One of my regrets early in my career is that I didn’t share enough stories of digital accessibility successes that were happening across the organization. Over time, I have learned that great storytelling can be a creative and effective way to move teams forward, gain momentum, and make progress. In this presentation, discover practical tips for storytelling that have helped contribute to organizational improvement.

1. 10 Tips for
Great Teams
Nate Evans | Sam Karell | Shane Paciello

2. Speakers
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Nate Evans
Manager, Accessibility
Services Delivery
Sam Karell
Manager,
Accessibility Services
Delivery
Shane Paciello
Manager, Accessibility
Services Delivery

3. Agenda
• The future of accessibility is agile
• 10 tips for great teams
• Q&A

4. The future is agile
4
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5. Great teams
Key result: High-quality, ongoing delivery
What agile looks like for our teams:
• Tackling bite-sized chunks in short sprints
• Continual iteration based on user feedback
• Shift left: A11y is incorporated into each step of the
digital experience life cycle, beginning with ideation
and design.
• Cost-effective: We avoid remediating errors after
products are live, and instead catch issues early, when
it's cheapest.
• We reduce reliance on one-off audits, and the
overwhelming backlog of issues that teams don’t have
time for.
• Moves teams from reactive, to proactive
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6. 1. Great teams have a clear identity
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7. Great teams x great identities
1
Mickey Mouse /
Disney
2
Los Angeles
Dodgers
3
Gwen Stefani /
No Doubt
4
Vans
5
Steve Jobs / Apple
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8. Team identity: Mercury
• Brand: Planet Mercury, pilot pod, pioneers, explorers
• Cultural: Shared values
o Fail faster, and learn from those experiences.
o Do your best to give the benefit of the doubt.
• Social: First meet-up in person, ongoing communications on slack, team dailies
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11. 2. Promote clear communication
Team dailies
• Evolving: 60 mins, 30 mins, now 15 mins
• Agile: "What I'm working on today, any blockers I have,
and what I am looking for next"
Defining clear roles / responsibilities
• Owner
• Taking on tasks
"Communicate early and often"
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12. 3. Focus on outcomes
Question: How many of you would say that you work with
colleagues that are best-in-class at their skill, but
sometimes, when it comes to conflict or unknown
situations, it's hard?
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13. "What you
focus on
is what you
become ❤️"
Mel Robbins on TikTok
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14. Try this Acknowledge nervousness or fear about how to respond.
Understand: "What makes this hard or frustrating?"
• Is this a problem to solve?
• There is a cause that needs a one-time fix.
• Or is it a tension to manage?
• Always present and will need ongoing
management or development
Give space: "Let’s talk about how you would respond to that."
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15. 4. Build a feedback culture
- Feedback culture is about coaching, continuous improvement, and growth
- Agile teams benefit from feedback:
o Promotes engagement & buy-in
o Learning and agility
o Alignment with org, team, and individual goals
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16. 4. Build a feedback culture
Ways to grow your team's feedback culture:
• Regular 1:1's
• Daily team stand-ups
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• Weekly team meetings
• Performance reviews
• Retrospectives

17. 5. Support the individual
to grow the team
• The Performance Equation
• Strategies for helping individuals become top team performers
o Establish team values and goals and encourage individuals to
identify their own values to support their work.
o Provide opportunities for individuals to build on their inherent
talents and strengths (and to bring them back to the team).
o Identify areas of needed growth.
o Support self-management (effective agile teams aren't
micromanaged).
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18. 6. Constructive conflict
is a gift
• The Lencioni Model: Functions of highly effective teams
• Risks of not having productive conflict:
o Unresolved issues, lack of cohesion, reactivity
• Benefits of productive conflict for agile teams:
o Promotes solutions, creativity, and innovation
“When there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an
attempt to find the best possible answer.” – Patrick Lencioni
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19. 7. Team-centered change
management
• Change is a constant (organization, operations, or process).
o Agile teams are proactive, not reactive.
• How to create team-centered change:
o Explain they "why", not just the "what."
o Send consistent communication that aligns with the change
(and reiterates the "why").
o Emphasize the positive
o … but still make space for the emotions/reactions.
o Lead by example .
*Tip: Document your changes in a repository.
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20. 8: Build trust
Easy to say / easy to think / hard to do
• Starts with you – transparency
• Foster open communication.
• Encourage collaboration.
• Show appreciation.
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21. 9. Value each voice
We say we do......but do we?!?!
• The sound of silence = death of a team
• Voice is more than just talking about concerns
• When an environment is created where voices are heard:
o Unlocks diversity of thought
o Drives innovation
o Creates a sense of value
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22. 10. Team mindset vs. I mindset
Team mindset vs. I
• Team members work towards achieving set goals together as opposed to individual interests
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Why
If done
 One team, one goal – better problem solving
 Creates efficiency / boosts productivity
 Creates a positive environment / happier employees /
enhanced personal growth / lowers burnout
If not
 Creates a silo mentality
 Negative affect
 Blame culture
How
• Clear goals
• Set the example
• Focus on fun
• Avoid micromanagement
• Celebrate success together

23. 10 tips for great teams
1. A clear identity
2. Promote clear communication.
3. Focus on outcomes.
4.Build a feedback culture.
5. Support the individual to grow the team.
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6. Constructive conflict is a gift.
7. Team-centered change management
8. Build trust.
9. Value each voice.
10. Team mindset vs I mindset

24. Q&A
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25. We're Hiring
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We're building more than a team. Everyone is welcome!
Come chat with us at Booth 609 for more details!

26. Thank you