Hiring for a Collaborative Team

Computerworld - If you're a hiring manager, you know that a typical hiring process emphasizes technical skills, functional skills and industry knowledge. Interpersonal skills are near the bottom of the list, if they make the list at all. However, if you're hiring for an agile team, or any other team that must collaborate to succeed, put interpersonal skills near the top of the list.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should ignore technical and functional skills or take a nice person you meet in the street and train them from the ground up. Look for a near fit on technical skills -- you can train on that. Focus your attention on skills and characteristics that are a prerequisite for collaborative working relationships. A desire and ability to work collaboratively, self-management and a proven ability to navigate conflict, and self-awareness are key traits to look for. It's not that people can't learn interpersonal skills, but these skills are much harder to impart and often require a degree of intrapersonal change, and not everyone is willing to do that for a job.

Screen Out the Lone Wolves

Self-organizing cross-functional teams, shared code ownership and team goals aren't for everyone. It may seem obvious, but this is an oft-overlooked fundamental. People who crave star status and individual achievement aren't bad people; they are a poor fit for a self-organizing team. Even when the candidate has fabulous technical skills and experience, move on. The lone wolf won't be happy on a highly interdependent team, and you won't be happy about your hiring decision, either.

Weed Out the Not-So-Nice

This is a simple test that will quickly eliminate the not-so-nice. Have the unit admin make the initial screening call to verify employment dates, contact information and other basics. Pay close attention to how the candidate responds. Is the candidate polite? If a candidate can't be pleasant to the admin, it's likely they won't be pleasant to others.

This little test may seem simple-minded, and while it is simple, it gives an indication about self-management and empathy. Watch mainly for big red flags: A person who isn't willing to be pleasant may not like working with people enough to function effectively (and happily) in a highly interdependent, collaborative environment.

Involve the Team in the Hiring Process

I like team-based hiring in general, and for an agile team it's essential. Having the manager make a hiring decision in isolation belies the very nature of self-organizing teams.

There are lots of ways to do team-based hiring, and some to avoid.