Programming Team Best Practices

[holygrail]

What are some of the best practices for an effective programming team?
I'm looking more for best operational practices rather than how to actually write the code. We are trying to bring a couple of new programmers up to speed quickly and effectively and I think it would be valuable to hear how other teams do it.

1. How does your team effectively delegate the work between programmers? Do you have several programmers work on separate parts and then put them together or do you have everyone work on the same program?

2. How do you plan the code before you start programming (flowcharts, etc.)?

3. What kinds of benchmarks do you use to keep the programming team on task throughout build season?

4. What backup techniques does your team use to manage files effectively (cloud, etc.)?

5. Other tips, tricks, or suggestions?

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!