7.4 Teamwork Discussion

7.4.1 Working on Data Science Teams

Data science is a beautiful combination of team-work and individual-work. It provides the opportunity to work together on a data pipeline with people from all over the organization, to deal with technical, statistical, and social questions that are always interesting. While we expect that everyone on a team will be a professional, there is so much range within the pursuit of data science that projects are nearly always collaborative exercises.

Together as teams, we

  • Define research ambitions and scope
  • Imagine/envision the landscape of what is possible
  • Support, discuss, review and integrate individual contributions

Together as individuals we conduct the heads-down work that moves question answering forward. This might be reading papers to determine the most appropriate method to bring to bear on the question, or researching the data that is available, or understanding the technical requirements that we have to meet for this answer to be useful to our organization in real time.

What is your instructor uniquely capable of? Let them tell you! But, at the same time, what would they acknowledge that others are better than them?

See, the thing is, because there is so much that has to be done, there literally are very, very few people who are one-stop data science shops. Instead, teams rely on collaboration and joint expertise in order to get good work done.

7.4.2 The Problematic Psychology of Data Science

People talk about the impostor syndrome: a feeling of inadequacy or interloping that is sometimes also associated with a fear of under-performing relative to the expectation of others on the team. These emotions are common through data science, academics, computer science. But, these types of emotions are also commonplace in journalism, film-making, and public speaking.

Has anybody ever had the dream that they’re late to a test? Or, that that they’ve got to give a speech that they’re unprepared for? Does anybody remember playing an instrument as a kid and having to go to recitals? Or, play for a championship on a youth sports team? Or, go into a test two?

What are the feelings associated with those events? What might be generating these feelings?

7.4.3 What Makes an Effective Team?

What really matters to creating an effective tema is less about who is on the team, and more about how the team works together.

In your live session, your section might take 7 minutes to read this brief. If so, please read the following sections:

  • The problem statement;
  • The proposed solution;
  • The framework for team effectiveness, stopping at the section titled “Tool: Help teams determine their own needs.”

“Psychological safety refers to an individual’s perception of the consequences of taking an interpersonal risk. It is a belief that a team is safe for risk taking in the face of being seen as ignorant, incompetent, negative, or disruptive.”

“In a team with high psychological safety, teammates feel safe to take risks around their team members. They feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea.”

7.4.4 We All Belong

  • From your experience, can you give an example of taking a personal risk as part of a team?
    • Can you describe your emotions when contemplating this risk?
    • If you did take the risk, how did the reactions of your teammates affect you?
  • Knowing the circumstances that generate feelings of anxiety – what steps can we take as a section, or a team, to recognize and respond to these circumstances?

How can you add to the psychological safety of your peers in the section and lab teammates?