documentation process into a shared dashboard improved team awareness without changing their workflow
• Saboteurs
  • Involve them directly in designing the visibility framework. Set boundaries with firm yet empathetic communication
  • Assign them to help define what should be shown on the board and clarify that visibility is a non-negotiable team standard moving forward

Summary

• Making results visible is about showing your work for feedback, confirmation, and correction
• Scrum and Kanban are common frameworks for doing and showing work in progress
• Visibility helps with flow, the first way of DevOps, to showcase that the work is happening and the way we want it to happen
• This section talked about strategies and barriers for making work visible

Story - How to Wreck a Team Versus How to Align It

Context

• This is a story about leadership in a DevOps environment and how different styles can either wreck or align a team
• The speaker was leading a DevOps team under a new VP of Infrastructure, both were newly hired
• While the speaker fostered collaboration, experimentation, and transparency, the VP took a more controlling, closed-off approach
• Over time, the contrast in leadership styles created two very different team dynamics: One siloed and rigid, the other empowered and high-performing
• The real lesson here isn't about pointing fingers, but about recognizing how leadership behaviors deeply impact team health and outcomes

Actions and result

• Foster transparency and psychological safety
  • Create an environment where team members feel safe to be open about their work, their blockers, and even their failures. Use tools and rituals (like retros, standups, shared boards) to make work visible
  • Teams feel trusted and valued. They're more likely to take ownership, speak up early when problems arise, and continuously learn from their experience
• Break down silos
  • Actively reduce handoffs and barriers between teams. Encourage shared goals and cross-functional collaboration where people understand each other's workflows even if they aren't experts in everything
  • Work flows faster, teams are more resilient, and products can be delivered more smoothly without getting blocked in unnecessary transitions
• Empower through autonomy
  • Provide the context, the training, the tools and then get out of the way. Let the team experiment, solve problems, and learn on their own
  • Teams become confident, motivated, and adaptable. They develop the muscles needed for self-direction and innovation, instead of waiting on top-down decisions
• Promote continuous improvement
  • Encourage the team to experiment, iterate, and reflect. Don't chase change for change's sake but do keep asking, "Is this working? Can it work better?"
  • The system evolves with the team. Small changes lead to big impact over time. It's not about perfect solutions, it's about better ones, learned from experience
• Lead with alignment, not control
  • Choose to lead through connection, trust, and shared purpose instead of micromanaging, undermining, or centralizing decisions. Be the kind of leader who lifts people up
  • High-performing, resilient teams emerge. Teams that can navigate complexity, adapt to change, and support one another without being dependent on a single person to succeed

Quiz

Number	Question	Answer
1	In the "Social Grease and the Water Cooler" summary, what does a coffee cup or chat bubbles symbolize?	Informal interactions
2	What does the presentation in Step 2 highlight?	How teaching and learning within teams enhance collaboration
3	In the Co-creating and Mobbing summary, what do interlocking hands, a light bulb, and an upward trending graph symbolize, respectively?	Collaboration, innovation, and team growth
4	What shapes the rhythm of team success in DevOps, according to the introduction?	Every step in collaboration, collusion, and conspiracy
5	What impact can the initial slower pace of co-creating and mobbing have in the long run, according to the "Quality Over Speed: A Strategic Approach" slide?	Higher quality results and more efficient long-term outcomes
6	In the Teaching and Learning summary, what symbolizes growth, collaboration, and knowledge sharing respectively?	A growing plant, interlocking hands, and an open book or light bulb
7	According to the "Understanding the Water Cooler Metaphor" slide, what often leads to unexpected insights and strengthened relationships?	Colleagues gathering for informal chats at the "Water Cooler"
8	What does collective learning create, according to the slide on "Growing Together: Strengthening Team Bonds"?	A supportive environment where team members feel valued and understood
9	What does showing genuine curiosity and interest in fellow team members foster, as per the "Fostering Team Cohesion through Curiosity" slide?	An inclusive and supportive team environment
10	What factors to consider to master observation and context?	Body language, non-verbal cues, and the operating context
11	Which of the following is not mentioned as a team learning activity in the "Learning Together: Beyond Traditional Education" slide?	Working on individual projects separately
12	What does a culture of teaching and learning foster in DevOps teams, according to the presentation on "Cultivating a Learning Culture"?	Continuous improvement and adaptability
13	In mob programming, how many team members work on the same problem at the same time and place?	The whole team
14	What does co-creating and mobbing help harness for superior outcomes, as per the "Collaborative Action for Enhanced Outcomes" slide?	The collective power of the team
15	How do co-creating and mobbing contribute to developing a strong sense of team identity?	Through collective achievements and overcoming challenges together
16	Sharing what you are doing and the problems and solutions you are creating is an excellent way to:	Create alignment and connection within and outside a team
17	What does the introduction quote in the Co-creating and Mobbing section suggest about collective action in DevOps?	It breeds innovation, automation, and efficiency
18	How do co-creating and mobbing differ from traditional methods, according to the "Understanding Co-creating and Mobbing" slide?	They focus on joint action and shared responsibility
19	What is the key focus of Step 4 in the "Social Grease and the Water Cooler" section?	How informal interactions contribute to team bonding and idea exchange
20	What is the focus of the presentation on "The Power of Collective Growth" in the Teaching and Learning section?	How teaching and learning strengthen team bonds and collaboration
21	Co-creating and mobbing together allow teams to	Go farther, like running a marathon
22	What can informal interactions like "how is your day" and "how was your weekend" create?	Social currency called social grease
23	What happened to the team that made anti-collaboration choices?	The team was wrecked