Agile & Feedback Reflection Guidelines

In interviews, you'll be asked about how you approach working in projects, and being able to describe how you utilize agile processes is a great way to help you stand out as a junior developer candidate. This reflection is meant to help you develop this skill.

With that in mind, please answer the following questions in your own gist about your group project:

1. What have you learned about the use of agile vs. waterfall in software projects? I had never been exposed to either method before, so hearing about them and the differences was fascinating. I definitely can see the advantages of each, but the Agile method seems to be more effective more often when it comes to software development. I spoke with my roommate before about a Start-Up he's wanting to do, and the process by which he was wanting to do it was the Agile method. I didn't know of this term when he was telling me about it, but when Jeff explained Agile, I defintiely realized that my roommate was using it with his Start Up.

2. How did you and your group approach project management in this project (what tools did you use, how did you hold each other accountable, etc.)? My group utilized GitProjects for our workflow to keep us on track with the iterations. We referenced our Projects before we began working to give us a plan of action for the work session, and after each session we went back and made sure we followed our plan and updated our work.

3. What role did you take on in the project? All of our group was very easy to get along with, so we didn't have really anything in the way of internal conflict. We all sort of played to relationshiop role, and gelled well. I would say my specific role was a facilitator in solving technical problems. I wasn't the strongest in the group technicallhy, but I was effective in bouncing ideas around and creating code to solve the problems as they arose.

4. What changes would you make to your approach in future team projects? I was actually very pleased with our group dynamics and work flow. I feel good about the project we submitted, and the things we learned and struggles we overcame. We all got along, and resepcted each other and listened to ideas and no one really steamrolled anything.

5. How does retro function in a team project? We retroed quite a bit. Mostly before we started working, and after each work session, to make sure we were on the same page, and most importantly, to make sure that each member understood the code we had written. The retros were very effective to keep all of us on track, up to date, and on the same page with the status of the project, and the plans moving forward.

6. In your team retro, how did you engage in the feedback process? What principles of feedback did you use in these conversations? When we engaged in feedback, it was nearly entirely positive. We really didn't clash on anything. There was a lot of appreciation for the work and the ideas along the way.

7. How would you describe your ability to communicate feedback? How has this experience affected your communication skills? How do you want to improve in your ability to communicate feedback? It's still a work in progress for me to give constructive feedback that could be interpretted as negative. There wasn't a ton of opportunity in this project, but we did a good job in our DTR of making sure that we would all be honest with each other along the way, and to be receptive to others being honest to you. We did a good job of communicating along the way.