Imagine your technology projects as ships. None of them can set sail or stay afloat without a group of experts who build and ensure everything works properly.
However, not all teams are the same. Some help you with the bare minimum, while others exceed your expectations and actively contribute to steering your ship. The first ones are an anchor for your goals. The latter are a true motor.
You know it better than anyone: having a motor team doesn’t cause headaches, but an anchor one does. Knowing this, do you know how to tell one from the other? Let us help you out.
Goal Achievement
This is probably the first indicator you use to measure your team’s health, but you can go beyond simple metrics. It’s not only about whether your developers meet the proposed goals — how they do it also says a lot.
Anchor
An anchor team tends to deliver late, meeting only the minimum requirements without real commitment to your project’s impact. They obey without questioning or optimizing processes.
Motor
A motor team not only meets the goals — it exceeds them, anticipates challenges, and proactively proposes solutions. They turn obstacles into opportunities, aligning their deliverables with your business’s strategic objectives.
Key question: Does your team report obstacles and seek help when necessary, or do they simply hide behind excuses?
Productivity
Productivity goes beyond the number of hours worked. Believe it or not, a team working 20 hours a week can create more value than one working 50. The key lies in how they organize their time, the tasks they perform, and their purpose.
Anchor
Even with bottlenecks and serious issues staying up to date, being more agile and productive is not a priority for an anchor team. They don’t continuously evaluate themselves, and without measurement, there’s no growth. As a result, your ship stalls and eventually sinks.
Motor
A motor team organizes their time, uses efficient tools, and eliminates workflow blockages. The goal? To maximize performance and stay aligned with your technical and business requirements.
For them, every development cycle is an opportunity to improve and push their work further. They constantly review past deliverables to find ways to optimize the product and refine it faster.
Critical question: Do you feel the value you get from your team matches the effort they invest?
Structure and Process Management
Without removing the space for innovation and reinvention, knowing that your team has clear structures and processes helps you sleep better at night.
It’s simple — fewer chances for errors and improvisation. Your talent doesn’t waste hours testing different ways to do something because the methods are already part of the workflow. Everyone knows them, uses them, and enjoys their benefits.
Anchor
The lack of processes or their poor application creates chaos, rework, and internal conflict — typical characteristics of an anchor.
Progress is slower than it would be with a clear structure and an established, well-understood hierarchy. In their absence, individual efforts disperse without generating the desired impact.
Motor
Motor teams have defined processes, clear roles, and validated agile methodologies that allow them to iterate quickly without losing direction. Everyone knows what to do, how, when, and who to report to.
They are also open to improving and adopting best practices. They step beyond their comfort zones to integrate emerging trends and methods that keep them competitive.
Critical question: Does your development team structure and document all its processes, tools, and work frameworks?
Cultural Alignment
You’ve probably noticed it, but it’s worth repeating: the difference between a team that truly embraces your culture and one that only pretends is impossible to hide — and it shows in performance and business results.
Anchor
An anchor team is disconnected, unmotivated, and uncommitted. They don’t know your mission, values, or philosophy, putting your project’s alignment at risk. They work in isolation from the rest of your organization.
Motor
A team with a solid culture aligned with your values makes decisions faster, has lower turnover, and thrives in an environment that promotes constant growth. It acts as a real motor for innovation.
Cultural alignment builds stronger commitment because your values resonate with your team’s philosophy and mindset. They don’t feel detached from the project — they actively engage with it.
Critical question: Does your development team understand your company’s mission? Do they reflect your organizational values?
Collaboration and Communication
When you evaluate the quality of communication and collaboration, you get clear clues about whether your ship is on the right course or doomed to sink.
Anchor
Anchor teams work in silos, share little information, and show poor collaboration. They create compounding errors that could’ve been easily avoided if knowledge and information were shared from the start.
Motor
A motor team shares knowledge and tools, works in sync, and resolves conflicts through honesty and open dialogue among all parties.
They know that the key to a good work environment is trust — and trust is built through assertive communication and overcoming difficult, uncomfortable conversations.
Critical question: What communication tools and frameworks does your team use? How do they communicate among themselves and with stakeholders?
Commitment and Growth
Finally, you’ll know you have a motor when your team is genuinely committed to the project’s success. A truly engaged team guarantees sustainability and resilience, even in complex and changing environments.
Anchor
The anchor remains stagnant. They lack interest and don’t offer initiatives to improve or learn. The project’s fate doesn’t matter to them beyond their specific tasks. As long as they keep working and getting paid, everything seems fine.
In addition to limiting their current performance, this also suppresses future growth potential. Your project will never grow if those making it possible don’t add new knowledge and tools to their skillset.
Motor
We’re talking about professionals eager to acquire new skills, overcome challenges, and grow professionally with the company. They see their career path and your organization’s growth as two tightly intertwined threads.
Critical question: Do your developers actively participate in shaping the project’s direction? Do they comment, question, or make suggestions about the business vision?