10-21 The chapter identified the four most common types of work teams. Which do you think

probably best describes Microsoft's software build teams? Explain.

10-22 Using Exhibit 10-6 L as your guide, discuss how Microsoft creates effective teams.

IL1975 by childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen. icrosoft Corp, quite often considered the granddaddy Microsoft with some very interesting insights, one of the most of the computer software industry, was founded in important which we just mentioned: impediments to team ef- fectiveness were primarily social, not technical. The members (Fun fact: The company was originally based in Albuquerque, of these build teams are intelligent, knowledgeable, and hard- New Mexico, not Seattle!) Since its founding, the company working individuals who are very good at what they do. But has been on the forefront of software development. From MS- in a team setting, those aspects don't always translate to high DOS to Windows to Internet Explorer, Microsoft has pursued performance. its mission to "empower every person and every organiza- One other important thing that Microsoft did was to cre- tion on the planet to achieve more.":72 Although Microsoft's ate a Role Excellence (RolEx) function.77 RolEx is part of cloud-computing business continues to sizzle-growing by the company's operational structure. It's not associated with the 93 percent in the most recent quarter-software development HR or talent management functions. If HR is having the right still plays an important role in the company's strategic revenue people in the right place at the right time (remember this from mix." And software development is very much a team effort. Chapter 8), then Rolex is making sure that those people are Build, which is the pro- able to function at high levels source code, is an essential Building high-performance in place . Team employees are activity in software develop- work teams given the integrated support 74 ment. Any company in the they need to do what they were software development business hired to do. What this means relies heavily on the effectiveness of its software build teams. for software build teams is that they have the tools they need And Microsoft has invested resources in making sure its build to contribute to releasing software on-time and on-budget. And team effectiveness is solid. What is build team effectiveness? that's what any team needs to be a high-performing work team. Microsoft defines it as how reliably and efficiently the team produces builds.":75 The performance of company build teams Discussion Questions leads to higher revenue, flawless product launches, higher cus- 9-16 Does a software build team meet the definition of a work tomer satisfaction, and talent (employee) retention.76 Now you team? (See Exhibit 9-5.) Explain. see why it's so important for Microsoft to focus on build team 9-17 Do you think a software build team goes through the stages of effectiveness. So, how did it go about doing this? By research- group development? Why or why not? ing impediments to build team effectivenesswhich, by the 9-18 The chapter identified the four most common types of work way, have been found to be social, rather than technicaland teams. Which do you think probably best describes Microsoft's creating ways for teams to work through those obstacles. software build teams? Explain. To understand how to make build teams more effective- 9-19 Using Exhibit 9-6 as your guide, discuss how Microsoft creates that is, high performanceit was important to understand effective teams. what went on as these teams did their work. Part of the pro- 9-20 What could other organizations learn about building cess Microsoft used in ensuring that its build teams would be high-performance work teams from Microsoft's experiences? high-performance was researching what happened in build Prepare a list of three key points you would use in making a teams. That exploration of the process and the people provided presentation about building high-performance work teams