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The importance of strong working alliances on software teams

Published onJul 22, 2024
The importance of strong working alliances on software teams

In the world of health and clinical psychology, we often emphasize the importance of building a strong working alliance. This is essentially the working relationship between a provider (e.g. therapist, doctor, etc.) and a client or patient. A strong working alliance is characterized by: 

  1. A high degree of collaboration, where the provider and the client work together to decide on treatment goals and procedures.

  2. A positive emotional bond, where the provider and client think positively of and respect one another.

  3. Strong agreement on treatment goals and procedures, where the provider and client agree that the treatment goals and procedures are the right ones for the client. 

Importantly, a strong working alliance has been shown to improve client/patient outcomes by improving their engagement with and adherence to treatment[1]. Furthermore, as this meta-analysis by Drs. Daniel Martin, John Garske, and Katherine Davis highlights, what’s particularly cool about a strong working alliance is that it’s a common mechanism of change across therapeutic modalities, treatments, protocols, diagnoses, and assessments. This means that regardless of a patient’s diagnosis, therapeutic modality, treatment protocol, or assessment, a key factor that leads to clients/patients changing and getting better is whether or not they have a strong working alliance with their providers. This makes a strong working alliance more than just a “nice to have,” and instead an essential part of creating success outcomes. 

What does this have to do with software teams? Well, the working alliance has been shown to have similar effects in workplace coaching, teaching, supervisory, and mentoring relationships[2], where a strong working alliance leads to higher engagement, participation, motivation, and success. This means that a key factor of building a successful team is building a strong working alliance between managers and direct reports. 

So, if you’re a manager, take a read and ask yourself: 

  1. Do I have a high degree of collaboration with each of my direct reports? 

  2. Do I have a positive emotional bond with each of my direct reports? 

  3. Do I have strong agreement on project goals and procedures with each of my direct reports?

And perhaps, more importantly: Do your direct reports feel the same way?

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