Diverse and empowered teams are impactful teams, Natan Žabkar Nordberg mentioned in his talk on creating impactful software teams at QCon London. A session 0 helps set expectations and ensures that everyone is approaching the team in a compatible way.
Diversity, particularly diversity of thinking, context, knowledge, and lived experiences help us create better, more thoughtful solutions that solve problems better. They help us predict problems before they arise and find ways to improve our solutions.
With a diverse set of ways of thinking and communication styles, there are new or amplified challenges that need to be overcome, Žabkar Nordberg explained:
When everyone thinks and talks similarly, miscommunications are rare. When that is not the case, it can be surprisingly easy to say one thing and have the person on the other side hear something completely different. It increases the chances that our natural way of working is different. It makes assumptions and expectations more dangerous, as they are more likely to be misaligned.
It’s important to communicate and understand each other, to clarify expectations, to talk about roles and responsibilities, and to set up a shared understanding of what we are trying to achieve and why, Žabkar Nordberg said. Common ways are a team startup or refresh (for example, with a session 0), regular retrospectives, and good old-fashioned non-work conversations, both in 1-2-1 and group settings.
All of the things mentioned are healthy and useful to do in any team, no matter how diverse it is. It’s just that in a more diverse environment, they become more important, Žabkar Nordberg said, as the impact of successfully navigating the potential pitfalls is greater.
Žabkar Nordberg mentioned that he borrowed the idea of a “session 0” from Dungeons and Dragons (D&D):
D&D is a tabletop role-playing game, and the very interesting thing about it is that it essentially has no prescribed goal. One player (the “Dungeon Master” or “DM”) creates and runs the world, while the other players play characters in it. But beyond that, it is completely up to the group.
Since there are many different things you might want to get out of the D&D game, and joining a game is a long-term commitment, it’s important for players to be compatible and aligned. Session 0 comes before the first game session, where you ask the group “what do we want to get out of the rest of the sessions”, Žabkar Nordberg explained:
This might include questions like:
- Do we care about fighting enemies, or about role-playing political intrigue?
- Are there certain topics, actions, or situations we do not want to have in the world?
- Do we want to have a serious game, or a funny one?
- Do we want to strictly follow the rules, or apply the “rule of cool”, where we get to do things that are against the rules as long as they are cool enough?
We can run a session 0 at work, either in a 121 setting with our direct reports, manager, or peers, or as a group, Žabkar Nordberg explained:
The concept is the same, though the question becomes “how do we work together effectively?” or “what do we want to get out of our 121s?”
Žabkar Nordberg suggested being prepared with your own answers, as a common response he gets to his questions is “I am not sure, can you go first”? or a variation of that. Please make sure not to turn the session 0 into a lecture on how people can work with you, and only use a few examples to get the ball rolling before focusing on the other person, he recommended.
InfoQ interviewed Natan Žabkar Nordberg about diversity at work and session 0.
InfoQ: How does diversity impact team dynamics?
Natan Žabkar Nordberg: As a simple example, I remember sitting in an interview washup (a meeting where all interviewers meet to discuss the candidate to ensure a fair and consistent assessment). Two of the interviewers mentioned that we found the candidate refreshingly clear and direct in their communication. The other two interviewers found the same candidate rude.
It wasn’t that we were in 4 different interviews; we actually had one person from each pair sitting in the same interview. We sat in the same interview, and yet our opinions were so different. What I immediately thought of was the fact that the two interviewers who found the candidate rude were both British, while the other two of us were both from the Slavic parts of Europe – and so was the candidate.
Think about this for a moment. The exact same words, body language, etc. were perceived in such a different way. It made me think … how many times have I come across as rude without realising? Were there cases when someone was trying to give me feedback, but because they were so polite, I simply didn’t notice it, because I’m used to a more direct conversation? How many little frustrations and miscommunications were building simply because we had a different natural communication style, be it due to personality or due to cultural differences?
InfoQ: What kind of questions do you use in a “session 0” with a team?
Žabkar Nordberg: The exact questions will heavily depend on the specific relationship between the people. For example, a full ProdEng team vs. a manager and a direct report vs. a product manager and an engineering manager are going to want to discuss different things.
Here are questions that were on the table in some of my own session 0:
- What is your natural communication style?
- Do you prefer a strictly organised, or a more organic approach?
- How do you prefer to be praised? Privately or publicly?
- How much support do you want from me? In what way?
- How can we be on the lookout for opportunities together?
These questions are aimed more at a conversation between a manager and a direct report, but some can be used in any conversation. If you are struggling to think of good topics to discuss, think about what you are trying to get out of this session – a way for you and the person (or people) to work together easily, happily, and effectively. What will help you get there?
