With the Olympics in full swing, it comes to mind how much development of new products is such a team sport. Like any Olympic athletic team, no individual is going to perform as well as a coordinated team with a focus on the overall team goal. While individual team members may be able to score more points or goals in a game or make saves, they rely on their teammates to help them. This is where the coaching staff comes in. They must work with the team and coordinate their efforts, balancing the skills and capabilities of the team members with the overall team. Let’s take a look at how a well-coordinated athletic team works together and how comparable parts of a product development team can learn to collaborate and coordinate in the same way to go for the gold.
- Athletes / Design Team – Each athlete has their own strengths and weaknesses. In each game, they need to learn how to leverage their strengths and the strengths of their teammates more effectively in order to ensure that their team wins. Notice that the primary goal is to get the win. Scores, assists, and saves are important, but it is more important make sure that they team wins. The same is true for the design team. They must take into account their skills and capabilities and collaborate with their fellow designers. They also must understand their role in the entire development process and as the product development proceeds, they must be willing and able to take on different responsibilities to respond to the current situation and unknowns that may crop up during the design process.
- Coaches / Executives – The coaching staff is critical to assessing the players and balancing them on the field to ensure that they are aligned to the overall gameplan designed to maximize the likelihood of defeating the opponent. They need to be aware of what is happening on the field and are always making adjustments based on the current score, the time remaining in the game, the performance of his players, and the reaction of the competition. Executives are critical in the success the overall development process in a similar way. They are the ones who decide what it means to win (with the help of key members of the team) and are constantly monitoring progress towards getting out a product that will win in the marketplace. The good executive team understands that the they need to be in constant communication with the design team to understand where their progress and to guide the team on adjustments that need to be made.