Mutually assured success: Lessons learned from an all-woman tech team

Over the past six months, I’ve had the valuable opportunity to be a part of the Lilly Data Enablement team, a workstream comprised only of women, that has been described by Credera leadership as “a well-oiled machine” and “a powerhouse.” As a junior developer, I was fortunate enough to learn from my teammates what it means to create and foster a high-performing team.

I’ll be taking a deeper dive the into culture and processes that shaped the success of our team, which has been evident not only in our client delivery and outcomes, but also in the professional growth, career satisfaction, and overall well-being of every team member. These practices can be replicated on any team to help ensure success for both the client and team members themselves.

Prioritizing intentional collaboration

Working together sets us apart. Not only does our team focus on collaboration, but we implemented systems that fostered a culture of collaboration.

The team on delivering: “We've built an environment where collaboration and mutual support are at the forefront, and I believe this is clearly reflected in the results we deliver,” said Developer Carlyn Savino.

One example is our weekly, 45-minute knowledge transfer (KT) sessions. These meetings are owned by one team member but have a collaborative agenda in which any member of the team can add a KT topic to the week’s meeting. Lessons range from technical walkthroughs of a new feature, so every developer understands how it works should changes or updates need to be made, to reviewing higher-level road maps or client presentations to solicit feedback from the whole team.

This leads to an environment where everyone feels heard and on the same page. That way, if work needs to be handed off between team members or team members must speak on other’s work in client settings, the transition of knowledge is seamless.

The team on collaboration: "We've learned we can create much more robust and creative solutions to tasks that require design thinking by building in dedicated time in our sprint cadences for knowledge sharing and brainstorming and working at them together,” said Tech Lead Caroline Hao. “I love how we're able to use this time in an open-ended way to get other folks' eyes on things."

Another advantage of prioritizing intentional collaboration and knowledge transfer is that it opens the team up for the diversity of thought that comes from those with different thinking and working styles.

The team on differences: “We have so many different personality types: extroverts and introverts, go-go-go and pause-to-thinkers,” said Developer Elysa Garcia. “I think we have all learned [how to communicate with] each other well and understand how we can lean on different people based on their strengths to make our team better.”

Focusing on individual goals

One of the rarest elements of this team’s dynamic is embracing a collaborative spirit while still encouraging each person to develop professionally as an individual. This is a difficult balance to strike, but as a team, we go through a couple tactical processes that make this equilibrium seamless.

First, during our team’s agile retro ceremonies, we go through an exercise to clearly communicate to the team our professional and project-based goals for the current iteration of work. Then, with the knowledge of everyone’s goals and priorities, we divide sprint tasks based on where each individual would like to grow.

This underscores the importance of our weekly KT sessions, because no one is siloed into their own area of expertise each sprint. Since the whole team understands each part of the project, team members can move between subject areas with ease, depending on where they want more experience.

This kind of transparency and mutual support allows us to create opportunities for members to more quickly achieve their goals.

The team on giving voice: “The level of comfort and familiarity with my female teammates has allowed me to speak up a lot more without a fear of being misunderstood,” said Garcia. “It feels like a 'low stakes' environment in a sense, and I find myself speaking with much more confidence."

Moreover, growth-focused task delegation has given all team members the space to lean in and own certain parts of the project. Empowering team members to reach their individual goals in tandem with exceeding client delivery expectations fosters a high level of ownership within our team. This leads to more alignment in work on a team member level and therefore increases the quality of delivery to our client.

The team on taking turns: "Everyone on our team has leaned in, led, and become the subject matter expert on different areas of our dev tasks and has been so intentional about sharing knowledge across the team," said Hao.

Emphasizing Credera’s people-first value within teams

The unique nature of being on a team of all women has allowed us to understand each other’s mutual need for encouragement and empathy that can be sometimes lacking in STEM fields. On a tactical level, we have implemented team-wide shoutouts every Friday, in which every member can share kudos, thank-you’s, and shoutouts with the team that are compiled into a shared table and read aloud. Not only is this a great way to celebrate the excellence and tenacity of our teammates, but it also provides valuable data points for career coaches to see how we are making an impact on our project at the day-to-day level.

A culture of putting each other first on the team extends beyond project-level into genuine care and curiosity about each other’s lives beyond work.

The team on connection: “We care about the small life things, the fun weekend plans, and the silly things we do to make work a little more exciting and so much more,” said Project Director Alaina Huslig. “We relate emotionally with each other and know when we need to pick each other up or encourage each other in different ways, which maybe is not always noticed by male counterparts."

Investing energy into each other as holistic people not only fuels collaboration and individual accomplishment, but also leads to fun-loving, day-to-day energy, which improves the psychological safety of our team.

The team on meetings: “We genuinely have fun in meetings,” said Garcia. “While we can be effective and get through an agenda and have technical conversations, there is always the freedom to be yourself.”

Representation is paramount

It’s hard to distill our team dynamic into overarching tenets, but collaboration, focus on personal and professional development, and emphasizing Credera’s people-first value have all contributed to major client wins and individual professional development. This team has been a great example of what can be gained when women are represented and feel belonging on technical teams.

The team on role models: “One of the most impactful takeaways from this project has been gaining multiple women in tech to look up to as role models,” said Savino. “They lead with an abundance of grace and technical expertise, navigate challenges with poise, and successfully balance their personal and professional lives. I aspire to follow their example and carry forward the lessons I've learned from them into my own career!"

• Developers
• Leadership