Using competition to build a stronger team

Abstract

In 2001 we started a new project at our company. Undermanned, short on time, and under the gun to succeed, we knew that we needed a process that would help us stay on track. Unfortunately, once the project got under way, we received a lot of negative feedback from the developers. The process took away from what developers want to do: code. This paper describes how we used competition as a tool to create a more cohesive team that worked better with management and the process.