How do you manage a team with diverse levels of experience in System Architecture?

In my experience, I have found System Architecture starts with clear definition of Goals, Team roles & responsibilities, coming with the RACI. This is followed with performing competence assessment based on strategic imperatives & SWOT analysis with respect to the capability & maturity model. Planning for tools & expertise in Requirements management, Risk Management, Defect Management, Model based system engineering & architecture, expertise in System Design decomposition to Sub-system or elements and lower level parts & Units, with clear definitions of Interfaces and hence for integration. Platform approaches with DfX principles becomes important, covering Reliability, serviceability & testability, scalability & upgradeability, etc.

This is the most improtant part of the process. Good leaders should understand the capacity of their team. Both skills and domain understanding. This metric will be used to decide the responsibility of each member and ensure each member has good impacts to the process itself.

I agree that assessing a team's strengths and gaps is crucial in managing a diverse systems architecture team. It begins with understanding each member's skills, followed by personalized development plans. Encouraging mentorship and collaboration, along with regular, level-appropriate training, fosters a culture of continuous learning and growth. Clear communication and diverse project assignments help reveal and utilize individual talents. Regular feedback and recognizing achievements are essential in building a cohesive, adaptable, and skilled team.

Termos um time diverso com experiências e conhecimentos diferentes é algo muito positivo pois é possível pensar numa solu??o mais robusta. Porém obviamente n?o é simples, a media??o de conflito de ideias é sempre necessária, conseguir elencar pontos positivos e negativos de cada proposta é essencial. Além disso é muito importante como líder garantir um espa?o seguro para que todos possam opinar sem julgamentos. Garantir que os mais experiêntes estejam abertos a ideias novas e diferentes e n?o estejam com vícios, evitando over engineering, sem obviamente ignorar seus aprendizados. E também dar espa?o também para os mais novos terem espa?o, conseguirem se expressar sem medo de julgamentos.

Prior to managing or assessing a diverse experienced team, the team manager/person in-charge of the team need to have exposure to wider diversified areas that the team has. The team managers of today's world should move away from micro-management which were traditional in nature. It is highly appropriate to call "Talent Management" than team management, nurture the skills, provide opportunities to members for contribution in diversified areas, take risks and fail together as a team. With this being the foundational vision, rest all approaches will build on top of this - gap assessment, team building activities, rewards and recognition etc., to name a few. Continuous learning and adaptability are key factors for gaining successful skills.

Expectations and goals can be set. And, adaptability is the key. At times, situations make the goals to deflect from what they were initially, inclusive of best laid plans. Unless the team leads to adapt and the culture of accommodating dynamic or unforeseen expectations have to be embraced, if that helps in achieving outcomes. I would say, instead of talking about expectations and goals, we should be talking about the outcome that we want to achieve, and work towards contributing for a better world. Just as we're all contributing to these articles right at the moment.. ??

Expecting apples and getting oranges is famous saying and it happens when we are not prepared with a proper brainstorming plan. In my experience, there should be a few workshops planed with business stakeholders, technical team and functional consultants for every new feature and its outcome

Clear vision and scope help unite the team into the same direction, important to involve the team in the process of setting the goal. It will increase their sense of ownership and commitment, it also brings valuable insights to the team

I set clear goals for my team by aligning project deliverables with our organizational strategy. Using a roadmap, I delineated milestones for each phase of our architecture project. For instance, in a recent project, I established a goal to migrate 50% of our legacy systems to the cloud within six months. This provided my team with a clear direction and measurable objectives, aligning their individual tasks with our broader organizational goals.

When it comes to reaching goals shared knowledge about what we want to achieve as a team or multiple teams is greatly important. That does not mean PowerPoint with nice diagrams and goals, that means involvement in the planning. This can be different mapping strategies or any whiteboard exercise depending on what level you are at. The tools are only the means to get there. You get a lot better understanding when involved in discussions, can come with own ideas and take own decisions through the whole process. It also helps breaking down hierarchy and silos between roles and teams to get proper collaboration and achive good architecture in the end.

In guiding a diverse team, I emphasize regular one-on-one mentoring sessions. For example, when a junior architect struggled with a complex data model, I provided targeted feedback and resources to enhance their understanding. Additionally, I encourage peer-to-peer learning, where experienced members lead informal workshops on specialized topics like containerization, fostering a supportive learning environment.

Support team learning by offering guidance tailored to their development needs. Assist in problem-solving and provide resources for skill enhancement. Regularly assess progress and address challenges promptly. Provide constructive feedback, focusing on specific actions and outcomes. Acknowledge achievements to boost morale and motivation. Encourage a culture of peer support through mentoring and peer reviews for comprehensive development.

I feel like this should actually be "listen", or perhaps that listening to your team, and your manager is the first step in being able to provide guidance and feedback?

Nurture growth: Support learning & development, tackle challenges together. Constructive feedback: Timely, actionable, and recognizing achievements. Mentorship & coaching: Unlock potential, foster peer reviews for shared growth.

Managing nonverbal cues for feedback in software development effectively is essential to creating a collaborative and productive work environment. First and foremost, promote an open door policy and foster an environment where nonverbal clues—such as body language, gestures, and facial expressions—are recognized and valued in conversations, gatherings, and code reviews. During feedback meetings, pay close attention to team members' body language and emotions to determine whether they are understanding the cues and whether there are any possible problems.

It is essential for gathering input and ideas from the entire team, and for development of the less experienced team members that the more experienced team members share their knowledge readily and generously. It usually helps one's own understanding and development to explain things to coworkers, so it's a win-win. "Experts" that want to hold their cards close and don't want to share their knowledge do not have the right attitude to play in a team.

It helps to lead by example, share your own experiences and encourage others to do the same. Pairing team members, with varying experience levels, allows for the knowledge exchange in a more practical manner. Create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their expertise and asking questions. Establish a central repository for documentation, best practices, case studies, and resources. Encourage team members to contribute to this repository and refer to it when needed. Recognize and appreciate the different perspectives and experiences that each team member brings.

A team that doesn’t share ideas or knowledge doesn’t grow. How to make teams share information? Encourage and appreciate when knowledge is shared. Be receptive to when your team members come to you with new knowledge and acknowledge the effort. It means a lot and can encourage sharing knowledge more often. Documentation and review of learning on a periodic basis is also a good future proof way to ensure knowledge is retained.

En mi opinión, la gestión de un equipo con diversos niveles de experiencia en Arquitectura de Sistemas requiere una aproximación flexible y adaptable que tenga en cuenta las habilidades y experiencia de todos los miembros del equipo. Esto puede incluir la reestructuración del equipo, la proporción de oportunidades de formación y capacitación, y la implementación de herramientas y procesos que faciliten la comunicación y la colaboración entre los miembros del equipo.

To promote collaboration, I initiated bi-weekly brainstorming sessions where team members could propose innovative solutions without fear of judgment. This approach was particularly effective when tackling scalability challenges in a multi-tier architecture project, where diverse perspectives led to a more robust, scalable solution. I also used collaboration tools like Confluence for knowledge sharing, ensuring all team members had access to the latest insights and learning resources.

Change is the new need of industry. For example, Nokia lost the battle for not bringing the change in technology and android became cell phone dominant technology.

The retrospective meeting, shared backlog, and roadmap meeting with the team. accepting every product sprint a new capability/ change that was suggested

Embracing agile methodologies has been key in adapting to changes. During a project's lifecycle, client requirements often shifted, necessitating a flexible approach. By implementing agile sprints and maintaining a product backlog, my team could quickly pivot and reprioritize tasks, ensuring we remained aligned with evolving project goals and stakeholder expectations.

Change is the only permanent thing..In software development, change management involves variety of tactics used to minimize opposition, promote seamless transitions, and guarantee the acceptance of new tools, processes, or techniques. I establish an environment of openness and transparency by explaining the changes and their advantages to the team at the outset. Obtaing the support and feedback of important stakeholders early on to foster a sense of ownership and buy-in. When possible, make gradual modifications that allow for small adjustments and provide sufficient resources and training to enable the transition. Throughout the transformation process, promote candid communication, respond to worries, and pay attention to reader input.

This is possibly the trickiest of the aspects. How does a team adapt to change. If a requirement from a client changes this can be worked out. But what if the scope of projects changes. Eg. A lot of businesses have been wanting to incorporate gen AI in their tech stack. To adapt to any change the most helpful thing is going to be to have constant 1-1's to help members understand the tasks and allign on how to not only work on deliverables but also on personal growth of the member during the process

adopting inclusive language usage techniques that value and respect people's differences in identities, experiences, and backgrounds. Using language and communication that welcomes and acknowledges everyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, or background, is known as inclusive language usage. It entails speaking in a neutral, courteous, and affirming manner rather than using words that exclude or marginalize particular groups. Adopting inclusive language not only makes software development teams more welcoming, but it also fosters cooperation, invention, and creativity. This fosters a culture where all viewpoints are welcomed and contributions from all people are acknowledged and accepted.

Diversity is great. Clearly everyone must feel respected. However, it’s critical to have a clearly defined engineering culture. As well as ensuring that everyone has full context around the business and/or stakeholders affected by the architectural decisions. How the team thinks about which tradeoffs are “worth it” vs those that aren’t are cultural decisions. While everyone should bring their experiences and perspectives to the table, the value system determining how tradeoffs are made should be clear to everyone.

I actively foster an inclusive environment by recognizing and celebrating the unique backgrounds and skills of my team. For instance, hosting a 'cultural day' allowed team members to share insights from their diverse backgrounds, fostering mutual respect and understanding. This approach not only enhanced team cohesion but also brought diverse perspectives to our system architecture challenges.

Often "celebration of diversity and inclusion" within a team or an organization is a misinterpreted process. In the recent trend, it has effectively zeroed towards pushing for the "numbers" to show inclusion and diversity. While one should always be open to the right talent but a member should not be included in the team just for the sake of diversity. Team dynamics do play a vital role in shaping the future of the product. It is a thin line that needs to be treaded very carefully and always have an eye of team dynamics.

A diverse team comprises individuals from various backgrounds, cultures, and levels of experience. This diversity fuels a collaborative environment where each member feels valued and empowered to contribute their unique insights. Inclusion in this context goes beyond mere representation; it's about creating an environment where every team member feels heard, respected, and supported. Encouraging open dialogue and actively seeking input from all levels of experience fosters a sense of belonging and trust within the team. Embracing inclusion ensures that everyone has equal opportunities to grow, learn, and showcase their talents, regardless of their background or experience level.

I found that being on the same page with respect to architecture's constraints & business/product goals is fundamental to avoiding unproductive conflicts of view, esp when architects have different experience and background are involved. So, it is worthwhile to make these aspects explicitly communicated and written down very clearly upfront (and as system evolves).

My view on this is always to play the role of an orchestra conductor I like to identify and Chunk small segments of a design or a problem and then have open discussions in groups about each My job in these meetings is to set the context by speaking in very simple terms and then asking everyone to share their views this way the junior most person feels empowered vs embarrassed and sometimes brilliance comes through because the counter point of experience is also baggage. Experienced folks think in fixed ways you need to bring in other perspectives. Pro tip - senior most people speak last in all meetings. a senior person saying something has enough force to change a point of view for an inexperienced pereosn.

Tell me and I forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I learn. I think the best way to learn something is to do it. Whenever there is an opportunity, I try to form a pair of senior and junior engineers. The senior engineer may be a buddy acting as a consultant, a technical leader with management authority, or a peer working hands-on as a partner with the junior. In any case, this spreads the knowledge and experience across the team.

- Need to have clear guidelines. Without goal and boundaries it is difficult to reach the goal. - With the help of proper guidelines, one could guide the people and know the need to train up people.

With the understanding that a system architect has an infinite number of tools in their tool belt if they've made it to system architecture, while this may be obvious to others, the place to start is with a clear understanding of your organizations goals and objectives for your team. Doing this first will allow you to more rapids facilitate mapping team members to goals with existing competency or nascent capability.